There will be a little orange and black represented at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Tipoff Luncheon on December 10. Two honorees with Republic ties will be on hand: former Republic coach Gary Stanfield and current Republic 7th grade coach Sara Bos Barnhart.
Stanfield will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for his coaching career in both high school and college. He coached at Weaubleau, Willow Springs, and Springfield Hillcrest, leading the Hornets to a state championship in 1984. He then coached at Drury as an assistant, then as head coach, where he won 239 games between 1991 and 2004.
Stanfield came out of retirement to coach in Republic, beginning in 2008. He helped the Tigers win 20 games twice, including in 2009-10, when the Tigers advanced to the state semifinals and finished 4th.
Barnhart will be honored as part of the “Filbert Five,” a group of basketball standouts recognized each year by the hall. She graduated from Billings High School with several records, including career points (2,016). She was a two-time All-State selection and a nominee for both McDonald’s High School All-America and Miss Show-Me Basketball. Her jersey number is retired at Billings.
After that, she played at Drury, helping the Lady Panthers advance to the Elite Eight as a freshman, then go 28-4 during her junior season.
Barnhart arrived at Republic as the freshman coach three years ago, and moved to Republic Middle School this year, where she is coaching the 7th grade girls.
