26th Class inducted into Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame

Celebrating 26 years of the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame, four individuals and one team represented the Class of 2024 at the Hall of Fame festivities held Saturday, February 1, in the Earle N. Wright Community Room.

Those inducted were tennis player Lloyd Bruce-Burgess, baseball player Brian Manwell, softball pitcher Lindsey (Davis) Nittler, volleyball athlete/coach Lana (Da Silva) Milner, and the 2010 national champion men's and women's cross country teams.

Cowley College athletic director Jeff Fluty said one of his favorite events of the year is the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and the luncheon is an opportunity to celebrate all that is good about college athletics.

"There is nothing more powerful than recognizing and celebrating the best of Cowley College athletics during our annual Cowley Tigers Athletic Hall of Fame weekend and induction ceremonies," Fluty said. "This past Friday and Saturday was special not only for the deserving inductees but for all Tiger supporters. Our pride of success was front and center; the Tiger Way was shining bright!"

Sponsors for the Hall of Fame luncheon on Saturday and Social on Friday night at the Burford Theatre were Community National Bank and Trust, RCB Bank, and Union State Bank.

Hall of Fame Bios:

Lloyd Bruce-Burgess

A native of Brockenhurst, England, Lloyd Bruce-Burgess was a two-time JUCO All-American at Cowley College, where he was ranked No. 3 and No. 2 by the NJCCA in singles and doubles, respectively, on a team ranked sixth nationally. He was also tabbed the ITA Region VI Player of the Year in 2010 thanks to records of 21-2 in singles and 14-8 in doubles.

Bruce-Burgess earned his communication studies degree in 2012 from Fresno Pacific, where he was a part of the 2011 NAIA national championship squad and 2012 NAIA national runner-up team.

Bruce-Burgess was named the head men's tennis coach at the University of Central Florida on August 8, 2024. Bruce-Burgess had previous coaching stops at the University of Iowa, South Florida, Wichita State, and Fresno Pacific—plus two seasons at UCF as assistant women's tennis coach.

Bruce-Burgess led the Knights to a historic inaugural campaign in the Big 12 during his debut season. Alongside his former player, Kareem Allaf, the tandem navigated UCF to a 7-0 start, the first in program history, before eventually attaining a 14-1 non-conference record, another school record.

The Knights would go on to defeat No. 23 Florida in the first round of the NCAA tournament, securing the program its first win over the Gators and second-ever qualification to the second round. 

Brian Manwell

Brian Manwell was a part of the Cowley College baseball program's first-ever World Series title and was honored along with the 1997 Tiger baseball team that was inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

After Cowley went 51-13 during Manwell's freshman season in 1996 but failed to qualify for the JUCO World Series, Manwell and the returning players would use the previous season as motivation to go 33-3 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division during the 1997 season.

Manwell was clutch in big games for the Tigers, earning wins in the final game of the sub-regional, regional, and JUCO World Series.

In the title game, Travis Hafner, who went on to a stellar 12-year Major League career where he hit 213 career home runs, hit a three-run home run in the 4-2 win over Seminole State College.

The team returned to Arkansas City to a hero's welcome as the community gathered outside W.S. Scott Auditorium to celebrate the team's World Series title.

Manwell would go on to spend two years as a member of the University of Oklahoma baseball team.

Lana (Da Silva) Milner

Lana (Da Silva) Lana (Da Silva) Milner has been a fixture of the Cowley College volleyball team, winning national championships as both a player and a coach.

A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, she came to play for Cowley College as a middle hitter, a setter, and an opposite hitter. At Cowley, she helped the team win their second national championship and finished third in the national tournament, winning two district and two KJCCC conference championships. Personally, Milner was awarded NJCAA All-American First Team, AVCA All-American Second Team, All-National Tournament Team, All-District First Team, All-Conference First Team, Tyler Junior College All-Tournament Team and was named a Top Three Athlete of the Greater Wichita Area. Statistically, she finished her career at Cowley with 561 kills, 944 assists, 509 digs, 176 blocks, and a .266 hitting percentage.

Off the court, she was awarded the Student-Athlete Academic Award twice, was named Cowley's Female Student-Athlete of the Year, and was named Cowley's Student-Athlete of the Month.

She completed her playing career at Pittsburg State University, averaging 1.62 kills per set and 0.66 blocks per set. She was awarded the NCAA DII ADA Academic Achievement Award, the Chi Alpha Sigma Class Award, and the Provost Award for Academic Excellence.

Milner returned to coach at Cowley after a stellar playing career in indoor and beach volleyball and with experience in coaching, having served as an assistant coach for Quincy University.

In 2023, she was named the AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year and is the only coach in Cowley athletics history to win a championship as both a player and coach.

She helped the Lady Tiger volleyball team win back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024, winning 81 matches in a row.

Lindsey (Davis) Nittler 

Lindsey (Davis) Nittler is the daughter of former volleyball coach and assistant athletic director Deb (Davis) Nittler and niece of legendary softball coach Ed Hargrove and women's basketball coach Linda Hargrove, and former Tiger three-sport athlete John Woodworth, who are each in the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Her sister, Ali, previously worked in the Tiger athletic department before becoming a business instructor at the school.

Davis was an All-American in 2001 when she helped the Lady Tiger softball team to its first-ever national tournament berth in Orlando, FL. At the time of her induction, she was the school record holder in lowest earned run average in a season (0.50), lowest earned run average in a career (0.68), most strikeouts in an extra inning game (17), lowest batting average against in a season (.142), and lowest batting average against in a career (.143).

She also ranked fourth all-time in shutouts (22) and wins (51) and second in career strikeouts (531).  

After graduating from Cowley, Davis accepted a softball scholarship to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she continued her success as a pitcher for the Lady Kangaroos.

2010 Women's Cross Country Team

Leaving no doubt as to who the best junior college women's cross country team was during the 2010 season, the Cowley College women's cross country team captured the program's first-ever national championship at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I national championships held in Spartanburg, S.C.

Cowley (75 team points) finished eight points better than national runner-up South Plains Community College (83 points) and 11 points in front of third-place Lansing Community College (86 points). There were 38 teams competing in the women's race.

Cowley head coach Vince DeGrado was named the NJCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

As they did all season, Lady Tiger teammates Purity Cheruiyot and Kaitlyn Belisle crossed the finish line one right after the other, with Cheruiyot (18:06) placing fourth in the 3.1-mile race and Belisle (18:15) finishing fifth. Both Cheruiyot and Belisle were named first-team All-Americans.

Cowley then had three runners follow each other across the finish line, with Val Bland (119:03) placing 22^nd, Cassy Kendrick (19:04) placing 23^rd, and Erika LaCroix (19:05) finishing 24^th.

Freshman Jessalyn Lanoy (19:10) was not far behind as she placed 29^th. Sophomore Leigh Ann Omarkhail (20:21) capped her Cowley career by finishing 90^th.

One week after capturing the program's first-ever national championships, the Cowley College women's cross-country teams made history with their win at the NJCAA Half Marathon Classic held in Shawnee Mission, KS.

2010 Men's Cross Country Team

With its top-five runners finishing among the top 38 placers at the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I National Cross Country Championships in Spartanburg, S.C., the Cowley College men's cross country team backed up its No. 1 ranking by bringing home the program's first-ever national title.

Cowley (94 team points) finished 16 points ahead of national runner-up Central Arizona Community College. While, South Plains Community College (118 team points) placed third. There were 36 teams vying for the national title.

Cowley College head coach Vince DeGrado was named the NJCAA Division I Men's National Coach of the Year.

Sophomore Josh Gracia capped his stellar career by earning second-team All-American honors by placing seventh in the five-mile race with a time of 24:28. Freshman Cameron Balser (25:03) was the next to cross the finish line as he placed eighth and was also named a second-team All-American.

While, Tiger freshman Brock Hime's time of 25:47 was good enough for 15^th place and honorable mention All-American recognition.

Cowley runners Tyson Christensen (25:58) and Shaun Koehn (26:13) placed 26^th and 38^th, respectively. Freshmen Isaac Wilson (27:32) and Victor Others (30:58) finished 102^nd and 239^th and contributed to the Tigers' first-ever national championship.

One week after capturing the program's first-ever national championships, the Cowley College men's cross-country team won the NJCAA Half Marathon Classic held in Shawnee Mission, KS.

The 2010 Tiger men's and women's cross country teams became the first NJCAA cross country programs to win a conference title, region title, national championship, and half marathon in the same season.