Mary Lou (Fretz) Roush earned 11 Varsity B letters as a Bluffton student and was named Outstanding Senior Woman Athlete. During her college career, she played volleyball, basketball, softball and tennis.
It was in tennis that she excelled. She held an undefeated match record during her playing career and led the women’s tennis team to an undefeated record.
She was also a member of the Pi Delta honorary, and traveling was part of her busy schedule. “As a student, I was fortunate to p
articipate in two Mennonite study tours of several foreign countries, including Colombia and Zaire. I was with the A Cappella choir tour of Europe during the summer of 1970. Attending Bluffton provided the opportunity not only for me to meet most all students on campus, but also to develop lasting friendships with classmates, faculty and staff,” she said.
After earning a degree in elementary education in 1970, she served as an admissions counselor for Bluffton, then a lecturer in and director of the Professional Introduction to Education Program at Ohio State University’s Lima campus. She has also been a developmental reading teacher for Owens Technical, now Community, College and an elementary reading specialist in the Washington Local Schools, both near Toledo.
. For his career, Goings had 3,338 yards in 580 attempts, plus 47 touchdowns and two conversions for 284 points.
duated in 1970, he had been named to the NAIA all-district baseball team twice and the all-district basketball team once. He finished college with eight athletic letters and received the A.C. Burcky Award as Bluffton’s outstanding senior male athlete.
l other colleges, but nowhere did I feel that the people in the campus environment were as interested in other people as at Bluffton,” he said.
l education and recreation major at Bluffton who also holds a master’s degree from Marshall University—with a physical education major—and a principal’s certificate from Temple University.
Following stints at Ottawa-Glandorf and North Central high schools, Rob moved his family to Bucyrus, Ohio, and took over as head basketball coach at Wynford High School—a position he held for 24 years. In addition to coaching, Sheldon served as assistant principal and athletics director at Wynford.
ball teams of the early 1970s. In 1972, the four-year letterman helped lead the Beavers to a conference championship and was named first-team all-NAIA District 22. He also lettered one year each in basketball and baseball. A high school coach from 1973-87, he returned to Bluffton as offensive line coach from 1988-2006 and is now the Beavers’ running backs coach and director of academic support. He has been an adjunct instructor at Bluffton as well.
education from Bluffton and, in 1983, a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Dayton. He and his wife Melanie live in Ottawa, where he also taught at Ottawa-Glandorf High School from 1979-2005 and was athletic director for three years.
A graduate of Shaker Heights High School near Cleveland, where he lettered in football and basketball and was an all-league standout, Collier was urged to attend Bluffton by another Shaker Heights student, Henry Freeman. He became a four-year football letter winner at Bluffton, earning Hoosier-Buckeye Collegiate Conference and NAIA District 22 honors twice. He also was an honorable mention All-American, played in
Al Beitler, Greenbelt, Md., was a member of the Bluffton baseball team from 1973-76. Beitler was a pitcher who also compiled what remains the second highest Bluffton batting average in a season, going 17-for-34 (.500) at the plate in 1976. Beitler earned first-team All-Hoosier-Buckeye Conference honors and was named to the NAIA All-District Team.
He received two national awards his senior year, gaining second-team NAIA All-American recognition and honorable mention Little All-American. Only he, Elbert Dubenion ’59 and Greg Gilcrease ’89 have received first- or second-team All-American honors among Bluffton football players.
education, he was Bluffton’s leader in career assists (306) and among the top 10 in career scoring (1,192 points). He now ranks third in assists and 14th in scoring, as well as second in career steals (155). He is the only player in Bluffton history with at least 1,000 points, 300 assists and 150 steals.
Joining head football coach Carlin Carpenter’s staff as a strength and conditioning coach in 1988 in a voluntary capacity, Denny Phillips ’79 was promoted to assistant coach the following year. He dedicated 25 years to Beavers football and completed his final season in 2013 as the defensive backs coach. He also served as the special teams coordinator.
