First hall of fame class set to be inducted in ceremony today

Fourteen former athletes and coaches and three national championship teams will be honored today as the first class of inductees for Southeast Missouri State University's new Athletic Hall of Fame.

There will be a private induction ceremony at the Show Me Center in the afternoon and the inductees also will be honored at halftime of tonight's Southeast vs. Tennessee Tech football game at Houck Stadium.

Charter members of the Hall of Fame are Laura Byrne (track and cross country), Pat Colon (women's basketball), Jayne Creek (softball), Kenneth Dement (football), Bill Giessing (basketball), Ken Iman (football), Kenneth Knox (football coach, athletic director), Carl Ritter (basketball), Marvin Rosengarten (football, track coach, athletic director), John Schneider (football, athletic director), Abe Stuber (coach), Joe Uhls (baseball coach), Mike Vanatta (track and cross country) and Mike Wood (football).

Teams selected for induction are the 1943 NAIA national basketball champions, the 1984 NCAA Division II men's cross country champions and the 1985 NCAA Division II men's indoor track champions.

The inductees were selected by the Hall of Fame Committee chaired by former Southeast basketball player Rich Eichhorst.

"It was difficult to narrow our inaugural class down to 14 individuals and three teams," Eichhorst said. "We feel this is an elite group."

-- Marty Mishow