Manchester College's athletic department will hold a luncheon for the 2006 Hall of Fame class on Saturday, Oct. 28.  Five Spartans will be inducted this year, including Nelson Potter '34, Bob Scheer '66, Nancy Sherrick '90  Taylor, DeAnn Booth '92, and Nick Primozic '98. The luncheon will be held in the PERC main office area starting at 11 a.m., preceded by a reception at 10:30. For more information or to make reservations, contact the Manchester College Alumni Office at 260-982-5223.
 

Nelson “Clint” Potter Sr. ’34 is the first Hall of Fame inductee who attended Mount Morris College before it merged with Manchester College in 1932. Potter was a three-sport athlete – basketball, baseball and tennis, and was key to the Mount Morris offense and the leading scorer during the two years he attended the College.

He made his major league baseball debut as a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 25, 1936, allowing no hits from the three batters he faced.

Potter spent 14 years in the majors, playing with the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, and Boston Braves. With the Browns, he was ninth on the ballot for American League Most Valuable Player in 1944. That year, he posted a record of 19-7, with 232 innings pitched, a 2.83 ERA, and 91 strikeouts. His team won the AL pennant that year with an 88-66 record before falling to cross-town rivals, the Cardinals, in six games. 

He gave up only one earned run in two World Series starts, but six errors by the Browns left him with an 0-1 record in World Series play. He narrowly missed a 20-win season that year, and he is noted as the only ML player to be suspended for throwing a spitball, a result of his habit of wetting his fingers before using the resin bag.

 In 1948, at age 37, Potter was sold to the Athletics for $20,000, then traded to the Boston Red Sox, with whom he finished his career in 1949. He retired with a record of 92-97, with 349 games played and 177 starts. He recorded 22 saves with six shutouts, a 3.99 ERA and 747 strikeouts. 

He and his wife, Hazel, raised three children: Nelson, Barbara and Jim, who, along with his wife, Ann, will receive the posthumous award for his father.

Bob Scheer '66 was a four-year member of the Spartan football team, serving as team captain and leading MC in tackles for two seasons. Scheer has continued to be a generous supporter of Manchester College athletics for more than 40 years.

 Scheer played for Coach Jack Jarrett from 1962-1965 and was a four-year starter. Scheer’s devoted work ethic and desire to succeed showed as he led Manchester in tackles his junior and senior years.

After graduation from Manchester, Scheer earned a law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1969. He worked with the firm of Fuller & Henry for seven years before joining Owens-Illinois, Inc. in Toledo. Later, he became a labor relations counsel for Crown-Zellerbach Corp. in San Francisco until 1987. He has spent the past 18 years with Smurfit-Stone in Walnut Creek, Calif., where he is labor relations counsel.

Scheer has been elected to serve a third term on the Manchester College Board of Trustees, currently sitting on the Human Resources Committee. His constant support of Manchester College athletics comes in many ways, especially through generous contributions to the Friends of Manchester College Golf Outing, The Manchester Fund, contributions and reflections for the Spartan Connections newsletter, and as an avid follower of Spartan athletics.

Bob and his wife, Judy, reside in Walnut Creek, California, and are the parents of US Army Ranger, Lt. Michael B. Scheer.  Mike was a first team all-state football player at Las Lomas High School in California and played at UC Davis.

Nancy Sherrick '90 Taylor dominated the pitching mound in the late 1980s. She set a school record for wins twice as a pitcher, received All-District and All-Conference honors in softball and was elected to the HCW All-Conference volleyball team.

She still holds softball records for most innings pitched (211.6), overall wins (20), and most strikeouts in a career (251). She posted a four-year win/loss record of 64-40.

As a first-year student in 1987, Sherrick received the Rotary Club Mental Attitude Award with the volleyball team. In softball, she set a school pitching record with a 16-win season, while striking out 60. She accounted for all but three of Manchester’s wins that year as the softball team went 19-21 and won the Hoosier Conference for Women championship. 

In her sophomore season, she ended the year with a record of 14-10 with 44 strikeouts, while her Spartans bettered their record to 21-18.

Sherrick was All-Conference and All-District as a junior, breaking her own record for most wins in a season (20-10, with 77 strikeouts). The team once again improved with a record of 24-11 and an HCW conference championship. Highlights included defeating two Division I schools (Georgia Tech and Niagara) and placing second in the NAIA District 21 tournament. Sherrick was the team’s MVP for her outstanding efforts.

In 1990, her senior year, she wrapped up with a 13-10 record and 70 strikeouts and was All-Conference in both softball and volleyball. Her 1.62 ERA led a Manchester team that averaged a conference best 1.91.

She lives in Polo, Ill., with her husband Lowell Taylor ’91, their daughter, Kelsey, and son Reid. She teaches Title 1 reading at Forreston Elementary in Ogle County Public Schools.

DeAnn Booth '92 was a two-sport student athlete, playing basketball and on a softball team with fellow Hall of Fame inductee Nancy Sherrick ’90 for two years. After Sherrick graduated, Booth’s offensive efforts helped Manchester to HCW Conference Championships in 1991 and 1992. She served as captain for both sports, receiving numerous All-Conference and All-District honors. Booth is sixth in all-time Spartan scoring for women’s basketball, with 1,183 points, and was a career .464 batter in softball.

In her first year, Spartan fans were introduced to one of the top clutch shooting and rebounding guards ever to play for Manchester. Booth was equally impressive on the diamond, batting .500 on the year with a record-setting 70 hits. Manchester went 24-11 and won the HCW.

As a sophomore, she batted .435 with 40 hits and was HCW All-Conference again. She received the same conference recognition for women’s basketball.

Booth set a school record with 128 assists as a junior on the basketball court, and the Spartans posted an 18-12 record. She was All-Conference and All-District in the winter and spring, and helped the softball team to an 8-2 conference record and a third championship in five years.

Booth was All-Conference and All-District in both basketball and softball her senior year, serving as the team captain for both sports. She helped the basketball program to its first 20-plus win season as MC ended the year 21-8. Booth set records for most assists in a career (322) and free throws made in a career (291), and she is sixth for points scored in a game (32). Her Spartan softball team won a third straight league title that year with a perfect 9-0 conference record.

She left her mark in the softball record books as well, leading the school in hits in a season (70) and career (212), season batting average (.500), and career batting average (.464).

Booth lives in Fort Wayne where she teaches high school mathematics at South Side High School.

Wrestling as a heavyweight for the Spartans, Nick Primozic '98 was a three-time All-American, qualifying for the NCAA Nationals four times with two second-place finishes and a third-place finish. He holds the Manchester College record for wins with 140-22 (86.4%), with 42 wins by pin, and he helped Manchester to two Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championships.

In his first year with the Spartans in 1993, Primozic went 22-11, winning the Spartan Mat Classic, the ICAC Conference Championship and qualifying for Nationals, where he went 0-2. That year, Primozic and the Spartans acquired a dual meet record of 13-0.

In Primozic’s sophomore year, the Spartans remained undefeated in dual meets. He grabbed another Spartan Mat Classic and ICAC Conference championship, as well as the Ohio Northern Invite, the Wheaton Invite and an NCAA Regional championship, qualifying for a second trip to Nationals. His 4-1 record at Nationals made him 37-6 on the year and was good for a second place in the country for All-American honors.

As a junior, he won 45 of his 48 matches as the Spartans ended their dual meet season 14-3. Primozic won Little State, the Ohio Northern Invite, Midwest Classic, Spartan Mat Classic, Wheaton Invite, the ICAC and NCAA Regional Championship. He placed third at Nationals with a 4-1 record. 

He placed second at Nationals as a senior in 1997 with an overall record of 36-2, after winning the heavyweight division at Little State, Ohio Northern, Wheaton, Midlands, and the ICAC and NCAA Midwest Regional. He was the team’s top points scorer and had the Spartans’ most falls for the third straight season.

Today, Primozic is a lieutenant for the United States Navy and serves as an instructor pilot. He is stationed at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., with his wife Marisa ’00 and their daughter Anna.