The 2025 Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame Class will be inducted on Saturday, October 11^th during Hall of Fame Day activities on the Wayne State campus.  Four individuals and one team will be honored during halftime of the Saturday, October 11^th home football game vs. Bemidji State and will be formally inducted into the WSC Athletic Hall of Fame that evening with the Hall of Fame Banquet set for 6:15 p.m. in the Kanter Student Center that begins with a social at 5:30 p.m.
            2025 WSC Athletic Hall of Fame members include former Wayne State women's soccer standout Melissa Benson, swimmer James Brown, cross country and track runner John Kern, former Wildcat women's basketball coach and administrator Mike Barry and the 1972 Wildcat Softball Team.   
            Advance tickets are required for the event and cost $40 per person and $12 for children and can be purchased by calling the WSC Alumni Office at 402-375-7526 or registering online at https://www.wsc.edu/alumni-activities/athletics-hall-of-fame/3
            Listed below are the 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees:
            Melissa Benson (Athlete):  Melissa Benson was a 3 ½ year starter for the Wildcat women's soccer team from 2003-06.  The Maple Grove, Minnesota native was a three-time All-NSIC First Team selection and is the only player in school history to earn All-Region honors twice – All-Central Region First Team in 2005 as a junior and All-Central Region Second Team as a senior in 2006.
            Benson recorded 10 goals and 22 points in her sophomore season and produced nine goals and 19 points in her junior campaign.  As a junior and senior, she played on teams that were 11-9-3 and 10-10-1, the fourth and fifth-most wins in a single season in school history. 
            Benson ranks fifth in career goals (24) and is sixth in career points scored (54).  She played on four NSIC Tournament teams with two of those teams (2003 and 2005) placing third.  Benson is also the last Wildcat soccer player named to the NSIC All-Tournament Team in 2005.
            Benson graduated from Wayne State in 2007 with a degree in computer information systems and currently resides in Plymouth, Minnesota where she is a senior education consultant at CDW Amplified. 
            James Brown (Athlete): Omaha Benson graduate Jim Brown was a decorated swimmer at Wayne State from 1964-68.  He was a two-time Most Valuable Swimmer and four-year letter winner helping the Wildcats win the Nebraska College Conference and NAIA District 11 team titles all four years in the pool.
            Individually, Brown captured 11 NCC titles and swam on five championship relay teams and collected another 10 NAIA District 11 titles with six more relay championships specializing in the breaststroke and butterfly.  He was a NAIA National qualifier all four years, but missed the national meet his freshman season in Eau Claire, Wisconsin because he was stranded in Worthington, Minnesota due to a snowstorm.
            Brown closed his Wildcat swimming career holding six school records – five in individual events.
            Following his days at WSC, Brown was a teacher, administrator/athletic director and coach at Elkhorn High School for 33 years.  He was head coach of the three-time Girls Class B State Track and Field Championship teams in 1998, 1999 and 2000 where he coached two-time Olympian Alice Schmidt and was named Nebraska Coaches Association Coach of the Year. 
            During retirement, Brown stayed active in swimming and currently holds four Nebraska (US Masters) state records in the freestyle and butterfly events for ages 75-79.  He also served as a series manager for a number of professional sports car racing series from 2001-15 until he retired. 
            Jim Brown currently resides in Omaha with his wife Vicki.
            John Kern (Athlete): John Kern was a standout cross country and track and field runner at WSC from 2008-11.  A graduate of Cedar Bluffs High School, Kern ended his Wildcat career as a three-time NSIC champion, eight-time All-NSIC honoree and was an NCAA national qualifier as a senior in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
            Kern was named the NSIC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year as a senior after winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 10,000-meter run while placing second in the 5,000-meter run.  During the same outdoor season, he placed 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2011 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.
            During Kern's senior indoor season, he was the NSIC champion in the 5,000-meter run and was All-NSIC placing second in the 3,000-meters and third in the one-mile run.  Kern's name is still on five school records at WSC that include the indoor 3,000-meter run (8:31.51) and three events in outdoor track and field – the 1,500-meter run (3:51.90), 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:03.14) and the 5,000-meter run (14:42.15).
            In cross country, Kern was an All-NSIC First Team selection is his senior season after placing seventh at the conference championships and is the last Wildcat runner to receive All-NSIC First Team honors.
            Kern currently resides near Cedar Bluffs and is employed by Lincoln Tool and Design as a molding maintenance specialist. 
            Mike Barry (Coach/Administrator): Mike Barry worked 35 years at Wayne State College, starting his tenure at WSC as women's basketball coach and ending with a vision as associate athletic director that saw Wildcat athletics complete the largest construction project in WSC history with the recent completion of the $30 million Wildcat Dome/Athletic and Recreation Complex project.
            Barry served as women's basketball coach at Wayne State for seven years from 1989-96 where he compiled a record of 96-91.  His 1993-94 team was 22-5 and still holds the school record for points in a game averaging 82.4 points a contest.  Barry then transitioned to director of the sport and recreation center and was later promoted to associate athletic director and served as interim athletic director several times while at WSC. 
            Barry oversaw game management and facilities as associate athletic director and under his tenure Wayne State had a reputation in the Northern Sun Conference as being the most professional and organized venue in the league.  He was instrumental in his last five-six years at WSC with plans that led to the Athletic and Recreation Complex.
            A native of Grant, Barry was a four-sport athlete at Chadron State where he was a three-time NAIA National Track Meet qualifier in the triple jump.  He also lettered in basketball, football and cross country.  Barry earned his bachelor's degree from Chadron State in physical education in 1983 and obtained a master's degree in secondary education in 1988 also from Chadron State.
            While at WSC, Barry received the Lynette Lentz Professional Staff Recognition Award in 2015 and received a service and dedication award from the Northern Sun Conference upon his retirement in June, 2025.
            1972 Softball Team (Team): The 1972 Wayne State softball team had an unbeaten regular season, captured the Nebraska State Women's Championship and ended their season playing in the Women's College Softball World Series in Omaha against numerous Division I teams finished seventh out of 16 teams.
            The Wildkittens won the Nebraska College Women's Tournament in Wayne beating Chadron State 7-1, Kearney State 4-2 in the semi-finals and beating Nebraska-Omaha 5-4 in the finals to finish the regular season with a 9-0 record.  Pitcher Mary Gerken, shortstop Jan Nyquist, third baseman Sherri Harpoole and centerfielder Ann Fulkerson were named to the All-Tournament Team.
            At the Women's College World Series in Omaha, Wayne State posted a 2-2 record in the 16-team field to place seventh overall.  The 'Cats lost to Western Illinois in the opener 12-4 but bounced back with wins over Minot State 10-6 and Keene (New Hampshire) 15-0 before being eliminated by Central Illinois (Illinois State) by a score of 10-0.  The 16-team field included national champion Arizona State, runner-up Tokyo, Japan, third place Western Illinois and fourth place Illinois State.
            Wayne State finished the season with an 11-2 record under head coach G.I. Willoughby.