Athletic Hall of Fame Winners: 2003
Sue Gerard
Sue Gerard spent 33 years at Christian College teaching physical education and recreation courses with an emphasis in swimming and life saving. She taught and certified more than 2,000 American Red Cross senior life savers and several hundred water safety instructors. Gerard also coached several intramural sports and sponsored The Dolphins, a synchronized swimming group which presented an annual water show for college students and the public. After taking time off from 1948 to 1952 when her children were young, she returned to Christian College for another 20 years of service. Gerard Pool, which was built in 1918-19, was named for her in 1972.
Gerard, who is a lifelong resident of mid-Missouri, has spent the past nine years writing the column Granny’s Notes for the Columbia Daily Tribune. Other Gerard articles have been published in Reader’s Digest, Ebony and Better Homes and Gardens.
Rick Bueltmann
Rick Bueltmann attended Columbia College from 1976-78 following two seasons at Meramec Junior College in Kirkwood, Mo. where he earned All-America accolades one season. At Columbia College, he became the first CC athlete to earn All-America accolades, garnering second team honors in 1977. Bueltmann was an all-district and all-Midwest selection and held the title of team captain during both seasons at Columbia College. He helped the soccer program to its first national ranking and was named the institution’s outstanding senior athlete in 1977. He graduated in the spring of 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Bueltmann currently resides in St. Louis with Pat, his wife of 22 years. They have three children; Rick, 21, Mike, 19 and Jenna, 17. For the last 24 years, he has served as an account executive at Relizon in sales and marketing. In his free time, Bueltmann coaches youth soccer and baseball and enjoys golf, travel and following the St. Louis Cardinals and Rams.
Wendy Mertz Slifka
Wendy Mertz Slifka graduated from Columbia College Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor of arts in business administration in 1990. One of the most decorated softball players in Cougar history, Slifka remains the Cougar record holder for highest winning percentage (.944). Nationally, she holds NAIA records for no hitters in a season (7) and is second in shutouts in a season (16) and wins (34). She anchored Columbia’s 26-game winning streak, which is also an NAIA best. Slifka earned All-America and All-America Scholar-Athlete accolades in 1989 and 1990. She was voted as the most valuable pitcher by her teammates four consecutive seasons and earned conference player of the year honors in 1988, 1989 and 1990. With Slifka on the mound, the Cougars finished no lower than No. 12 in an NAIA final ranking. She propelled her team to a No. 1 ranking – a Columbia College athletic department first – in 1989.
Slifka was also named an at-large selection in USA Today’s 1989 Missouri Amateur Athlete list. In 1990, she earned Columbia College’s Female Athlete of the Year award and, later that year became the first Columbia College athlete to have her jersey retired.
Slifka completed her master’s degree in business administration at Northeastern State University in 1993. Following graduation, she held posts with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, USA Gymnastics, the Greater Knoxville Sports Corporation and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She currently serves as a business management analyst for the Knoxville Utilities Board and resides in Knoxville, Tenn. with her husband Doug.
Marvin Malone
Marvin Malone played basketball for the Cougars from 1988 through 1991 under the direction of current head coach Bob Burchard. Malone led the Cougars to back-to-back 30-win seasons and became the program’s first NAIA All-American in 1991. He led Columbia College to its first national tournament appearance in any sport and was named conference and District 16 player of the year in 1991.
Malone holds numerous statistical records, including most points in a single game (46), assists in a season (730) and free throw attempts for a season (212). He remains second on Columbia’s all-time leading scorer list with 1,726, a feat he accomplished in just three seasons. He, along with teammate Thomas Roberts, saw their jerseys retired in 1991. They remain the only men’s basketball jerseys retired to date.
Malone earned a bachelor’s degree of science in business administration from Columbia College. He completed his master’s in divinity degree at The Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in May 2002.
Amy Lodes Witte
Amy Lodes Witte was a member of the Columbia College volleyball from 1988-1992. She was named conference player of the year during each of her four years as a Cougar and earned District 16 Player of the Year and NAIA Second Team All-America accolades in 1991. Following her senior campaign, Witte became the first Cougar volleyball player to have her jersey retired.
Witte completed her bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1992. She currently serves as a senior sales representative at Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company, in Fayetteville, Ark. She and her husband Michael have a one-year-old son named Sullivan.
