Sharon Kampwerth Renken is a 1989 graduate of Highland High School. After high school she went on to Lewis & Clark Community College and graduated Magna Cum Laude in Accounting from the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

During her high school years, Sharon played volleyball, basketball and participated in track. She received numerous awards in high school, excelling at all three sports and in the classroom. Some of her many accolades include: MVP and the All-Tournament Team at the Highland Invitational Girls Basketball tournament in 1989, member of the Highland News Leader’s All-Area Girls Basketball Team and named to the Girls’ Track Honor Roll for Class AA Schools in 1989. Sharon also received numerous scholar/athlete awards, one of them being the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Scholar Athlete of 1989.

A scholarship to play both volleyball and basketball led her to Lewis & Clark Community College. While there, she was on the President’s List and was named to the 1st Team All Mid-West Conference and 2nd Team All-Region 24 squad for volleyball.

From Lewis & Clark, she went on to play volleyball at UMSL where she became the first volleyball player to be inducted into the UMSL Sports Hall of Fame. Sharon was selected Academic All-Conference in the MIAA Conference both seasons and was named to the Academic All-District Second Team. She holds the UMSL school record for “Most Kills” in a season, Most Service Aces, Most Blocks, Best Hitting Percentage and most Matches with 20 or more “Kills”. In her first year at UMSL, 1991, she helped lead the volleyball program to it’s first ever appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament. In 1993, she was honored as an NCAA Woman of the Year, which recognized her accomplishments both on the court and in the classroom. Sharon also received the Judy Berres’ Award, which recognizes the athlete at UMSL with the highest grade-point average. After college, she played professional volleyball for the St. Louis Spirits for two years until the team disbanded due to lack of funding. Sharon still plays volleyball recreationally.