Athletic Hall of Fame Winners: 2010
Monica Mueller Clayton
Monica Mueller Clayton's softball career began in her hometown of Hannibal, Mo., where she was involved in both softball and basketball in high school. During her junior and senior years, she had the opportunity to travel the country playing summer softball with a team from St. Louis, Mo. Monica continued her softball career at Columbia College as a member of the 2002-2005 softball team. As a Cougar, Monica was named First Team All-Conference each year, Conference Pitcher of the year in 2004 and 2005, and NAIA All-American in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Monica was team captain in 2005, holds the Columbia College Single Season Strike-Out Record with 310, and the second lowest ERA in school history with a .550.
Monica was not only an accomplished athlete at Columbia College, but received a great education and even met her husband, Will Clayton, during her years as a Cougar. During her last year at Columbia College, Will proposed to Monica on the softball field and after four years of marriage, they have a 16-month-old daughter and one-month-old son. Monica is a 6th grade teacher in the Hannibal School District and she and her family reside just outside of their hometown of Hannibal, Missouri.
Lisa Marie Kowalewski
Lisa Marie Kowalewski (ko-va-less-key) was born on August 27th, 1982 to Linda and Chester Kowalewski. She grew up in St. Charles, Mo. with two younger brothers, Mike and David. Despite a torn ACL in 8th grade, Lisa dreamed of playing basketball in high school and going on to receive a full scholarship to play in college. When the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBA) came into existence, her dream grew to include playing in the league and winning a WNBA championship.
At Columbia College, Lisa stayed active in the student government and other on-campus activities. She finished her basketball career as a two-time Honorable Mention All-American, two-time Academic All-American and was named First Team All-AMC all four years. She totaled 696 rebounds, 341 assists, 230 steals, 53 blocks and currently holds the career scoring record for all CC basketball players (male or female) with 2,079 points.
In 2005, she graduated from CC with a major in International Business. While pursuing an overseas professional basketball career, Lisa was presented with an incredible opportunity in sales with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Lisa still lives in Phoenix and has worked in sales and marketing the last five years. She was the top season ticket salesperson in the WNBA the last two seasons. Although it happened differently than expected, her dream of being in the WNBA has come true, and she is now the owner of two WNBA Championship rings. Lisa dedicates her Hall of Fame induction to her brother Mike who passed away on July 18, 2010.
1989-90 Men's Basketball Team
The Columbia College 1989-90 Men’s Basketball Team was the first Columbia College athletic team to reach an NAIA National Tournament. With a 30-8 season record, the team had the best regular-season record in the history of the basketball program; until this team, no Columbia College basketball team had won more than 18 games in a single season. The team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA National Tournament before being eliminated by Oral Roberts University. Their success in the tournament brought national recognition to Columbia College and the athletic department.
The team consisted of Stacy Batson ’92, Corey Gulley ’94, Jeff Hamilton ’91, Marvin Malone ’91, Thomas Roberts ’91, Shawn Russell ’91, Ed Talton ’91, Kyle Thoma ’93, David Williams ’90, and Eddie Wilson. Coached by Robert Burchard, who was selected as Conference and District 16 Coach of the Year, the team boasted five Academic All Conference team members, four All Conference players, one All American player, two Century Club players, two All District players, and three individual Hall of Fame Inductees (Malone, Roberts and Thoma).
