Van Buren County elects 5 to Hall of Fame

KEOSAUQUA - Tonight, Van Buren County will add five members to its Athletic Hall of Fame.

The five inductees come from a variety of ages and represent three different schools making up the current Van Buren County district.

Van Buren High has three inductees. One is from the former Stockport school and one joins from Harmony.

The inductees will be celebrated after the junior varsity and before the varsity of tonight's girls basketball games against Cardinal. Estimated time of the ceremonies is 6:30 p.m.

Dave Kirchner

Van Buren/Van Buren County

Kirchner was a Van Buren Community School staff member from 1966-2000 and has served as a volunteer and event worker from 1966 until the present day.

Kirchner served his entire career working for Van Buren. He kept stats for football from 1967-1999 and since has run the clock and the scoreboard.

Kirchner has worked with the basketball program, serving as assistant girls coach before moving to statistician, possession arrow operator and announcer from 1972 to present day.

Kirchner has worked at wrestling meets, track meets, softball and baseball games. He kept the books and ran the PA for baseball (since 2008) and softball (1990-2008) teams.

Kirchner taught senior English and social studies at Van Buren and was the high school counselor for 29 years.

Roxie Lawson

Stockport 1924

Lawson was a shortstop and pitcher for Stockport High School in 1924. He attended Iowa Wesleyan College later that year and eventually made his way to the big leagues.

Lawson played for two semiprofessional teams, the Keokuk Indians and Winneshiek County Giants. In Keokuk, he made $10 a game while also working on his family farm.

Scouts discovered Lawson after he threw a no-hitter for the Giants. He spent nine years in Major League Baseball, finishing with a career record of 47-39. In 1937, he went 18-7 and finished 19th in the most valuable player race.

Lawson played for the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns. He struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig the first time he faced each of them.

Abby (Roe) Manning

Van Buren 1996

Manning was one of the first superstars in Iowa girls 5-on-5 history. She was named first-team All-State in 1996.

Manning currently holds multiple state and school records. She averaged 39 points per game her senior year, a state record. She scored the most points in a game, 61, a state record.

Her 61-point game came against Fairfield Maharishi in 1996. She scored 53 points against West Burlington, the most all-time in a district tournament game. That 53-point game is sixth in any game. She also put up 53 against Cardinal in the regular season.

Manning was an All-State softball player in 1996 and qualified for the state track meet in at least two events in every year of high school. She finished third place in the long jump and fifth in the 200-meter dash in 1996.

Manning went on to play tennis and basketball at Buena Vista University before transferring to Kirkwood to pursue a career as an occupational therapist assistant.

She is the mother of Jackson and Isabel, who both lead current Van Buren County teams in scoring. She coached the Warrior girls volleyball team this fall.

Garrett Saunders

Van Buren 2015

Saunders holds a laundry list of school records.

Saunders was a major part of one of the best Van Buren athletic teams in recent memory.

He helped lead the Warriors to two state baseball tournaments, including one state championship appearance. That was in 2013, Saunders,' sophomore year. When he was a senior, the Warriors went undefeated in the regular season and made their second state tournament appearance in three years.

Saunders was clutch in the state tournament. In four games, he finished with a .533 batting average.

Saunders was a huge part of the football and track and field teams. He helped the Warriors football team to one playoff win in two appearances, throwing 29 touchdown passes as a senior.

Saunders holds three football season records and a career (completion percentage, yards, interceptions), and one basketball record (career assists). He eclipsed 1,000 points scored. He placed fourth at the 2015 state track meet in the 400-meter hurdles.

In baseball, he holds records for hits in a season and career, doubles for a season and career, steals for season and career, runs scored for season and career and career RBIs. He is tied for home runs in a season.

Saunders was a star at Central College, where he holds 10 school records. He currently plays shortstop for the Danville, Ill., Braves.

Sharon (Satterly) Pankey

Harmony 1964

Pankey was a two-time All Stater for Harmony in the early 1960s when girls played 6-on-6 basketball. She made the All-State squad in both 1963 and 1964, her junior and senior years.

In Pankey's senior year, she averaged 41.2 points and led Harmony past perennial power Mediapolis to make the state tournament.

At state, Pankey scored an incredible 61 points in a 92-75 win over Council Bluffs Lewis Central in the Rockets first-round game. She went 30-for-44 from the field during that game, eclipsing 60 points despite going just 1-for-3 from the foul line.

Pankey scored 3,103 career points, good for 93rd all-time in Iowa 6-on-6 history.