By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Athletics will welcome eight new members into the Tiger Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 28, 2023. The inductees going into the Hall of Fame this year include Dale Votapka (Wrestling, 1959-60), Jim Beltch (Wrestling, 1958-62), Steve Boehmer (Track & Field/Cross Country, 1967-71), Richard & Tawnita Augustine (Women’s Gymnastics, 1981-90), Daniel Traffas (Baseball, 1994-95), Shawn Behr (Football, 1994-95), Jamie (Heiman) Dreher (Women’s Basketball, 1999-2003), and Tyrone Shephard (Men’s Basketball, 2004-06).
The induction ceremony will take place the morning of Saturday, October 28 inside the Memorial Union on the campus of Fort Hays State University. Registration for the invitation only event begins at 8 AM and the ceremony begins at 9 AM. The new Hall of Fame class will then be recognized publicly at halftime of the Fort Hays State vs. Central Oklahoma football game, which begins at 1 PM.
Dale Votapka (Wrestling, 1958-60)
A native of Oberlin, Kansas, Dale Votapka was a two-time NAIA All-America performer at Fort Hays State in wrestling. He was the first All-America performer in the program’s history, placing third nationally at 115 pounds in 1959. He then finished as national runner-up at 115 pounds in 1960. His national title match in 1960 was against Gray Simons of Lock Haven, who is mentioned among the all-time wrestling greats in the United States as a four-time NAIA national champ, three-time NCAA champ, and two-time Olympian. Prior to enrolling at FHSU, Votapka served in the Navy and was on the All-Navy Wrestling Team in both 1956 and 1957. He placed fifth in the 1956 U.S. Olympic Trials. Once Votapka completed his tour of duty in the Navy, he attended FHSU. He was the Missouri Valley AAU champion three times. Votapka was elected to the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1984. He officiated wrestling at the high school level for 23 years, including 10 consecutive state championship tournaments. Votapka passed away in 2007.
Jim Beltch (Wrestling, 1958-62)
A native of Goodland, Kansas, Jim Beltch was a two-time NAIA All-America performer at Fort Hays State in wrestling. He wrestled for four years at FHSU from 1958-62. He was the second All-America performer in program history at FHSU, placing third nationally at 115 pounds in 1961 and was national runner-up at 115 pounds in 1962. He gave FHSU a four-year run of having an All-America performer at 115 pounds, following Dale Votapka who was the program’s first All-America performer with the same progression of national placements in 1959 and 1960 (3rd and 2nd). His national title match in 1962 was against Gray Simons of Lock Haven, who is mentioned among the all-time wrestling greats in the United States as a four-time NAIA national champ, three-time NCAA national champ, and two-time Olympian. Beltch was a four-time Missouri Valley AAU champion. He went on to coach in Kansas for 33 years, which included stops at Atwood Junior High School, Wellington High School, and Lawrence High School. He also served as a referee for 35 years at the youth, high school, and junior college levels. He was inducted into the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 2018.
Steve Boehmer (Track & Field, 1967-71)
A native of Bern, Kansas, Steve Boehmer was the indoor 1,000-yard run national champion in 1971, running the distance in a time of 2:14, which gained him NAIA All-America honors. He was a member of the 1969 FHSU National Championship Cross Country team and contributed to a second-place team finish at nationals in 1970. Boehmer was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion in the 880-yard run in 1969. He was a member of the 2-mile relay team that finished second at the NAIA Indoor Championships in 1968. He was a member of a distance medley relay team that went undefeated at the Texas, Kansas, and Drake Relays
Richard & Tawnita Augustine (Women’s Gymnastics, 1981-90)
Richard and Tawnita Augustine served as coaches of the Fort Hays State women’s gymnastics team from 1981 to 1990 and took over the head coaching role in 1983. The program had great success, producing eight All-America performers including Vicki (Thom) Smith, Amy Richardson, Shae Donham, Rena Lucke, Cary Hertel, Lisa Fenton, Carol Anne Leslie, and Jacque Douglas. They guided the program to Top-5 finishes in the NAIA five times (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). Within their time coaching the Tigers, they helped transition the program from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The program competed in both NAIA and NCAA Division II in 1988. The sport of gymnastics was strong in Kansas when they started with the program, but over time the shrinking number of local high school programs led to the need to recruit the entire nation. The Augustines reached out far and wide to build FHSU into a national championship contender by the mid-1980s with athletes from all over the United States including Hawaii, New York, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Maryland, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Kansas. By the last year of the program in 1990, FHSU was the only school remaining in Kansas with a women’s team.
Daniel Traffas (Baseball, 1994-95)
A native of Sharon, Kansas, Daniel Traffas was a pitcher at Fort Hays State for two seasons. He was the 1995 Mile High Intercollegiate Baseball League Pitcher of the Year as a senior, posting an 8-3 record with a 2.47 ERA. He made 12 starts that season and threw eight complete games. Three of those complete games were shutouts, with the last coming in the Mile High Intercollegiate Baseball League Tournament championship game that the Tigers won 4-0 over Mesa State at Larks Park to end a 34-13 season. Traffas struck out 65 batters in 76.2 innings of work and held opponents to a .213 batting average for the season. Traffas finished with a career record of 14-4 overall, which included a 6-1 campaign his junior year when he had 61 strikeouts in 52.1 innings of work and a 3.44 ERA. His .777 career win percentage at FHSU is still among the Top 10 in program history and his eight complete games in 1995 is tied for the most by a Tiger pitcher in a season since 1980. Traffas ranks seventh in career strikeouts per innings pitched rate (0.98). His 2.86 career ERA is ninth in program history, but best for the program since 1980.
Shawn Behr (Football, 1994-95)
A native of Great Bend, Kan., Shawn Behr was an AP All-America First Team selection at quarterback during his senior year of 1995. That year he set a new single-season passing yards record at FHSU with 3,497, completing 211 of 365 attempts, helping FHSU to an 8-2-2 record overall and a tie for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title with Western State, both at 6-0-1 after tying in the regular season finale in Gunnison. His passing yards record stood for 15 years until 2010. He also set the school record for passing touchdowns in a season with 34, which stood for 24 years until 2019. Behr led NCAA Division II in passing yards for the regular season in 1995 with 3,158. He helped the Tigers rank as high as No. 18 in the nation that year, make an apperance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, and tie the school record for wins in a season at the time. The 1995 season was the only year Behr was the Tigers’ starting quarterback after serving as a back up to Dustin McEwen in 1994. Behr threw for over 300 yards in a game six times in 1995, with a season-high of 390 against New Mexico Highlands on 24 completions. Even with just his one year as a starter, Behr ranked third on FHSU’s career passing yards (3,550) list at the end of his career, only behind Robert Long (7,002) and Dustin McEwen (5,718). Following his years at FHSU, Behr went on to play professionally in the World League of Professional Football for the Helsinki Roosters.
Jamie (Heiman) Dreher (Women’s Basketball, 1999-2003)
A native of Baileyville, Kansas, Jamie Heiman was a three-time all-conference performer in women’s basketball at Fort Hays State, playing from 1999-2003. She ranks seventh on the all-time scoring list at FHSU with 1,492 points, but ranked fifth when she completed her career. She was twice an All-RMAC East Division Second Team selection as a sophomore and junior before earning First Team honors as a senior. She averaged double figures in scoring all four years, finishing with a career average of 13.2 per game. She made 108 starts in 113 career games played. A 15.3 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game average were her highest single-season averages for each category, occurring during her junior year. She scored at least 388 points and pulled down at least 200 rebounds in each of her last three seasons. She ranks fourth all-time in rebounds at FHSU with 841, sixth in field goals made with 555, fifth in free throws made with 361, and fifth in blocked shots with 121. Heiman was also rock-solid in the classroom, named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Student-Athlete of the Year for Fort Hays State University in 2001-02 and she twice earned CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors.
Tyrone Shephard (Men’s Basketball, 2004-06)
A native of Seattle, Washington, Tyrone Shephard was the 2005-06 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year in a season where he helped Fort Hays State to a 27-4 overall record. The team reached the No. 1 ranking in the NABC Top 25 Poll and made it to the semifinals of the NCAA Central Regional. He was also an All-America Third Team selection that year by Daktronics and Division II Bulletin. He helped the Tigers go near-perfect in conference play with an 18-1 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and had an 18-game win streak that season. Shephard was a two-time All-RMAC selection, earning second-team honors in his junior year of 2004-05 before the first-team and conference player of the year honors in 2005-06. Shephard led a very balanced team in scoring his senior year at 13.8 points per game, shooting 47.3 percent overall, 43.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line, and 78 percent at the free-throw line, reaching double figures in scoring 20 times that season with 32 being his top scoring mark of the season. Shephard also led the Tigers in scoring his junior year at 13.9 points per game and scored a total of 816 points over his two years at FHSU. Shephard went on to play professionally in Mexico for two years following his time at FHSU.