5 Bearcats elected to Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame

Five of the 14 new members elected to the 2024 class for the Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame are Muncie Central graduates.

Inducted in July 2025 were Alex Daniel, Heather Fierce, Matt Gard, Rick Linton and Marcus Rush.

The following information was provided by former Star Press sportswriter Doug Zeleski.

Daniel was a four-year varsity letter winner during his career as a basketball player at Muncie Central. His team was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 4A and won the Hall of Fame Classic in 2005.

As a senior, his team  posted a 27-2 record and a runner-up finish in the IHSAA state tournament as the Bearcats fell 62-52 to a powerful Lawrence North team that was led by two future NBA players. Central won three sectional titles and two North Central Conference crowns during his career.

Daniel scored 1,027 career points, one of only 12 Bearcats to reach the 1,000 plateau. He moved on to college and played at Lakeland Community College in Illinois and Taylor University. He led Taylor as a senior in scoring, assists and steals, and was second in rebounding as a senior.

He began his coaching career with two years as an assistant at Yorktown, two at Indiana University South Bend and seven at Bethel University. Daniel has been head coach at South Bend Riley for five seasons, winning 68 percent of his games.

Daniel also was the quarterback on Central’s football team, winning three letters. The Bearcats had a 23-3 record during his sophomore and junior seasons and had a No. 1 state ranking. During those two seasons he passed for 3,980 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Fierce was part of a team at Muncie Central that earned a state runner-up finish in the IHSAA volleyball tournament twice. She was a three-time honoree on the all-North Central Conference team.

The Bearcats won sectional, regional and semi-state championships in 2000 and 2003 before finishing second in the IHSAA state tournament. Fierce was selected to the Indiana all-state first team in 2003.

In 2002, her Central team won a state championship. She went on to play collegiately at Louisiana State University in the Southeastern Conference. As a Tiger her team won the 2005 SEC West crown and she played in the NCAA Tournament in 2005.

She finished her career at LSU with 2,134 assists in 268 games.

Gard’s name is spread throughout the Muncie Central baseball program’s record book, playing three years on the varsity team.

He ranks third in his career in batting average (.406), fifth in hits (102) and doubles (27), sixth in triples (6). Gard’s 47 hits in 2001 is the most in school history.

Gard helped the Bearcats to a 7-0 record and the North Central Conference championship in 2001 and was a starter in 2000 when they won a sectional title. He earned all-state honorable mention in 2002 as a senior, was all-NCC twice and was Central’s MVP once.

He went on to win four letters in baseball at Ball State, and was team captain in 2007. Gard was a starter on the 2006 squad that won the Mid-American Conference tournament championship for the first time in school history and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1969.

Linton, who played baseball at Muncie Central, was awarded athletic and academic scholarships at Murray State University.

He was a four-year varsity player for the Bearcats with action at catcher, pitcher and shortstop. Linton’s first varsity hit was a three-run homer, and his final varsity hit as a college player was a home run. Linton was a nominee for Indiana Mr. Baseball and played on the San Francisco Giants’ scout team in Westfield, Indiana.

Linton holds the Bearcats’ career records for hits with 144, runs with 116 and at-bats with 354, and is the single-season home run leader with 11. He’s second in career homers (17), career batting average (.408), doubles (34), and fifth in career stolen bases (42).

He was selected as a first-team member on the  all-North Central Conference teams three times. Linton also was a two-year starter for the Muncie Chiefs American Legion team.

Rush grew up in Muncie and began his football career as an eighth grader at Northside Middle School. He made an immediate impact on the Muncie Central football team. He helped his freshman team to a 7-1 record as a do-it-all player.

As a three-year varsity player, he helped the Bearcats to a strong run of success. They won seven games in 2000 and 2001 as Rush started as a defensive lineman and running back. As a senior, in 2002 Rush helped Central to historical success. They went 9-0 and won the North Central Conference championship for the first time since 1954. Central also won a sectional title and finished with a 12-1 record.

After claiming all-state recognition as a defensive lineman, Rush went on to play at Harper Junior College in Chicago and St. Francis University in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Rush resides in Fort Wayne and is the athletic director at a local elementary school.