Tiger Hall of Fame
2011 Inductee – Pam Rhodus-Mertz
Pam Rhodus-Mertz, Hagerstown class of 1986, is widely recognized as the best female distance runner in school history. Pam holds records at 4k and 5k distances in cross country where she was a two-time individual champion and finished 15th and 7th in two consecutive state meets. She also holds or held school, TEC, Cory Field, Tiger Booster and Sectional records in 800, 1600 and 1600 relay in track. She was a TEC, Tiger Booster and sectional champion as well as state qualifier in multiple events for three years. Pam ran both cross country and track at Ball State University. She was the top cross country runner at BSU her junior and senior years posting a 17:49 5k. Pam holds spots on the BSU top-ten list for 800, 1500, mile and 3200 relay. She also set BSU records in the 800 and 1000 indoor distances and was the Ball State Invitational Champion in the outdoor 800 meters in 1989. Ms. Mertz is currently the Head cross country coach at IU East where she has advanced several runners to the national meet. She was the winner of the Wayne County Challenge from 2003 to 2008 winning 48 of 50 races. Pam is a five-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 5k race, has a personal best half-marathon of 1:30, and has won 154 road races since 2000.
