Southeast Missouri State adds to hall of fame

~ The university plans to induct five former athletes and one team

Five individuals and one team have been selected for induction to the Southeast Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame in December.

Inductees are John "Hap" Bernard (basketball, football, baseball, 1908 to 1913), Greg Brune (football, baseball, 1964 to 1968), Bobby Ferguson (track & field, 1983 to 1986), Jeremy Johnson (baseball, 1996 to 2000), Tom Thrower (football, basketball, track & field, 1958 to 1960) and the 1991 softball team.

Bernard was a quarterback and kicker in football, a shortstop and pitcher in baseball and a forward in basketball. He scored 32 points in one game during the 1911 basketball season and was voted the best quarterback on Missouri's All-State College Football Team.

Bernard went on to earn first-team all-conference honors as a quarterback at Washington State in 1913 after his football days at Southeast. Washington State won the Western Conference championship that year.

Brune ranks among Southeast's all-time career leaders in passing yards (fifth), passing attempts (eighth), passing touchdowns (fifth), passing efficiency percentage (ninth), average yards per pass (second), average yards per completion (first), punting yards (fourth) and punt attempts (third). He was a four-year starting infielder in baseball and earned seven varsity letters.

Brune, a two-time all-conference quarterback and team MVP in 1967, signed a professional contract with the Continental Football League's Chicago Owls, but his football career was interrupted by the Vietnam War in 1968. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart in Vietnam.

Brune was the Southeast Booster Club president in 1985 and 1986. He later served as Southeast's director of athletic development from 1993 until earlier this year. All three of his sons (Brent, Brian, Bobby) played football at Southeast.

Ferguson was part of the 1985 national championship track & field team that is in the Hall of Fame. He was a five-time NCAA Division II All-American and eight-time MIAA indoor and outdoor conference champion in the pole vault.

Ferguson, the 1987 NCAA Division II outdoor pole vault champion, was a world championship team member in the 1987 Pan Am Games and won a silver medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. He still holds the Southeast school record, which set the Canadian national record at the time.

Johnson was the 2000 Ohio Valley Conference baseball player of the year. The two-time first-team all-OVC outfielder and OVC all-tournament selection is Southeast's career leader in hits (287), games played (216), runs scored (214) and total bases (521).

Johnson was named OVC tournament MVP after leading Southeast to its first NCAA Division I regional appearance in 1998.

Thrower was a two-time all-MIAA performer at three positions (running back, defensive back, special teams) in football. He led the conference in rushing with 7.5 yards per carry in 1959. He was his team's top punter and punt returner, third-leading scorer and third-leading receiver.

Thrower returned to Southeast to become an assistant football coach under Kenneth Knox and later was hired as head coach. Thrower compiled a 37-22-2 career record with three MIAA titles (1968, 1969, 1973). He also was the 1958 MIAA champion in the javelin.

The 1991 softball team was the first in school history to advance to an NCAA Final Four, during the program's final year as a Division II member. That squad won the MIAA championship and had an overall record of 38-14 under coach Lana Richmond.

Southeast went undefeated at the NCAA regional in Lakeland, Fla., beating host and No. 1 seed Florida Southern to advance to the Final Four. The 13-player unit, which included two second-team All-Americans, achieved its success with only 2.5 available scholarships.

The induction ceremony will be Dec. 9 at the Show Me Center, beginning with a dinner at 6 p.m. It is open to the public. Tickets, $25 for adults and $10 for children 10 and younger, can be obtained by calling 651-2227.

There also will be a reception for the new inductees before the Dec. 10 men's basketball game against UMKC from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Show Me Center front meeting rooms. The inductees will be recognized at halftime.

This year marks Southeast's 10th hall of fame class. The hall now will include 71 individuals and 14 teams since it was started in 2002.