Ex-Wartburg Track Star Selected For Hall Of Fame

Dominant doesn’t begin to describe Missy Buttry-Rock’s (nee Buttry) career at Wartburg College.

By the time Buttry-Rock stepped off the track for the last time as a member of the Knights, she already made her claim as to the best female runner in NCAA Division III history.

Now, she'll be able to call herself a Hall-of-Famer.

Buttry-Rock is among four outstanding former collegiate athletes who make up the 2016 Hall of Fame Class, announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday, May 24.

Buttry-Rock nabbed 18 All-America honors (eight outdoor, six indoor, four cross country) and 14 NCAA titles (11 track, three cross country). Those three cross-country titles were special as Buttry-Rock became the first woman in NCAA history to win three consecutive individual crowns (2002-04).

She still holds three D-III records: indoor mile (4:43.92), indoor 1500 (4:24.95) and outdoor 5000 (15:51.23). No one has come closer than 30 seconds of Buttry-Rock’s mark in the latter.

Post-collegiately, Buttry-Rock shined brightest as a member of the USA World Cross Country team in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, she won a bronze medal at the World Cross Country Championships.

Buttry-Rock is currently an assistant cross country coach at Bethel University. She will be inducted along with her husband, Olympic gold medalist and former Wisconsin-La Crosse runner Andrew Rock.

The induction ceremony will be held prior to the 2016 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Waverly, which Wartburg is hosting this weekend (Thursday-Saturday).

Story By: Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA