Oct. 31, 2003

Three individuals, one team to be inducted into MSSC Athletics Hall of Fame

At Saturday's football game with Missouri Western, membership in the Missouri Southern Athletics Hall of Fame will increase, with the inductions of three individuals and one team.

Vincent Featherson (football, 1976-79), George Major (men's soccer, 1977-80), Tom Storm, and the 1992 national champion Lady Lions softball team will be inducted.

Vincent Featherson
Football (1976-79)
Vince Featherson made his mark with the Lion football team as one of the most dangerous return men in school history and it shows in the Lion record book, as his name is attached to seven school standards relating to runbacks. Included among his records is five career touchdowns on returns, including four via kickoffs, as he brought two kickoffs back in both 1978 and 1979. He holds the school mark for season kickoff return average (34.1 yards per return) and is one of several Lions in history with a 100-yard kickoff return. Also a standout wide receiver during his days at Southern, Featherson ranks seventh in school history with 1,326 career receiving yards and was part of one of the two longest passing plays in school history, a 98-yard reception from Mike Loyd in 1978. Featherson now makes his home in Black Jack, Mo.

George Major
Men's Soccer (1977-80)
Major was one of the finest goalkeepers ever to don the Green & Gold. His mark of 32 career shutouts still stands as a MSSC record, as does his career goals against average (1.05). In 1979, Major allowed only 10 goals in helping Southern to school record 16 wins (16-3-1) and a berth in the NAIA District 16 playoffs. His 0.53 goals against average that year remains a Lion single-season standard. His 256 career saves, ranks third all-time at Southern, while his 5,810 minutes played is second. During his career, the Lions posted a 52-20-6 ledger under head coach Hal Bodon. He was an all-American in 1979 and a four-time all-district player. Now a national soccer official, Major, his wife, Lorna and her daughter Natasha Helm, reside in Herculaneum, Mo. He has one daughter, Dallas Nicole Major.

Tom Storm
Next month, Tom Storm, of Joplin, will begin his 27th season as the clock operator for the Southern basketball teams. A member of the Lionbacker organization for more than 30 years, Storm is able to work most of Southern's home contests. As one could imagine, after doing the job for better than a quarter century, Storm has seen a good deal of excitement. He notes the 1999-2000 men's basketball team and its trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight as one of his most thrilling memories. Of course, any game with local rivals Pittsburg State or Drury also ranks right up there.

1992 National Champion Lady Lion Softball Team
The 1992 Lady Lion softball team posted a 50-7 won-lost record, under the direction of Pat Lipira, on its way to the NCAA Division II title. Many of the team's outstanding accomplishments from that season still stand as single-season school records today, including marks in hits (500), batting average (.345) and slugging percentage (.476). That year, the squad had two 11-game winning streaks and rode the solid pitching of 31-game winner Andrea Clarke and a potent offense led by Katrina Marshall, who batted .425 with eight home runs and 50 RBI. Seven members of that team posted batting averages of .335 or higher. But it was a pinch-hit, bases-loaded single in the fifth inning off the bat of Dana Presley that knocked in Carrie Carter with the winning run, the lone score in the title game win over California State-Hayward.
1992 Lady Lion Softball Team Roster:
Outfielder Carrie Carter
All-American pitcher Andrea Clarke
Second baseman Cindy Cole
Pitcher Angie Hadley
First baseman Stacy Harter
Outfielder Leah Ingram
Outfielder Krissy Konkol
Pitcher Cheryl Kopf
Shortstop Katrina Marshall
All-American catcher Diane Miller
Utility/designated player Dana Presley
Third baseman Sharla Snow
Catcher Jaki Staggs
Outfielder Marcie Waters
Designated player Renee Weih
Pitcher Sharon Wright
Head coach Pat Lipira
Assistant coach Dee Gerlach