Hall of Fame Inductees Honored
Jeff Brennan, Don Walls, Jamie Taxted, LuAnn (Thurn) Van Kirk, as well as the 1975 Boot Hill Bowl Championship Football Team, were honored.
Four new members and one team, were enshrined into the Buena Vista University Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 6. Jeff Brennan, Don Walls, Jamie Taxted, LuAnn (Thurn) Van Kirk, as well as the 1975 Boot Hill Bowl Championship Football Team, were honored during halftime of the football game and in a banquet that evening.
Van Kirk was a four-year member of the women's basketball team before graduating in 1981. She was an all-conference performer as a freshman, a member of the team's 1,000-point club while also ranking in the top-25 all-time in career rebounding. She was part of a four-year run that went 80-22 overall, 36-7 in conference play and won an IO-KOTA conference title in 1979-80.
Walls was a three-sport athlete for Buena Vista, earning four letters in both basketball (1991-95) and baseball (1991-95), while lettering twice in football (1994-95). On the court, he left as the program's all-time leader in both assists (480) and steals (336). Both records still stand today. He was Second Team All-Conference performer in football while earning Honorable Mention accolades on the diamond.
Taxted wrestled for BVU Hall of Fame Coach, Al Baxter, and became the program's sixth NCAA Individual Champion when he captured the title at 125-pounds in 2002. He's a two-time All-American after placing third in 2001.
Brennan was a 2001 graduate and was a four-year member of both the Beaver football and track and field teams. He was an All-American in both sports and was an Iowa Conference indoor champion in both the 600m and 1,000m runs.
Playing under legendary head coach and BVU Hall of Famer, Jim Hershberger, the 1975 Beaver football team went 7-2 in the regular season, including a 6-1 mark in conference play. It concluded the season playing St. Mary of the Plains College in the sixth annual Boot Hill Bowl, where it picked up a 24-21 victory at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City, Kan., concluding the year with seven straight wins. The team had six all-conference selections as well as an Honorable Mention All-American.