SIX FORMER GREATS INDUCTED INTO KU ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

KUTZTOWN, PA — Five former athletes and one coach were be inducted into the Kutztown University Athletic Hall of Fame at the 1999 Hall of Fame and Athletic Awards Banquet on Friday, June 11.

The six new inductees will increase the KU Hall of Fame membership to 102.

Pictured are this year's inductees with KU President Dr. David McFarland. From left to right are Shayn Mosley Spingler, Martin Lewis Eggleston, Jeffrey Bohler (son of the late Bert Bohler), McFarland, Larry Baver (son of the late Arlan Baver), Mark Steinmeyer, and Louise Andersen Carl.

This year’s inductees include Arlan Baver (’30), a three-sport star; Bert Bohler (1911-20), the head coach of two state championship basketball teams; Louise Andersen Carl (’81), a standout in three sports; Martin Lewis Eggleston (1985-89), a record-breaking center on the men’s basketball team; Shayn Mosley Spingler (’92), a two-sport All-American; and Mark Steinmeyer (’94), one of the most decorated running backs in KU football history.

A biography on each of this year’s inductees follows:

Arlan Baver (’30) was a standout in three sports for Kutztown from 1926-30. For the men’s basketball team, Baver was the school’s career scoring leader for the first have of the 20th century. In 59 games, he scored 711 points, a record that stood for 25 years. He also held records for points in a season (249 in 1927-28) and a single game (32). In addition, Baver excelled in track & field. In 1928, Baver won the 880-yard run and placed in two other events to lead Kutztown to a second place finish. It was the highest finish for Kutztown in the first 80 years of the century at what is now the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship. On the baseball diamond, Baver was the team captain as a senior. During his two years as a pitcher, Kutztown was 11-3. A native of Kutztown, PA, Baver graduated from Ontelaunee High School (now Schuylkill Valley), where he set numerous Berks County scoring records in basketball and hit over .500 in two seasons of baseball. After graduating from Kutztown in 1930 with a degree in education, Baver played minor league baseball in the Blue Ridge League for the St. Louis Cardinal organization. Baver went on to become a successful teacher, coach and athletic administrator at Hamburg High School for 28 years. His basketball, baseball and soccer teams won several Northern Division championships in the 1940s. Baver passed away in December of 1979.

Bert Bohler (1911-20) was the director of athletics and head coach during one of the most successful periods in team sport history at Kutztown. Bohler was the head coach of men’s sports from 1911-20, coaching baseball and men’s basketball. He guided his basketball team to a pair of Pennsylvania State Normal School Championships. Over a four-season span (1915-19), Bohler’s teams lost just five games. The 1916-17 squad won the earliest championship in recorded history for Kutztown, with an 18-0 record. After losing just one game the next year with an entirely new team, Bohler’s squad won another state championship in 1918-19 with a 12-1 record. His baseball teams often turned in winning seasons, including a 6-1-1 mark in 1915. Bohler and his brothers, J. Fred, George and Roy, were renowned basketball players in Reading and Ephrata at the turn of the century. All four brothers went on to careers in athletics. J. Fred earned the most fame as a coach and director of athletics at Washington State College. J. Fred is credited with introducing dribbling and the one-handed shot to basketball. Bert graduated from Schuylkill Seminary (now Albright College). After leaving Kutztown in 1920, he served as the Physical Education Director for the Butler YMCA for 12 years and was in charge of athletics at the Huntingdon State Industrial School from 1932-37. Bohler then worked in the Pennsylvania State Department’s division of community athletics for six years. He went on to several other occupations before passing away in 1976.

Louise Andersen Carl (’81) played three sports for the Golden Bears from 1975-80. Andersen was a founding member of the Golden Bear softball program. She hit .413 and served as co-captain for Kutztown’s first-ever softball team in 1977. A third baseman, Andersen hit .403 the next season with four home runs. In her final season in 1980, she was named the team’s most valuable player. As a forward and midfielder in field hockey, Andersen was named to the Lehigh Valley College Association All-Star team in each of her four years. In 1978, she was named the team’s most valuable player. Andersen was also a starter and key player for the Kutztown women’s basketball team. A resident of Topton, PA, Andersen was a three-sport star at Brandywine Heights High School, earning All-Berks county honors in all three sports. Currently, she coaches seventh and eighth grade field hockey and basketball, as well as little league baseball and basketball.

Martin Lewis Eggleston (1985-89) played center for the Kutztown men’s basketball team from 1985-89. He set 14 Kutztown career, season and game records, many of which still stand today. His career records include rebounds (864), blocked shots (254), field goals made (599) and field goal percentage (56.9%, 599-1053). A native of Coatesville, PA, Eggleston led the Golden Bear basketball team to one of its most successful seasons in school history in 1987-88. That season, KU won the PSAC Eastern Division title, advanced to the championship game of the conference playoffs and earned a berth in the NCAA East Regional playoffs. He was named the KU Male Athlete of the Year, Eastern College Athletic Conference South Player of the Year, first-team All-PSAC and a third-team All-American. Eggleston set single-season records that year in points (598), rebounds (321), blocked shots (108), field goals (254), field goals attempted (405) and field goal percentage (62.7%, 254-405). Of those records, only the field goals attempted and percentage records have since been surpassed. Eggleston has played nine seasons of professional basketball in Europe, in addition to a season with the Quad City Thunder and Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets of the Continental Basketball Association.

Shayn Mosley Spingler (’92) is one of just three Kutztown University athletes to earn All-America honors in two sports. She will become the first member of the women’s swimming and diving team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. As a senior captain in 1992, Mosley earned All-America honors in one meter diving at the NCAA Division II Championships. She set school records in one-meter diving (260.6 points) and three-meter diving (274.95 points). In field hockey, Mosley earned NCAA All-America honors as a junior defender in 1990. She was named to All-PSAC first team honors, a feat which she repeated as a senior. She was a second-team regional All-American and the team’s most valuable player that season. She was named the 1991-92 KU Female Athlete of the Year. Mosley, a native of Schnecksville, PA and graduate of Parkland High School, now resides in Langhorne, PA. She has stayed active with Kutztown University Athletics, serving as diving coach during the 1992-93 season and as field director for the KU high school field hockey camp for the past five years.

Mark Steinmeyer (’94) played for the Golden Bear football team from 1988-91, setting 24 career, season and single game records, many of which still stand. Steinmeyer’s 200 catches and 2,118 yards receiving are the most ever by any running back in NCAA Division II history. He set KU receiving records for most receptions, yards and touchdowns in a game, season and career. Steinmeyer was the top return specialist in KU history, tallying 1,470 yards on 76 kickoff returns and 813 yards on 69 punt returns, all of which are KU career records. Steinmeyer’s primary duty was as a running back, where he rushed for 1,809 on 483 carries. In all, he had 6,210 all-purpose yards and scored 41 career touchdowns. He was a three-time All-PSAC East selection, being named to the first team in 1990 and 1991. As a senior, he was named to the Associated Press Little All-America second team and finished fourth in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy, awarded to the best player in Division II. As a junior, he led the nation in all-purpose yards, setting a KU record with 2,260 yards. He was the 1988 ECAC and PSAC Rookie of the Year. A native of Little Falls, NJ, and a graduate of Passaic Valley High School, Steinmeyer now resides in Reading, PA.