Athletics Misc (784)
Kevin Alewine
Attended Oak Grove High School in Oak Grove, Missouri. Wrestled, participated in track and played football where he was a starter and leader on offense. In 1985, only three years after graduating, his football jersey (No. 35) was retired.
Was recruited to Baker by Coach Charlie Richard. Played all four years as a member of the Wildcat varsity squad. Was selected to the all-conference offensive team as a running back as a sophomore, junior and senior and was the conference’s offensive player of the year in 1984 and 1985. Selected to the first-team all-district team after his junior and senior years. In 1985, after his senior year, was selected an NAIA first-team All-American, an NAIA academic All-American and was Baker’s first Kodak All-American.
Established numerous University records and achieved significant recognition for his outstanding play:
Having the most 100-yard rushing games in a single season at Baker with nine…Having the most 200-yard rushing games in a career at Baker with four…Set the single season rushing record in 1985 with 1,775 yards — averaging 178.8 yards per game…Holds the Baker record for 19 games in which he rushed for 100 or more yards, including 12 straight games in which he gained 100 yards…Had 3 of the top 10 highest yardage games in University history…Carried the ball 522 times during career for a record 3,704 yards and an average of 7.1 yards per carry…Carried the ball 28 times and gained 306 yards against Missouri Valley on October 12, 1985. This established both a school record which still stands and an NAIA record at the time…was named the NAIA national offensive player of the week after that game…In 1985 was named the most valuable player of the Sunflower Bowl after breaking three bowl records for touchdowns, total rushing and total yards…
Has taught biology and physical education and coached on the high school level in Missouri at Jefferson City High School and Eldon for the past 14 years. While at Eldon, he was selected as the school’s district coach of the year in 1993. In 2004 was selected as the teacher of the year at Eldon High School.
Met his wife, the former Suzanne Stafford, fs ’88, in 1984. They have three children, Erin, Hayden, and Reagan
Ernie Anselmi
Attended Central High School in Kansas City. Participated in football and track, earning three letters in football and two in track. During summers through high school, played Ban Johnson League Baseball in Kansas City.
Enrolled at Baker in the fall of 1947 and became a starter late in his freshman season for the Wildcat football squad and Coach Karl Spear. During his four years at Baker played both guard and tackle on offense and nose guard and linebacker on defense. Lettered all four years at Baker and was selected as an honorable mention all-conference player and later, as a senior, as an all-conference team member.
Was named a member of Tom Harmon’s Little All-American Team and was invited, though declined, to attend the Los Angeles Rams’ Football Camp.
Graduated from Baker in 1952 with a degree in economics and a minor in business administration. On campus, was a member of the “B” Club and the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, where he served as president for two years.
After graduation worked for the IBM Corporation for 18 years. During his career became one of IBM’s top-10 salesmen in the nation, won a national sales contest and served as a guest instructor at the National Sales School for new hires. Additionally during his career worked with Inland Office Products as a regional manager and later ROM Corporation as a product manager. Retired in 1993 but continues to work for ROM on special projects.
Joined the Leawood Kansas Fire Department as a volunteer fireman in 1964. Graduated from one of the first EMT classes and was certified in Johnson County. Served as the Leawood captain of the rescue squad for 15 years. His squad in 1982 was selected as the National Small Department Rescue Squad of the Year. Retired from the Leawood Fire Department in 1989 after 25 years of volunteer service.
Was elected to the City Council of Leawood in 1986 and served two terms.
Married classmate Frances (Ginger) Newman, who passed away in 1989. They had three sons, Kent, Kurt and Kyle.
Ed Lierz
Who has brought honor to Baker University through his outstanding athletic achievements as well as through his dedication to volunteerism in coaching youth league athletics.
Ed attended Jackson Heights High School in Holton, Kansas, where he was an all-state athlete in three sports. In addition to graduating as a member of the National Honor Society, he won all-state recognition as a running back and linebacker in football, as a point guard in basketball and in the 300-meter hurdles where he set a school record. He was also a member of the 4x100 meter relay team that set a Jackson Heights school record.
He was recruited to Baker in the fall of 1985 by Coach Charlie Richard. He set or tied 12 school records and was named the Offensive Player of the Game in the NAIA playoffs of 1986 against Huron College with 301 yards rushing. In 1987 he was the national NAIA scoring leader with 18 touchdowns, 108 points and an average of 13.5 points per game. His Baker records include:
most points in a half (30); most points in a career (306); rushing yards (4,492 yards); total yards in career (4,727); most 100-yard games in career (23); most 200 yard games in career (4); most rushing plays in a game (38); most rushing plays in a career (708); most touchdowns in a half (5); most touchdowns rushing in a half (5); most touchdowns rushing in a career (49); and most touchdowns in a career (51).
During his days at Baker he was not only successful in athletics but also as an active member of the campus where he served as a member of the Student Activities Committee and as a resident assistant. During his senior year he was voted both the Outstanding Senior Male and the Outstanding Baker Student. He was also an outstanding student in the classroom and was named an Academic All-American after his junior and senior years.
Following graduation he has worked in the field of electronic data as a computer programmer and systems analyst and as a software development supervisor. He is employed by Kansys Inc. as a telecommunications billing consultant.
He has been an active coach for youth league athletics where he has volunteered numerous hours coaching boys soccer, girls basketball, youth baseball and third-grade football.
He is married to his 1989 Baker classmate Nora Nuessle. Together they have three children, Kasey, Ryan and Shelby.
Thomas Young
Special recognition is accorded to Thomas for his meritorious service to the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Their induction is the first for a husband and wife team.
Teresa was a multisport athlete in high school at Gridley, Kan., where she lettered in softball, volleyball, track and basketball. She was captain of the basketball team, was a drum majorette in the marching band, had a pitching record from eighth grade to her senior year of 100-10 and graduated as the class valedictorian. She was recruited to Baker in 1977 by Coach Emmalie Gessner Polen to play for the Wildcats, who began intercollegiate athletic competition for women the previous year.
During her Baker career she pitched the Wildcat softball team to a record of 75 wins and 29 losses with the team making state, regional and national playoffs in the AIAW. During her senior year she led the ‘Cats to a first-place finish in the regional tournament where she was named to the all-tournament team. The team finished ninth that year at the national tournament. Additionally, while at Baker she played intramural volleyball, slow-pitch softball, basketball and powder-puff football and was selected the off-campus candidate for homecoming queen.
Following Baker, Teresa earned a Master of Education in human biodynamics and gerontology from the University of Kansas and later developed “Young at Heart,” a senior adult exercise program that has received recognition from the State of Kansas. She has held numerous positions in industry and works with a federal agency, Federal Occupational Health, where she supports the work of 270 nursing centers and 40 fitness centers. She has been recognized for her work on a number of occasions.
Thomas was an all-League performer in football and basketball at Lansing (Kansas) High School. He was an honorable mention all-state selection in basketball his senior year.
He played and lettered in basketball from 1977 to 1981 at Baker as a defensive specialist and shot-blocker in a career that found him playing for four different head coaches. During his senior year, he was elected captain of the team. On campus he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, was a member of the Blue Key Honorary and was voted the Senior Greek Man of the Year.
Following graduation Tom joined his family’s business, the Young Sign Company, in Leavenworth and currently serves as its president. He continued to play and later coach competitive basketball where his teams have won 16 league championships since 1982. As an artist he has always enjoyed doing fine art and in that regard has been commissioned to illustrate all of the inductees of the Baker University Athletic Hall of Fame for their induction plaques since 1981. He has additionally been asked to produce portraits for various University plaques for the Jim Irick Tennis Courts, for Coach Emil Liston, Karl Spear and Charlie Richard.
Tom and Teresa were married in 1981. Together they have two sons, Clayton and Trevor. They continue to be active in their church, professional organizations and community where they have given thousands of hours to coaching youth league athletics in soccer, baseball and basketball.
Teresa Watts Young
Special recognition is accorded to Thomas for his meritorious service to the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Their induction is the first for a husband and wife team.
Teresa was a multisport athlete in high school at Gridley, Kan., where she lettered in softball, volleyball, track and basketball. She was captain of the basketball team, was a drum majorette in the marching band, had a pitching record from eighth grade to her senior year of 100-10 and graduated as the class valedictorian. She was recruited to Baker in 1977 by Coach Emmalie Gessner Polen to play for the Wildcats, who began intercollegiate athletic competition for women the previous year.
During her Baker career she pitched the Wildcat softball team to a record of 75 wins and 29 losses with the team making state, regional and national playoffs in the AIAW. During her senior year she led the ‘Cats to a first-place finish in the regional tournament where she was named to the all-tournament team. The team finished ninth that year at the national tournament. Additionally, while at Baker she played intramural volleyball, slow-pitch softball, basketball and powder-puff football and was selected the off-campus candidate for homecoming queen.
Following Baker, Teresa earned a Master of Education in human biodynamics and gerontology from the University of Kansas and later developed “Young at Heart,” a senior adult exercise program that has received recognition from the State of Kansas. She has held numerous positions in industry and works with a federal agency, Federal Occupational Health, where she supports the work of 270 nursing centers and 40 fitness centers. She has been recognized for her work on a number of occasions.
Thomas was an all-League performer in football and basketball at Lansing (Kansas) High School. He was an honorable mention all-state selection in basketball his senior year.
He played and lettered in basketball from 1977 to 1981 at Baker as a defensive specialist and shot-blocker in a career that found him playing for four different head coaches. During his senior year, he was elected captain of the team. On campus he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, was a member of the Blue Key Honorary and was voted the Senior Greek Man of the Year.
Following graduation Tom joined his family’s business, the Young Sign Company, in Leavenworth and currently serves as its president. He continued to play and later coach competitive basketball where his teams have won 16 league championships since 1982. As an artist he has always enjoyed doing fine art and in that regard has been commissioned to illustrate all of the inductees of the Baker University Athletic Hall of Fame for their induction plaques since 1981. He has additionally been asked to produce portraits for various University plaques for the Jim Irick Tennis Courts, for Coach Emil Liston, Karl Spear and Charlie Richard.
Tom and Teresa were married in 1981. Together they have two sons, Clayton and Trevor. They continue to be active in their church, professional organizations and community where they have given thousands of hours to coaching youth league athletics in soccer, baseball and basketball.
Ernest L. Swenson
Swede Swenson attended Concordia (Kansas) High School, where he lettered in football, playing offensive and defensive lineman. He played his first two years under Karl Spear, Baker alumnus and future coach and athletic director.
Following high school he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served from 1945-1946 in the Aleutian Islands. Upon returning from the service he enrolled at the former El Dorado Junior College (now Butler County Community College) and played one year for Baker alumnus and athletic great Coach Joe Wallace, ’38.
In the fall of 1947 he enrolled at Baker and was reunited with football coach Karl Spear and lettered all three years playing offensive and defensive lineman for the Wildcats. He started and received honorable mention for the all-conference team after the conference championship season of 1949. That team had a record of 7-2. On campus he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and as a letterman he was elected and served as the president of the “B” Club.
Following graduation he entered the field of high school teaching and coaching. From 1950 to 1953 he taught and coached basketball at Miami (Kansas) High School. From 1953 to 1965 he taught and assisted with coaching football, basketball and track at Osawatomie (Kansas) High School. Six of those years were served as head football coach.
Having earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Kansas in Education Administration in 1963 he soon began a second career in high school administration that lasted from 1965 to 1988. The last 20 years of his active career were served as the superintendent of schools for the Osawatomie School District.
Through his career he earned numerous honors and awards and served in appointed and elected positions of high responsibility within his career field and his community including among others: Rotary Club, the Osawatomie Chamber of Commerce, the Miami County Cancer Society, Miami County Hospital Board, the State Council of Superintendents, as a Bank Director of First Option Bank, as a member of the Baker University Alumni Board and as a life member of the National Education Association and its Kansas affiliate.
He was selected in 2000 to the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame in Dodge City, Kansas, and the Board of Education of USD 367 has named a building in his honor, “The Swenson Early Childhood Education Center”.
His first wife, Nina Ming, was a Baker graduate of 1953 and passed away at an early age.
He remarried in 1979 to Lurene Paddock. His children include Sandra Fryer, Greg Swenson, Vickie Autry, Lisa Loewen, and Doug and Paul Swenson.
John B. Flickinger
Jack Flickinger attended his first two years of high school in Baldwin City, where he played and lettered in both football and basketball. Due to World War II and the disruption of team sports at many of the nation’s smaller high schools with so many of the coaches having left for military service, Jack enrolled at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Mo. At Wentworth he lettered in football, basketball and track where he threw the shot put. As a senior in 1945, he was named Wentworth’s best all-around athlete and received the Conger Sportsmanship Award. In 1995, he was inducted into the Wentworth Military Academy Athletic Hall of Fame. After graduation from Wentworth he served in the U.S. Navy’s Hospital Corps.
Following his naval service he returned home to Baldwin City and enrolled at Baker during the spring semester of 1947. By taking a full load of course work and a summer school he was able to graduate in 1950 with a degree in biology. On campus he was a member of both the “B” Club and Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
His athletic career at Baker was outstanding as he lettered twice in basketball and for three years in football playing for Coach Karl Spear.
In football he played both offensively and defensively on the line at end. He was known as a sure tackler and a great blocker and made important catches for scores throughout his career. One such catch came as the game winner in the 1949 game at the College of Emporia where he wrestled a pass away from two defenders in the end zone to score the tying score with seconds left on the clock. The Wildcats went on to kick the extra point to win that game. They finished the season with a 7-2 record after defeating Ottawa in the final game and were crowned conference champs. Following that season, his senior year, he was a first-team all-conference selection. A member of the Wildcat yearbook staff wrote that the play of Jack Flickinger reminded him of stories that he had read about a big impact player, “Big Gawrge” Toomey, of the championship team of 1893.
After Baker, Jack graduated from the University of Missouri School of Dentistry and in 1954 and began a 44-year career as a dentist in his hometown of Baldwin City. During his career he was honored with election to the International College of Dentistry. He continues to serve in retirement as a volunteer at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, Kan., where he now resides. He is married to Patricia Ann Dashen and together they have a son, Brad.
Dawn Henderson Grosdidier
Dawn graduated in 1986 from Eudora (Kansas) High School following a distinguished academic, social and athletic career. In addition to maintaining honor roll status and perfect attendance for years, she participated in cross country, track and basketball. She lettered in each of these sports every year, was designated for all-league honors in all three sports and was the MVP in basketball for three years.
After having received scholarship offers from 22 colleges, Dawn enrolled at Baker where she graduated four years later with a Bachelor of Science in business and minors in accounting and coaching. She earned four varsity letters in basketball, three in track and two in cross country. In basketball she was the MVP in both 1989 and 1990, was the team captain her senior year and was selected all-conference in her junior and senior years. She had a career high of 34 points and established a school record with 1,538 points in her career — a record that stood for 11 years.
In track, she participated on the sprint medley team that broke a school record in 1988 at the District 10 meet at Emporia State. She also set school records in the 400-meter hurdles, the 800-meter run and as a team member on the 1600-meter relay. She was all-conference in 1989 on the women’s 4x800-meter relay team.
On campus she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and was active in a wide range of campus activities and student work programs.
Following graduation she began her career as the treasurer of the Eudora School District before moving on to work as an accounting coordinator and budget analyst in the Shawnee Mission School District. For the past eight years she has been with the Blue Valley Recreation Commission and has served as its director since 2002. She is a member of numerous professional associations and professional boards while at the same time volunteering countless hours to coaching a variety of youth league basketball teams. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Baker in 1994.
Dawn is married to Christopher Allen Grosdidier and together they have two children, Claire Elaine and Zachary Isaac. The Grosdidiers reside in Lenexa, Kansas.
Rick Quattrini
Rick Quattrini was recruited to Baker by Coach Jim Irick following an outstanding athletic career at Pascack Valley High School in New Jersey. As a senior he served as the football team captain, was selected to the all-county and all-state first team on defense.
At Baker he started all football games on defense. In his junior year he was selected a tri-captain, led the team in tackles and was voted the team’s MVP. In 1974 he suffered a season-ending injury but was allowed to red-shirt that year. He returned in 1975 and was selected team captain, led the team in tackles and was once again voted the team’s most valuable player. As a senior he was selected to the first-team all-conference team and first-team All-District 10 and was named in 1975 one of the outstanding college athletes of America. On campus he was additionally an active member and officer in the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity.
Following graduation he studied Italian at the University of Genoa and later attended the University of Petroleum and Minerals at Daharan, Saudi Arabia.
Through his business career he has been involved in a wide range of entrepreneurial businesses, including the development of a concept model for luxury floating restaurants that led him to form a partnership that launched five 400-passenger vessels in New York. For his efforts he was awarded Nations Restaurant News top industry award for design and concept. Later he formed other businesses and partnerships that directed the design, construction and retrofitting of multiple inland excursion vessels, built luxury homes on the Hudson River waterfront, and most recently headed up the acquisition of a hotel room brokerage firm that has since become the largest such service provider in North America.
He is involved in a wide range of business related boards and is active in civic and philanthropic activities. He is married to the former Linda Ann Donovan and together they have four children, Justin, Derek, Christie Anna and Gianna Maria. The Quattrinis currently reside in Tenafly, New Jersey.
Roy Doleshal
Roy Doleshal attended high school at Wyandotte in Kansas City, Kansas, where he lettered in football and played baseball. He also played baseball throughout the city and was a member of a team in the Ban Johnson League. Prior to graduating he enlisted in the Marine Corps and spent one year in the South Pacific on an aircraft carrier near the end of World War II. Upon being honorably discharged, he returned home to graduate from Wyandotte in 1946.
He worked for a year before enrolling at Baker, where he immediately became a four-year starter in baseball, his true athletic love. He lettered all four years while playing for coaches Jack Austin and Russ Davee. He also played and lettered on the golf team and was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
Following graduation he began a teaching and coaching career before being called for reenlistment in the Marine Corps. He attended officer school, was commissioned and served in the Korean War as a Platoon Commander and Legal Officer. He remained active in the Marine Corps reserves for several years retiring as a Lt. Colonel in 1970.
He maintained his association with baseball throughout his early-mid life and pitched, coached and umpired in numerous recreational and semipro leagues near his home.
He had a distinguished 35-year career in business with The Travelers Real Estate Division, where he held a number of management positions in Kansas City, Cleveland, Wichita and for his last five years with the company in Dallas where he served as vice president of the Southwest Division. He retired in 1989 and moved to Northwest Arkansas, where he could play competitive tennis and play golf year-round.
He lives in Bella Vista with his wife, Jean. He has two sons, David and Bradley, from a previous marriage.