Southeast's Haines elected to OVC Hall of Fame

Former Southeast Missouri State track and field coach Joey Haines has been elected to the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame, the league announced Thursday.

Haines, along with former Eastern Kentucky women's basketball coach Larry Joe Inman, will be inducted at the annual OVC Honors Luncheon on May 29 in Nashville, Tenn.

The OVC Hall of Fame, which was formed in 1977, will have 65 members with the addition of Haines and Inman.

Haines spent 30 years as track and field coach at two OVC schools, serving four years at Austin Peay (1978 to 1982) and the final 26 years of his career at Southeast (1982 to 2008).

Although his first nine years at Southeast were before the school joined the OVC and Division I, Haines won 20 OVC Coach of the Year awards -- six men's and 14 women's -- in 21 seasons as a league coach.

Haines led Southeast to 21 OVC titles, 15 by the women and six by the men.

Haines, who retired following the 2008 season, was inducted into the Southeast Athletic Hall of Fame in December. He is also a member of the Missouri Track & Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

-- Southeast Missourian