GSAA Hall to add three new members
By Terry Hersom Journal sports editor | Posted: Friday, March 21, 2008
Special people with special achievements to their credit.
The 62 previous inductees into the Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame represent a formidable cross-section from the Sioux City sports scene's past.
The three new members of the hall are certainly no different.
Cheryl (Dreckman) Carter, Don Wengert and the late Don Fleming will be honored next Wednesday at the annual Sertoma Sports Dinner.
The event, featuring University of Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta, will take place at the Sioux City Convention Center and tickets may still be purchased by calling Denny DuFault (712-224-2419) or Clarence Carney (712-277-2947).
The former Cheryl Dreckman became the all-time scoring leader for women's college basketball in Iowa when she graduated from Briar Cliff in 1990 with 3,248 career points.
Although Northwestern's Debbie Remmerde ended her 18-year scoring reign in Iowa earlier this winter, Carter is still the seventh most prolific scorer for all levels of women's college hoops in the U.S. and ranks fourth overall for athletes from NAIA schools.
Playing six-player basketball at Marcus High School, the 5-foot 8-inch guard scored another 2,553 points, averaging 43.4 a game as a senior on a 1986 squad that was 23-0 before a second-round state tournament loss to Fairfield.
At Briar Cliff, Carter helped the Chargers to a four-year mark of 87-36. She averaged 23.1 points as a freshman, 26.9 as a sophomore, 28.3 as a junior and 27.3 as a senior, garnering NAIA All-America laurels three times.
In addition to her scoring, she is still BC's career (748) and single-season (219) leader in assists and also the career (495) and season (148) record-holder for steals.
Wengert was a multi-sport athlete at Bishop Heelan High School, graduating in 1988. After high school, his focus turned strictly to baseball, where he became the all-time winningest pitcher at Iowa State University -- a mark that still stands for a program that has since been disbanded.
Drafted in the fourth round by the Oakland Athletics in 1992, Wengert made his major league debut less than three years later, on April 30, 1995. He pitched for six different teams during a seven-year big-league career -- the Athletics along with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates.
A starter early in his career with Oakland, he spent much of his major league service as a middle reliever, making 48 starts in 160 appearances.
Prior to Wengert, the last Sioux City native to reach the major leagues was infielder Dick Green (Kansas City and Oakland A's, 1963-74), who was an infant when his family relocated to Rapid City, S.D.
Wengert was the first Sioux City high school graduate to make it to "The Show'' since Baseball Hall of Famer (and GSAA Hall of Famer) Dave "Beauty'' Bancroft, whose 16-year career ended in 1930.
Fleming was one of Sioux City's finest high school athletes and went on to become one of the city's premier prep football coaches, as well.
A 1937 graduate of East High, where he was an all-stater in football and basketball, he played both sports at Creighton University. Fleming was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1976.
A wingback on the once-prominent football program at Creighton, Fleming scored 86 points as a sophomore in 1938, ranking fifth in major college football in scoring and first among the nation's sophomores.
He was also captain of the 1941 Creighton basketball team that qualified for an eight-team NCAA Tournament, just the third year for a "Big Dance'' that has since grown to 65 teams.
As a coach, Fleming directed football teams to four state championships in three different states. That list included the 1961 mythical state champs from Heelan, where he was 81-32-10 in 14 seasons (1955-68) as the head coach.
Fleming also had Nebraska state championship teams at Omaha Creighton Prep (1947) and Nebraska City Lourdes (1973) along with a Wisconsin Catholic schools champion at Milwaukee Don Bosco.
The 62 previous inductees into the Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame represent a formidable cross-section from the Sioux City sports scene's past.
The three new members of the hall are certainly no different.
Cheryl (Dreckman) Carter, Don Wengert and the late Don Fleming will be honored next Wednesday at the annual Sertoma Sports Dinner.
The event, featuring University of Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta, will take place at the Sioux City Convention Center and tickets may still be purchased by calling Denny DuFault (712-224-2419) or Clarence Carney (712-277-2947).
The former Cheryl Dreckman became the all-time scoring leader for women's college basketball in Iowa when she graduated from Briar Cliff in 1990 with 3,248 career points.
Although Northwestern's Debbie Remmerde ended her 18-year scoring reign in Iowa earlier this winter, Carter is still the seventh most prolific scorer for all levels of women's college hoops in the U.S. and ranks fourth overall for athletes from NAIA schools.
Playing six-player basketball at Marcus High School, the 5-foot 8-inch guard scored another 2,553 points, averaging 43.4 a game as a senior on a 1986 squad that was 23-0 before a second-round state tournament loss to Fairfield.
At Briar Cliff, Carter helped the Chargers to a four-year mark of 87-36. She averaged 23.1 points as a freshman, 26.9 as a sophomore, 28.3 as a junior and 27.3 as a senior, garnering NAIA All-America laurels three times.
In addition to her scoring, she is still BC's career (748) and single-season (219) leader in assists and also the career (495) and season (148) record-holder for steals.
Wengert was a multi-sport athlete at Bishop Heelan High School, graduating in 1988. After high school, his focus turned strictly to baseball, where he became the all-time winningest pitcher at Iowa State University -- a mark that still stands for a program that has since been disbanded.
Drafted in the fourth round by the Oakland Athletics in 1992, Wengert made his major league debut less than three years later, on April 30, 1995. He pitched for six different teams during a seven-year big-league career -- the Athletics along with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates.
A starter early in his career with Oakland, he spent much of his major league service as a middle reliever, making 48 starts in 160 appearances.
Prior to Wengert, the last Sioux City native to reach the major leagues was infielder Dick Green (Kansas City and Oakland A's, 1963-74), who was an infant when his family relocated to Rapid City, S.D.
Wengert was the first Sioux City high school graduate to make it to "The Show'' since Baseball Hall of Famer (and GSAA Hall of Famer) Dave "Beauty'' Bancroft, whose 16-year career ended in 1930.
Fleming was one of Sioux City's finest high school athletes and went on to become one of the city's premier prep football coaches, as well.
A 1937 graduate of East High, where he was an all-stater in football and basketball, he played both sports at Creighton University. Fleming was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1976.
A wingback on the once-prominent football program at Creighton, Fleming scored 86 points as a sophomore in 1938, ranking fifth in major college football in scoring and first among the nation's sophomores.
He was also captain of the 1941 Creighton basketball team that qualified for an eight-team NCAA Tournament, just the third year for a "Big Dance'' that has since grown to 65 teams.
As a coach, Fleming directed football teams to four state championships in three different states. That list included the 1961 mythical state champs from Heelan, where he was 81-32-10 in 14 seasons (1955-68) as the head coach.
Fleming also had Nebraska state championship teams at Omaha Creighton Prep (1947) and Nebraska City Lourdes (1973) along with a Wisconsin Catholic schools champion at Milwaukee Don Bosco.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
