University inducts six to Hall of Fame

The Southeast Missouri State University athletics department and others will gather tonight at the Show Me Center to induct the 2015 Hall of Fame class. The individuals will be added to the 86 athletes and 17 teams have already received the honor.

This year’s inductees represent several dimensions of university athletics, according to the biographies at gosoutheast.com:

* Trae Hastings, a left-handed pitcher from 1975 to 1978, still holds all-time career records for shutouts, strikeouts and complete games at the school, and holds the second-best ERA in school history and ranks among the university’s all-time leaders in wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts per nine innings.

* Cape Girardeau native Mark Hogan, baseball coach from 1995 to 2012, holds the record as winngingest coach in Southeast baseball history, compiling a 526-456-1 record, and led the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances, one OVC regular-season title and two OVC Tournament crowns.

* David Means, a defensive lineman from 1970 to 1973, was an all-conference selection three times. He was a 12th-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, going on to play nine games with the organization in 1974 before playing a half-season in the Canadian Football League.

* Lindsey Pickering played softball with Southeast from 2004 to 2007 and soccer from 2005 to 2007. During that time she was named OVC Defensive Player of the Year in soccer twice, and was named to the All-OVC tournament team in softball in 2004 and 2005. She is the Hall of Fame’s first soccer player.

* Football player Willie Ponder broke many records as wide receiver in 2001 and 2002. Ponder was named an Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association and Sports Network All-American, and a first-team all-OVC selection. He holds school records in receiving yards, receptions per game and, until 2015, career receiving touchdowns. Ponder was a sixth-round draft pick by the New York Giants in 2003 and contributed as a kick returner in 2004, leading the NFL with a kickoff return average of 26.9 yards that year. Following his time with the Giants, he played with Seattle in 2006 and St. Louis in 2007.

* Rounding out this year’s inductees is Jane Stacy. Stacy has promoted and worked with university athletics since she was a student in 1973. She has served as director of alumni services, director of major gifts and first lady while her former husband, Bill Stacy, was university president. She saw to the implementation of the young alumni and faculty merit awards, began a travel program and wrote a book commemorating the history of the athletics hall of fame. The development office estimates Stacy was directly responsible for raising $15 million for the university.

These are just some of these talented individuals’ accomplishments. There is not enough space in this column to recount all of each person’s contributions to the university, the community and to others’ lives.

The athletics department has chosen a diverse class of inductees of which the university and community should be proud.