Central adds three to athletics hall of honor

Central Dutch Athletics

PELLA—Three former all-America student-athletes who are making an impact in their postgraduate careers are the newest members of the Central College Athletics Hall of Honor.

A two-sport all-American as a football defensive back and track and field sprinter, Andrew Paulsen ’98, will be inducted along with all-America track and field sprinter Tony Brownlee ‘02 and the college’s only Honda Division III female athlete of the year, softball pitcher Libby Hysell Carlton’03.

A banquet for the honorees is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28 in the Harry and Bernice Vermeer Banquet Hall in the Graham Conference Center while the induction will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29 in the Schipper Fitness Center lobby. Both events are open to the public. Cost of the banquet is $25 and reservations are required. There is no admission charge for the induction ceremony. Contact the athletics department at 641-628-5226 for more information.

Established in 2002, Central’s hall of honor is intended to recognize those who were exceptional performers in the athletics arena as a student-athlete, coach or administrator, and who have distinguished themselves in life after graduation through service and leadership. To be eligible for consideration, a nominee must have graduated or served as a Central coach/administrator at least 15 years earlier. Current Central staff members are typically not considered. This year’s inductions will raise the hall’s membership level to 57.

A rotating nine-member selection committee includes alumni from five different eras (prior to 1970, 1970-79, 1980-89, 1990-99 and 2000-09) as well as three other alumni, along with athletics director Eric Van Kley.

Brownlee a national champ, campus leader—Brownlee anchored Central’s 2002 NCAA Division III champion 4×400-meter relay team. He received all-America distinction four times, also finishing third in the relay at the 2001 indoor meet and fifth in the 2002 indoor meet, while placing fifth in the 2002 indoor long jump. He was also a two-time national meet qualifier in the 4×100-meter relay.

In the Iowa Conference, Brownlee was a 20-time placewinner, taking first place in the 2001 indoor long jump and the 2001 outdoor 4×100 and 4×400 relays. He also placed in the indoor 55, outdoor 100 and indoor and outdoor 200 meters.

The 2002 team MVP, Brownlee was a squad co-captain. He received the team’s Most Valuable Freshman Award in 1999, the Most Improved Performer Award in 2000 and the Effort Award in 2001.

The Dutch captured the 2000 and 2001 league outdoor titles and placed in the top 20 at the national outdoor meet during each of Brownlee’s four seasons, finishing third in 2000, sixth in 2001 and seventh in 2002.

On campus, Brownlee served as student senate president and as a student representative to the college’s board of trustees.

Brownlee later earned an M.B.A. degree in marketing at Iowa State University, where he served as president of the Iowa State M.B.A. Association.

After working with Wells Fargo Financial and John Deere Credit while serving as a consultant to the Iowa Small Business Development Center, Brownlee took his present position as executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Kingland Systems in Clear Lake in 2003. He also serves on the company’s board. He’s a member of the Securities Financial Markets Association, the LEI Financial Stability Board, the International Standards Organization and the Enterprise Data Management Council.

Brownlee serves on the Clear Lake School Board, the Central College National Advisory Council, the Iowa State MBA Executive Advisory Council and the Iowa State CyBIZLab Advisory Council. He’s served in a variety of roles at Zion Lutheran Church at Clear Lake and is a youth sports coach as well as a former member of the Clear Lake Youth Athletic League board.

Carlton a national player of the year—Carlton led the Dutch to the 2003 NCAA Division III softball championship. A three-time all-America honoree and 2003 team and Iowa Conference MVP, Carlton was the NFCA Division III player of the year after posting a 17-0 record with 10 shutouts and a stingy 0.41 earned run average with 148 strikeouts in 152.2 innings. She was then honored in New York City with the Honda Award as the top Division III female student-athlete in any sport for 2003.

A three-time first-team all-conference pick, she was a third-team all-America choice in 2001, second-team selection in 2002 and first-team honoree in 2003. She was a four-time NCAA tournament participant, twice reaching the national finals. The Dutch were second in the U.S. in 2001 before winning it two years later. Central won three league championships in Carlton’s four seasons.

She posted a career 70-16 mark with a school-record 0.70 ERA and a record 33 shutouts. She had four career no-hitters. A Colfax native, Carlton ranks second in school history in career wins (70), second in strikeouts (582), third in winning percentage (.813) and fourth in innings pitched (605.1).

In 2013, Carlton was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletics Union Softball Hall of Fame.

Now a pitching instructor and youth league coach, Hysell operates a child day care service in Grimes.

Paulsen a two-sport all-American, nuclear pharmacist—Paulsen has the unique distinction of receiving all-America honors in both football and men’s track and field.

A standout at Waverly-Shell Rock High School, Paulsen was a 1998 AFCA Division III all-America team pick and a second-team choice on the Hewlett-Packard all-America squad. He was also a first-team all-conference selection and received Central’s Mel VerMeer Loyalty Award.

His seven interceptions in 1998 are tied for third on Central’s all-time list, and his 20 passes defended ranks second. For his career he’s tied for second in passes defended (39), fourth in punt return yards (631), tied for ninth in interceptions (11) and ninth in punt return yard average (10.9). He compiled 163 tackles over four seasons with 28 pass breakups. Paulsen was a member of two conference championship teams and a two-time NCAA playoff participant.

The 1996 men’s track and field team MVP and 1998 co-captain, Paulsen received all-America distinction after helping the Dutch finish fourth in the 1998 4×400-meter relay. He also was a national qualifier in the 4×100. He was a nine-time conference placewinner in the relays, 100 meters, 400 meters and long jump. Central won three league team titles during Paulsen’s career and placed eighth at the 1998 national meet, after finishing 21st the previous year.

Following graduation, Paulsen played semipro football in Germany for two years.

Paulsen received masters of public health and doctor of pharmacy degrees from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and Public Health. He worked for Hot Shots Nuclear Medicine in Rockford, Illinois and is now a nuclear pharmacist, supervising the radiopharmaceutical laboratory in nuclear medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He’s also served as a youth soccer and basketball coach.

Central College Athletics Hall of Honor inductees

2002

Vern Den Herder football, men’s basketball

Dr. Camilla Ratering McCalmont cross country, track and field

Ron Schipper football coach, athletics director

Dick Schultz baseball, basketball, football

Richard “Babe” Tysseling baseball, basketball, football, track and field; football coach; athletics director

Jeff Verhoef men’s basketball

2003

Dr. Richard Dykstra football

Gertrude Beintema athletics department office manager

Marcie Thurn Rohach track and field

Clarence Wilkins basketball

Brian Goldsworthy golf

2004

Denise Boll basketball

Dr. Kenneth Weller Central president

Dana Snoap basketball

2005

Tom Stone football

Nancy Cisar Wright track and field

Scot Storjohann football, wrestling

2006

Laurie Sutten Flynn softball, basketball

Joe Jaspers golf, basketball

Scott Lindell football

Lori Nolte cross country, track and field

2007

Eldon Schulte.football, baseball, basketball, track and field

Lisa Broek women’s track and field

Rich Thomas football

2008

Bruce Heerema football, baseball, track and field

Harold De Bie basketball

Christi Van Werden softball, women’s basketball

2009

Dick Bowzer football, basketball, baseball, tennis, coach

Kim Doyle golf

Mark Muyskens men’s cross country, men’s track and field

Jamie Mahnke Zyzda softball

2010

Jeff Blythe football

Gary Boeyink baseball, basketball, coach

Emilie Hanson Brown women’s basketball

2011

Shannan Mattiace women’s tennis

Rich Kacmarynski football, coach

Kevin Sanger track and field, football, coach

2012

Tim Hackel wrestling

Jon McGovern wrestling

Emily Grimes Rottinghaus softball

Jack Walvoord basketball, coach

2013

John Bermel men’s golf

Mark Kacmarynski football

Brian O’Donnell football

Cindy (Kline) Olson women’s golf

2014

Megan Clayberg coach

Rick Sanger football, men’s track and field
Jeff Schneekloth men’s tennis

2015

Randy Busscher football, men’s track and field

Jason Christenson wrestling, coach

Chris Hulleman football

Abbie (Brown) Sogard volleyball, women’s basketball

2016
Candace Wilson DuRegger volleyball

Al Dorenkamp football, athletics director
Rick Perry, football, men’s basketball

2017

Donell Hotze Kvaal softball
Molly Parrott women’s basketball, softball

Angie Nielsen Sears volleyball

2018

Tony Brownlee, men’s track and field, football

Libby Hysell Carlton, softball

Andrew Paulsen, men’s track and field, football