'84 Southeast cross country team earns honor

~ The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will induct the university's D-II national champs.

Fred Binggeli said talent combined with a big-time work ethic lifted the 1984 Southeast Missouri State men's cross country team to the NCAA Division II national championship.

"I think basically they had the good combination of being talented and hard workers, too," said Binggeli, the team's coach. "That's what it takes to win."

More than 20 years after capturing one of Southeast's few national team titles, that group will soon be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Binggeli's team recently was elected for enshrinement into a Hall of Fame that has been around since 1951. The squad will join 15 individuals and one other team during induction ceremonies Feb. 10 at the University Plaza Convention Center in Springfield, Mo.

"It's a great honor, without a doubt," said Binggeli, who is in his 11th year as the assistant executive director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. "They were already inducted into the SEMO Hall of Fame [during its inaugural class in 2002]. I guess this is kind of the ultimate honor for them."

Binggeli, Southeast's cross country coach from 1980 through 1985, said the national championship squad was unusual because all but one of its members hailed from Missouri.

"I guess on the overall roster, there were nine guys, and eight were from Missouri," said Binggeli, himself a native of Fulton, Mo. "I think the university ought to be pretty proud of that."

The only non-Missourian on the team was Mike Vanatta, who won the 1984 individual national title.

Vanatta, a Colorado native, was inducted into the Southeast Athletic Hall of Fame as an individual in 2002, the same year the entire squad was enshrined.

Other team members were Art Waddle (Poplar Bluff), Joe Leuchtmann (St. Louis), Joe Lackner (St. Louis), Scott Laneman (St. Louis), Norm Kellar (St. Louis), Mike Bryne (Imperial), Jay Townsend (Neosho) and Larry Hennier (Independence).

Not only did the then-Indians prove to be the best in Division II, they also held their own against solid Division I competition.

Southeast routinely finished ahead of many Division I squads during meets, including placing second in the university division at the 19-team Notre Dame Invitational. The Indians finished only seven points behind Notre Dame.

"I'd take that team right now in Division I," said Binggeli, who after leaving Southeast spent 12 seasons coaching at the University of Virginia. "They would do very well in Division I."

The 1984 Indians capped their magical season by easily winning the national title at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. Southeast, placing three runners in the top 10, scored 87 points to finish well ahead of Edinboro's 129.

"It was a great season," Binggeli said. "I have nothing but fond memories of the community and the university."

The 1984 cross country team will be the first Southeast squad to go into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Several individuals with Southeast ties are enshrined, including career basketball scoring leader Carl Ritter.

"It's just a real nice honor and I'm looking forward to it," Binggeli said. "Hopefully most of the guys will be able to make it."