General | 10/26/2020 10:00:00 AM

WAVERLY, Iowa - The Wartburg College Athletics Hall of Fame Committee announced the class of 2020 inductees in July – Hannah (Baker) Bombei (women's track & field), Dan Hammes (football), Andy Hodge (men's cross country/track & field), Katie (Rapp) Houston (women's soccer) Collin Lane (men's soccer), Dusty Rhodes (wrestling), Matt Scherbring (baseball), Ryan Sturm (wrestling), and Bob Wachholz (football/men's track & field).

Wartburg Sports Information will be taking a closer look into each Wartburg 2020 Hall of Fame Inductees and their accomplishments as a Knight. Next up, Andy Hodge from Marion, Iowa who competed in men's cross country and track & field during his time at Wartburg in the mid 2000's.

Andy Hodge earned eight letters throughout his time as a cross country and track & field athlete at Wartburg, graduating in 2008. A seven-time All-Conference track & field honoree and three-time All-Conference and All-Region cross country athlete, Hodge garnered four All-American honors during his junior and senior years at Wartburg. In 2008, Hodge won the outdoor track & field 1,500-meter run national title, a record that he holds in the Wartburg track & field record book for his time of 3:46.89. An All-Academic member in 2008, Hodge ranks among the Wartburg track & field top 10 lists at in a pair of relays along with the sixth best indoor mile time of 4:15.27, including his record 1,500 time. He helped guide the Knights to an Iowa Conference cross country title in 2005 along with three conference titles for each indoor and outdoor championship throughout 2005-08. Andy resides in Solon, Iowa with his wife Stephanie and step-children Maddi and Abe. He works at United Beverage as an Account Manager.

Q & A With Andy Hodge

What are some of your favorite memories from your time at Wartburg? 
It would obviously be winning a national title but also just the camaraderie with the cross country and track teams. It was a great family atmosphere. It wasn't just during practices or during meets, it was life on campus with all my teammates that I remember the most. 

Have you kept up with the cross country and track and field programs since you left Wartburg? 
I don't follow the team every week but I definitely check in on things and see how they are doing. I also look at the results here and there, especially during the key times of the year when I know the big meets are. I definitely check in on them during those times. 

What was it like winning the outdoor track & field 1,500-meter run national title in 2008 and setting a school record time (3:36.89) for that event?
I would say it was just a feeling of relief because it was a goal that I had for a long time and felt as though I had under achieved in my early years. I had high expectations for myself, so it was a great sense of relief and accomplishment. 

What was it like earning four All-American honors during your junior and senior years at Wartburg? 
It was awesome, there is no other way to describe it. Part of the reason that I came to Wartburg was because of the high level of excellence and that was the standard that I set for myself. I just felt like I was living up to the tradition at Wartburg. 

What has life been like for you since leaving Wartburg? 
It has been really good. I have had a career in the beer industry working for Miller Coors Distributors, selling beer on sales routes. I have met a lot of people that have ties through Wartburg and I lived in Waverly for a few years after college. It has just been a fun time. 

Who were some of the people at Wartburg that made your time memorable? 
Coach [Marcus] Newsom, Coach [Steve] Johnson and I would say all of my teammates on the cross country team. There are just so many stories about all of them. There are little things in life now that are reminders of fun times I had back in college. With Coach Newsom, the amount of energy he brings everyday and the passion that he has is very contagious. When you need to talk to him, whether it was about something running related or not, he always made the time. You could pull him aside and have a heart-to-heart conversation with him and same with Coach Johnson. Both of those guys, you definitely could consider father figures. I studied marketing and I had a lot of classes with Kim Folkers and I felt that she was a great professor and I learned a great deal from her. 

What do you miss most about Wartburg and the cross country and track & field programs? 
Just the team atmosphere and the competition. I love competing and I love winning. Just having the opportunity to get up and run every day with my best friends and then every week laying it all on the line to show what you got. That is just priceless and I miss that every day.