Alumni Events

Please join us for the induction and award luncheon in the Jo Young Switzer Center. Cost for the luncheon is $25 per person, $12.50 for ages 6-12, and free for children 5 and younger. There is no charge if you wish to only attend the ceremony, however an R.S.V.P online is necessary so we have enough seating.

Claude Wolfe Coach of the Year:

Scott Stalbaum (2007) – A combined three-time Indiana Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Coach of the Year nominee, Stalbaum has led the Rochester High School boys and girls cross country and track and field program to lofty heights. In his eight-year stead, the Zebras have earned four boys and three girls Three Rivers Conference cross country championships along with one track and field team title apiece.

His athletes haven’t limited their successes to conference championships, either. Stalbaum has mentored a combined nine, six of which occurred on the track, Indiana High School Athletic Association state qualifiers. Two of them, Anna Bearss (cross country, 2014) and Wesley Meyer (track and field, 2016) gained all-state honors. Sixteen of his former athletes have gone on to collegiate running careers on either the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics or NCAA Division I, II or III levels.

Hall of Fame Inductees:

 JACK JARRETT – A 1956 graduate of then   Manchester College, Jarrett took his playing days’   experiences into a coaching role for the Black and   Gold football and men’s golf programs in a career   that spanned the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s.

 On the gridiron, he led the Spartans to 58 victories   which included a pair of Hoosier College   Conference co-championships in 1966 and 1968.   He was named the league’s Coach of the Year in   1966 after his team finished 5-4 overall and 4-1 in   the conference. The 1968 squad, enshrined in the   M Association Athletic Hall of Fame, ended 7-1 and   was 5-1 in conference action. On the golf course,   Jarrett’s teams were just as successful, winning a   1972 Buckeye Conference title and claiming the 1971 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ District 21 top spot en route to being ranked No. 18 nationally and later induction into the M Association Hall of Fame.

JAIME WILSON MEYER (2000) – Achieving a significant portion of her success from outside the three-point line, Wilson ranks as one of nine former Spartans’ women’s basketball players to reach 1,000-or-more points. Sitting fifth on the university’s all-time points list, Wilson was a four-time all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honoree which included being named Freshman of the Year in 1995-96 and first team accolades during her freshman and senior campaigns.

The program’s current record holder for most points tallied by a first-year athlete (412) and career three-point baskets (206), Wilson also ranks second in most treys compiled in a season due to converting on 73 in 1995-96. She helped lead former head coach Kim Rockey’s teams to three successive double-figure win seasons including strong 16-9 and 14-11 marks as a junior and senior.

BRANDON BAKER (1999) – Baker made his name known on two fields seeing success in baseball and football. Playing on the Gratz Field diamond, he was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player in 1998 from a starting outfield position, hitting a robust .433 which ranks seventh in all-time best batting averages. Due to his efforts, the Spartans reeled off 20-or-more win seasons over his sophomore through senior campaigns.

On the gridiron, Baker’s name appears throughout the Black and Gold records while starring on Burt Field as a receiver. He holds the single-season touchdown reception record (11) and is second in career touchdown catches (19). His record resume doesn’t end there, as Baker is also among the top five in career (2,219) and single-game (192) receiving yardage among other listings. A three-time all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honoree, he played for former head coach Dave Harms which featured being a part of a 6-4 record during his senior season.

BRANDON TUGMON (2006) – One of the standards for what is an impressive history of receivers for Manchester University football, Tugmon holds school records in single-game (17), single-season (77), and career (247) receptions while also being at the top in career receiving yardage (2,886) and receiving touchdowns (22). He graced Burt Field under the tutelage of former head coaches Dave Harms and Shannon Griffith from 2002-05.

Tugmon was a four-time all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honoree which included earning three first team selections. He ranked among NCAA Division III’s top 15 in receptions per game as a sophomore and junior.

1962 MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TEAM – The Spartans of former head coach Daryl Hartzler couldn’t have been more dominant over the rolling hills and cross country courses of north central Indiana and beyond. They registered five of the top 10 finishes at the conference championship, including individual first-place honors for team member LeRoy Wion, to tally 20 points, one of the lowest scores in the former Hoosier College Conference to that time that out-distanced the field by 32 points for the team title.

Manchester College finished 7-1 in duals knocking off Valparaiso and Indiana Central (the future University of Indianapolis) along the way. They concluded the fantastic campaign with a sixth-place finish at the Little State meet with only Wabash, Ball State, Earlham, Indiana State and Valparaiso finishing ahead of them.