SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Former longtime Neosho High School cross country and track and field coach Harry Lineberry, his two championship squads and former Joplin High School volleyball standout Neely Burkhart were among those honored at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s Women’s Sports Luncheon on Wednesday at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center.
Lineberry and Neosho’s state championship 1983 and ’84 girls cross country teams were inducted into the Hall of Fame, while Burkhart was recognized with a Wynn Award, which is named in honor of the late Dr. Mary Jo Wynn, the pioneer of women’s athletics at Missouri State University.
Lineberry coached track and field and cross country for 33 years (1979-2011) at Neosho High School.
His ’83 and ’84 girls cross country teams won Class 4 state championships. Additionally, his boys and girls track and field teams combined for nearly 30 conference championships. Lineberry’s girls and boys cross country squads won 18 conference championships, 10 district titles and six sectional championships.
Lineberry is a 1966 graduate of Slater High School, where he was a five-time state medalist in track and field. He graduated from Missouri Valley College in 1970 after earning four letters in track and cross country.
Lineberry initially worked for the Miami school district and then for Marshall High School.
Lineberry is a 2008 inductee of the Missouri Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Neosho’s girls cross country squads of ’83 and ’84 won Class 4 state team championships, becoming the first in Southwest Missouri to do so.
Coached by Lineberry, the ’83 Wildcats featured Deanna Cole, Teresa Morehead, Tammy Townsend, Dawn Davies, Debbie Groh and Becky Freund.
Townsend won the first of her two state titles (19:33), and Morehead placed sixth and Freund was seventh. The ’84 team had everybody back from the year before – and added freshmen Amber Townsend and Tracy Morehead.
Tammy Townsend won state, improving on her ’83 time by five seconds and beating a field of 146 other runners. Amber Townsend was 12th.
That team had placed third in districts as Lineberry withheld an injured Teresa Morehead, whose return helped fuel sectional and state team victories.
The Wynn Award recognizes former high school, college and Olympic athletes who made positive impacts on women’s sports, or those who contributed to the advancement of women’s sports in the Show-State.
Burkhart was one of the top volleyball players in the region in the early 1990s. She was an all-conference, all-district and all-area selection in both her junior and senior seasons at Joplin High School. Burkhart also earned all-region recognition as a senior.
After her prep career, Burkhart went on to become a four-year starter at outside hitter for Missouri Southern.
A two-year captain for the Lions, Burkhart ranks in the top 10 in six different statistical categories at MSSU, including first in digs (1776), second in aces (211), third in attack attempts (3957), fourth in kills (1421) and fourth in hitting percentage (.268).
Burkhart, was an honorable mention All-MIAA selection in 1994 and a second team pick in both ’95 and ’96, is a member of the Missouri Southern Athletics Hall of Fame.
Burkhart is a physical therapist with Freeman Health Systems in Joplin.
MORE INFORMATION: https://mosportshalloffame.com/hall-of-fame-inducts-judy-rankin-at-womens-sports-luncheon/
Missouri Southern State University Athletics Hall of Fame (touchpros.com)
