MOUNT VERNON – Four new members will be enshrined in Cornell College's Athletics Hall of Fame during Saturday's Homecoming activities on campus.
The Class of 2021 features volleyball record holder Kori (Sims) Shingles '04, basketball's all-time steals leader Carl Small '95, NCAA wrestling finalist Max Bjerke '95 and standard-setting baseball catcher David Welter '76.
The Hall of Fame inductions will be held Saturday in conjunction with the Alumni 'C' Club Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. in the Smith Dining Room at the Thomas Commons.
Kori Shingles
Shingles, a native of Kansas City, Kan., helped build Cornell Volleyball into the championship program it is today. The dynamic middle hitter led the Rams to their first winning season in 13 years in 2003. The following season as a senior, Cornell went 23-13 and reached the championship match of the Iowa Conference Tournament.
A three-time team MVP and the 2004 Ellen Whale Senior Female Athlete of the Year, Shingles earned first team all-IIAC honors as a junior and senior. She is the first Cornell player to reach 1,000 kills and ranks in the career top 10 in 10 statistical categories.
Shingles turned in a spectacular senior season in which she accumulated 482 kills and 586.5 points, school records that still stand today. She also holds the program record for attack percentage (.349) in a season. Shingles is the former school-record holder for kills in a match (27).
Shingles played in 113 career matches, helping the Rams improve their season win total four consecutive years. She finished with 330 total blocks and 106 solo blocks, both ranking No. 2 all-time. Her 3.77 points per set stand No. 3 on the school's career chart. Sporting a career .285 attack percentage, Shingles amassed 1,151 kills and averaged 3.01 kills per set.
Carl Small
Coach Gary Grace made these raving remarks following Small's final basketball game as a Ram, "Carl's the best defensive player I've coached. As far as I'm concerned, no one else should wear his jersey number of zero."
Small, a three-time all-MWC guard from Maquoketa, was a tenacious defender who still stands as the all-time steals leader in Midwest Conference and Cornell history with 277 thefts. He broke Cornell's single-season steals record each of his final three seasons on the Hilltop, including 96 as a senior when he ranked No. 4 nationally with 4.4 steals per game.
Small helped guide Grace's 1993-94 team to its first MWC championship in 24 years. The Rams went 17-8 and qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1976. Cornell was runner-up in the MWC in 1991-92.
Small's 10 steals in a 1995 game against Illinois College remains a school record. Cornell's floor general distributed 380 career assists, fourth-most in program history. He netted 596 points and shot 74.7 percent from the foul line over 92 games.
Small gained first team all-MWC accolades in 1995, when he was also voted Cornell's Sportsman of the Year.
Max Bjerke
Bjerke, of Albert Lea, Minn., was a pinner and a winner during his four seasons in a Cornell wrestling singlet from 1991-95.
The three-time NCAA qualifier finished second at 134 pounds at the 1994 Championships, helping coach Steve DeVries' Rams to a 13th-place team showing. That junior campaign, Bjerke posted a 41-5 record – the third-most wins in a season by a Ram – and pinned 16 opponents.
Bjerke captured MWC individual titles in 1992, 1994 and 1995. The Rams won back-to-back conference team championships in Bjerke's final two seasons, after taking runner-up the previous two years. Cornell's 1993-94 squad went 10-2 in duals, marking the highest team winning percentage in a season since 1950.
Bjerke ranks fourth on Cornell's career list with 44 pins, which was a modern-day program record upon his graduation. He fashioned a glossy four-year record of 121-31-1. Bjerke stands fifth in career wins and sixth in winning percentage (79.1) in Cornell history.
The four-year starter was selected Cornell's 1992 First-year Male Athlete of the Year and 1995 Paul K. Scott Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
David Welter
Welter stamped his legacy behind home plate as one of the greatest catchers in Cornell baseball history. The Waterloo native is the program's first player to garner first team all-conference honors in four consecutive years.
Welter played a position at which platooning is common in today's game. But from 1973-76, Welter caught every inning of every game he suited up for the Rams. One vivid memory against rival Coe, Welter was tasked with catching three games in the same day, and he did just that.
The three-year team captain was a career .355 hitter and compiled 130 RBIs from the cleanup spot in the lineup. He threw out 80.0 percent of runners attempting to steal and carried a .960 fielding percentage.
Welter was a member of the Midwest All-Star Baseball Team in 1975-76. He directed the Rams to three MWC Tournament appearances. Following his final baseball season, Welter was invited to the Cincinnati Red Spring Training in 1976.
Cornell's 1976 Sportsman of the Year, Welter was also a four-year football letterwinner on the offensive line. The Rams finished runner-up in the MWC twice, including a strong 7-2 showing in Welter's senior season.
