Coe to induct 4 into athletics hall of fame

CEDAR RAPIDS - Coe College announced Friday it will induct four people into its athletics hall of fame during homecoming weekend Sept. 18-21.

The 2014 HOF class is Lorri Eberhard Zeller, Brent Thurness and Marika Pewe. Zeller (class of 1984) played basketball and softball at the school, Thurness (1990) was a member of the football and track teams, Pewe (1995) a softball player and Vinyard (2002) a football and baseball player.

Here are the official bios, courtesy of Coe:

- A 20-year resident of Washington, Indiana, Zeller resigned from coaching and her position in the high school athletics office in 2012 to join her family's non-profit business, DistinXion, which operates basketball and cheerleading camps that also teach character. She and her husband, Steve, also make speaking engagements and will soon release their first book on parenting.

- The son of a Coe Hall of Famer Bob Thurness '62, Marion native Brent Thurness made his own name in Kohawk athletics. He was a three-year letterwinner in football and track at Coe. He subsequently received the Midwest Conference's Roy LeClere Award for posting the highest grade point average while lettering in at least two sports his junior year. After receiving an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, Thurness went on to study medicine and complete his anesthesiology residency at the University of Iowa. He is an anesthesiologist at Black Hills Surgical Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota.

- A four-year letterwinner and four-time All-Midwest Conference South Division honoree at first base, Pewe was team MVP as a sophomore in 1993. She graduated as the career leader in hits with 151, RBIs with 116 and home runs with 12. Her .376 career batting average ranked second in school history until 2000. During her four seasons in the lineup, Coe won four conference championships and earned two NCAA Division III tournament bids, placing second in the 1995 central regional. Pewe lives in Wheatland and is business manager at her high school alma mater, where she has worked since 2001. She recently resigned after nine years as varsity volleyball coach at Calamus Wheatland, but continues to coach junior high boys' and girls' basketball.

- Vinyard, an Ottumwa native, was a four-year letterwinner in football and baseball at Coe. A 2001 first-team All-American in football and academic all-region honoree in baseball, he was a two-time All-Conference performer in 2000 (first-team quarterback and second-team designated hitter). A recipient of numerous academic scholarships, Vinyard was named the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2002. Vinyard received his medical degree and orthopedic surgery residency training at the University of Iowa. He received sub-specialty training (fellowship) in the field of orthopaedic surgery sports medicine at the TRIA Orthopedic Center in the Twin Cities. He is currently an orthopedic surgeon in Des Moines, where he volunteers sports medicine coverage to the West Des Moines Valley Tigers and many other Iowa schools and events.

The inductees will be honored at the 42nd Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet on Sept. 19 and will be featured in the Homecoming Parade and before Coe's football game with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Sept. 20.