From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

A Missouri Southern coach and two former athletes comprise the 2008 class for the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Tom Rutledge, the Lions’ track and field and cross country coach, will be honored along with volleyball player Neely Burkhart and football player Terry Dobbs.

The three will be enshrined on Oct. 4 as part of Missouri Southern’s homecoming activities.

Rutledge has coached the Lions for the last 19 seasons, and his teams have won nine MIAA championships since 2000 — seven in cross country and two in indoor track and field.

The Lions’ cross country team has qualified for the NCAA Division II national meet in seven of the last eight years. The Lions won the South Central Region title last November on their home course, beating eventual national champion Abilene Christian.

Rutledge has coached 31 All-Americans — five in cross country and 26 in track and field. In 2005, Missouri Southern pole vaulters finished 1-2-3 in the Division II outdoor championships and swept the top five places in the conference meet.

Burkhart was a four-year starter at outside hitter for the Lions in 1994-98. She holds the Lions’ career record for digs (1,776), and she’s second in aces (211), third in attack attempts (3,957), fourth in kills (1,421) and hitting percentage (.268) and 10th in games played (445).

Burkhart was a second team all-conference pick in 1995 and 1996 after earning honorable mention in 1994. She earned academic All-American honors in 1995 (second team) and 1996 (first team).

A native of Joplin, Burkhart was MSSU’s Outstanding Graduate in 1998 with a degree in biology and wen ton to earn her master’s in physical therapy from the University of Kansas in 2000. She is a physical therapist and athletic trainer at Freeman Health System in Joplin.

Dobbs was the Lions’ placekicker from 1981-85 and holds school records for career points by a kicker (192), career extra points (102) and career field goal makes (30) and attempts (51). His 10 PAT attempts in a game is also a school record, and his 52-yard field goal matches the second longest in school history.

Dobbs graduated in 1985 with a marketing management degree and has worked the last nine years as the operations coordinator for Yellow Transportation in Dallas.

The MSSU Athletics Hall of Fame grows to 85 members and two teams with the 2008 class.