Bill Snyder inducted as part of inaugural class of St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame

Sep. 20—Bill Snyder added yet another laurel to his long lists of honors Sunday, as he was one of 10 people and one team inducted as part of the St. Joseph (Mo.) Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Born in St. Joseph, Snyder went on to become one of the greatest coaches in college football history in his 27 seasons at Kansas State. Snyder finished his time at K-State with an overall record of 215-117-1, which included Big 12 championships in 2003 and 2012. Lifting the Wildcats' program from obscurity into a consistent winner, Snyder was head coach at the time of the team's 300th, 400th and 500th all-time victories.

K-State's home stadium now bears the name of Snyder and his family. Prior to Sunday's induction, he already had been recognized by his hometown: Missouri Western State, located in St. Joseph, named the pavilion at Spratt Stadium the "Bill Snyder Pavilion" in July 2018.

Now a special ambassador for the university, Snyder was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

The other nine individual members of Sunday's induction class included Wes Barnett (two-time Olympic weightlifter), Byron Browne (10-year MLB veteran), Charlie Burri (Missouri Western State's first athletics director), Newt Hillyard (founder of the Hillyard Companies), Julius Hochman (the father of boys' baseball in St. Joseph), Terin Humphrey (two-time Olympic medalist in gymnastics), Henry Iba (Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame Coach), Cheri Kempf (softball pioneer and Mike Rucker (nine-year NFL veteran).

The Meierhoffer/St. Jo Frontier Casino fast-pitch softball squad was inducted as a team thanks to its accomplishments from 1997 to 2003.