BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Former Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins, former Eastern Kentucky track and field/cross country head coach Rick Erdmann and former Austin Peay coach and administrator Cheryl Holt have been elected into the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame. They will be officially inducted at the annual OVC Honors Brunch which will be held Friday, May 31 at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville.
The Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame was organized in 1977 with the intent of honoring the coaches, administrators, faculty and staff that have been associated with the OVC for at least five years and provided extensive and outstanding service to the Conference. With the induction of this year's class, the membership will reach 86.
Dobbins served Southeast Missouri State University from 1991 through 2015, including as the University's chief financial officer and treasurer until assuming the role of President in July 1999, a position he held until July 2015. During that time he worked with faculty, staff, students, alumni, executive staff and the Board of Regents to develop and achieve the vision and goals of the University while also championing intercollegiate athletics while embracing key leadership roles in the OVC's governance structure.
Dobbins served as the Chair of the OVC Board of Presidents for three years while also making contributions with the OVC Finance Committee, the OVC Hall of Fame Committee and the Planning and Development Committee. Dobbins helped with the hires of two OVC Commissioners during this tenure, including Dr. Jon Steinbrecher in 2003 and Beth DeBauche, the first OVC female commissioner, in 2009.
Dobbins played a key visionary and support role in helping the OVC launch the OVC Digital Network, providing schools with high-definition video equipment to make it possible. In 1995, he was also involved with the OVC Board of Presidents in implementing a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement" that promotes principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The statement has become a model for others to follow across the nation and has answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics.
On campus, Dobbins led transformative change in 2004 when the athletics teams shifted its nickname from Indians to Redhawks. The year-long process saw collaborative work with the Student Government, Faculty Senate, athletic boosters, the National Alumni Council, local Native Americans, news media and the Board of Regents. He also oversaw enrollment management strategies that increased enrollment from a low of 7,925 in 1994 to more than 12,000 students in 2015.
For 39 years Erdmann defined excellence in the sports of cross country and track and field for Eastern Kentucky. During that time he won a combined 73 OVC Championships, was named OVC Coach of the Year an unprecedented 70 times, coached a combined 46 All-Americans and guided his cross country team to a No. 8 national ranking in 2016.
Erdmann guided EKU to OVC Championships in women's cross country (31), men's cross country (23), women's outdoor track and field (9), women's indoor track and field (4), men's indoor track and field (5) and men's outdoor track and field (1). His last title, the men's outdoor crown, came during his final season as head coach and capped EKU's first-ever OVC "Triple Crown," a sweep of cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in the same season (EKU was the first OVC team to accomplish that feat since 2003-04).
In cross country Erdmann coached 45 individual OVC champions and 10 Division I All-Americans. Six times his teams (3 men's, 3 women's) finished the OVC Championship with perfect scores (finishers 1-5). He won the 2013 NCAA Southeast Regional Men's Championship, was named Southeast Region Coach of the Year twice (2012, 2013) and had three individual NCAA Southeast Regional individual champions. In 2011, the Colonels men's team became the first OVC squad to qualify for the National Championship since 1980 and would go on to qualify five-straight season (2011-15) and also in 2018. In 2013 the team finished 15th nationally. In 2017, the EKU women's team became the first-ever OVC team to qualify for the National Championship, finishing 23rd overall.
In track and field he coached 36 NCAA Division I All-Americans, including four individual NCAA runners-up. Additionally he also coached three Olympians (Jackie Humphrey, Dallas Robinson and Ole Hesselbjerg). Following his retirement he was named "Head Coach Emeritus" for the program, which is now coached by his son Cory.
Holt contributed to the well-being of Austin Peay State University for 35 years serving in many roles including volleyball, tennis, softball and women's basketball coach, assistant athletics directors and Senior Woman Administrator. She was a pioneer in the Title IX movement, not only for Austin Peay but also for the OVC. She also was a champion for student-athlete's rights and causes, a powerful voice on countless committees and her teams consistently excelled in the classroom.
Holt received her master's degree from APSU and returned to campus in 1982 as the third volleyball coach in school history, while also taking over duties as the women's tennis head coach. She would hold the title of tennis coach until 1985, when she was asked to launch the Austin Peay softball program, serving as the Lady Govs head coach for two years. She would also later serve as an assistant women's basketball coach for one season (1984), after an assistant left mid-year. In 1997 she became the department's first Senior Woman Administrator and in 2003 assumed an assistant athletics director role, as spot she held until her retirement in 2017.
As volleyball coach (1982-2004) Holt compiled 364 victories and 19 consecutive OVC Tournament appearances in 23 years. She was named OVC Coach of the Year four times (1986, 1987, 1991, 1992) and won the 1991 OVC Tournament Championship (becoming the first APSU women's program to win an OVC tournament banner).
In 2012 she became just the third female coach/administrator inducted into the Austin Peay Hall of Fame. In 2011 the Lady Govs Softball Field was named Cheryl Holt Field in her honor.
