Jun. 4—Tongula Givens Steddum, the first track and field national champion in Missouri Southern history, and Robert Corn, the winningest men’s basketball coach for the Lions, will be inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame on Monday night at the Kansas City Music Hall in downtown Kansas City.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the MIAA Digital Network.
Steddum and Corn are part of 11 individuals and five teams who are members of this year’s class. The invitation-only event will honor the 2020 Hall of Fame Class — last year’s induction was postponed by COVID-19 — and the 2020-21 MIAA winter student-athletes of the year.
The program will also announce this year’s winners of the MIAA SAAC Mentor of the Year, the Dr. Bob Boerigter Officiating Award of Excellence and the 2020-21 MIAA Commissioner’s Cup.
Givens Steddum last competed at Missouri Southern in 1995, yet her name continues to dominate the track and field record book. She holds many of the top-10 marks in the triple jump and long jump both indoors and outdoors. She is one of two Lion women to surpass 41 feet in the outdoor triple jump and one of three to surpass 19 feet in the indoor long jump.
Givens Steddum was MSSU’s individual national champion with her outdoor triple jump victory in 1994 (40 feet, 11 inches), and the next year she was national champion indoors in the triple jump (40-2). In all, she was a nine-time All-American and won three MIAA high-point trophies. She held the MIAA record for the outdoor triple jump until 2018.
Givens Steddum was named MSSU’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1995. She also received the E.O. & Virginia Humphrey Award, given to the school’s outstanding student-athlete of the year.
In the 2003 indoor season, she had the third-best U.S. women’s triple jump mark and the eighth-best long jump, while posting the 45th best triple jump in the world. Givens Steddum trained at MSSU in 2000 and went on to qualify and compete in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials.
Givens Steddum and her husband Chris have a son, Colby and reside in Dallas.
Corn transferred to Missouri Southern from Memphis State, and he was a starting forward on the Lions’ 27-9 team in 1978 that reached the NAIA Tournament quarterfinals.
Corn succeeded his MSSU coach, Chuck Williams, as head coach in 1989-90 when the Lions joined the Division II ranks. He coached 25 years and won 413 games, which are third most in MIAA history behind Bob Chipman and Tom Smith.
Corn guided the Lions to two regular-season titles (1999-2000 and 2010-2011) and three MIAA Tournament Titles (1993, 2000, 2014). He coached the team to five NCAA Tournament appearances in 1993, 2000, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
After retiring from the bench, Corn worked in the Development Office at Southern until retiring from that position in 2020. Corn and his wife Cindy have two sons, Rob and Scott, and reside in Joplin.
With Corn’s and Givens Steddum’s induction, Missouri Southern has 11 individuals and one team in the MIAA Hall of Fame.