SPARTAN HALL OF FAME BANQUET HONORS THREE NEW INDUCTEES

ST. LOUIS, Mo.- On Friday night in the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex, Missouri Baptist University inducted Phil Goedeker, Ana Mercado, and Brian Buchmeier into the Spartan Hall of Fame, Class of 2012.

Dr. Thomas Smith, Director of Athletics, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and invited several members of University Administration and past inductees into the Hall of Fame to introduce the evenings award winners.

The 2012 Hall of Fame induction class was led by Brian Buchmeier introduced by 2011 HOF inductee Damon Burkhart. Buchmeier, was a standout baseball player for Missouri Baptist from 1997-2000. In his time at MBU, he was a three-time All-Conference selection, was named to the All-Region team and was an NAIA All-American in 1998.

Over his three years as a Spartan, he has a collegiate batting average of .358, to go along with a slugging percentage of .652. Brian amassed 29 home runs in those three seasons, while holding a fielding percentage of .961.

He put together a hitting streak of 15 games from March 16^th, 1998- April 4, 1998 and is one of only three players to score five runs in one game (vs. SIUE, March 26, 1998). In 2000, he recorded 26 doubles for the season, ranking him second all-time at Missouri Baptist. After graduation, Buchmeier played professionally for the Springfield Capitals of the Frontier League in 2001. Currently, Buchmeier is a financial consultant and Certified Financial Planner.

Phil Goedeker, inducted by Mr. Travis Brown (HOF Class of 1989). Goedeker came to MBU in the fall of 2002 and began playing volleyball at Missouri Baptist in the Spring of 2003. In his time at the University, Phil became one of the all-time greats in his sport to don a Spartan uniform.

In just his sophomore season, Goedeker was named to the MAMVIC West Conference Most Valuable Player in 2004 and continued to trend upward from there. In both 2005 and 2006, he was named an All-Conference First Team selection. Then during his senior year, Goedeker led the Spartans to a second-place finish nationally in New Orleans. While there, he was also named All-American First Team All-Tournament. Phil graduated as the all-time kills and aces leader at MBU, a record that he still holds today.

After Goedeker graduated, he played on the American Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour. In 2010, he was named the AVP Barefoot Wine Midwest Region champion. He advanced to the AVP draw in San Francisco, where he placed second. Phil now lives in St. Louis, is married to his wife, Maddison and they are expecting their first child in February 2013.

The final inductee of the night was Ms. Ana Mercardo, presented by Assistant Director of Athletics and current MBU men's volleyball coach, John Yehling. Mercado is still talked about to this day for those that saw her play with the Spartans from 2005-2006. She was the most impressive volleyball player to play at Missouri Baptist in the school's history.

In her first season as a transfer student, Ana got plenty of wards including, AMC Newcomer of the Year, Most Valuable Player, First Team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference. That season, she was also named as an NAIA First Team All-American as well as the Region V Player of the Year.

In 2006, the accolades continued, as Mercado again took home AMC MVP, First Team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference honors. She then duplicated her national awards from 2005, earning Region V Player of the Year and NAIA All-American First Team honors. The biggest award happened after all those in 2006, as Ana was named the Tachikara-NAIA Player of the Year, a first for the Missouri Baptist volleyball program.

Since her time at MBU, she has gone on to continue her success as a professional in Mexico. Ana won a championship and was named the best hitter in the professional league of Veracruz in 2009. Mercado is also a two-time MVP in both 2009 and 2011, in addition to her spending 10 years as a part of the Mexican National Volleyball team. Ana is the daughter of Jose Jorge Mercado Gonzalez Rubio and Cecilia Mercado. Ana still resides in Mexico and is a Project Coordinator at Badger Meter- Border Operations.

This year was the 19^th annual celebration at Missouri Baptist. Currently, there are 39 members of the Spartan Hall of Fame.