SportsFebruary 20, 2016
Six inducted into Southeast Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame
Mark Hogan, Willie Ponder, Lindsay Pickering, Trae Hastings, David Means and Jane Stacy were inducted into the Southeast Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday.
After his family moved to Cape Girardeau between his fourth and fifth grade years, Mark Hogan and his group of friends got into the routine of riding bikes to Capaha Field each day, sometimes several times a day.
"I'm telling you, when we walked down there and we walked down that hill to Capaha, we were it. Man, we were going to the big leagues," Hogan said from the stage at the Show Me Center "It was just an amazing experience and we would play all day and I just remember all those wonderful experiences, especially early, at Capaha Field. It was a joyous place for me to go to. It was a destination."
Hogan played baseball at Southeast Missouri State, graduating in 1977, and then served as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State in 1978-79 before embarking on a coaching career that included the high school, junior college and NCAA Division II levels.
But he didn't feel like he was in quite the right spot as a coach and was hopeful that a position within the Southeastern Conference would come calling for him.
Instead, he received a call from his mother letting him know that the job at his alma mater was going to be open. It was then that Hogan made his return to Capaha Field, where he'd coach the Southeast program from 1995-2012.
"I can tell you on July 7 of 1994 I never, from that point on, never worried about what the next call was going to be about," Hogan said. "I wasn't on the hunt anymore. Because when I got the chance to come back I knew how to win -- I'd won on the field I was going back to. It was just such a blessing."
Hogan became the program's all-time winningest coach on that field and for his accomplishments during his 18-year coaching career at Southeast he was inducted into the Southeast Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday night along with five other individuals.
Willie Ponder, Lindsey Pickering, David Means, Jane Stacy and Hogan's former teammate Trae Hastings were also inducted as part of the Class of 2015.
"Now here we are tonight at, I guess you'd say it's the end of a great story," Hogan said.
Hogan finished with a record of 526-456-1 at Southeast. The Redhawks won a regular-season Ohio Valley Conference title in 2002 and the OVC tournament, which led to two NCAA tournament appearances, in 1998 and 2002.
"Listen, I love Cape Girardeau," Hogan said. "It's my town. This is my kind of place. I just can't thank you people enough -- giving community, the sweetest people in the world."
Hogan wasn't the only one to praise the community during the ceremony. Ponder, a former NFL player who played at Southeast in 2001 and 2002, was grateful for the chances Southeast and Cape Girardeau gave him.
"When I got here in 2000, 2001, I was at a point in my life where I thought I had let some people down," Ponder said. "I went to the University of Tulsa, failed tremendously, wasn't doing the right things in the classroom, and when I got here to Southeast the community, the staff, the compliance, everyone really accepted me with open arms, and I grew. They got a hungry football player those two years."
The Redhawks' star receiver was an Associated Press, AFCA and Sports Network All-American and first-team All-OVC selection during his two-year career. He still holds school records for career receiving yards (2,543) and receptions per game (6.83) as well single-season records from 2002 for pass receptions (87), receiving yards (1,453), receiving touchdowns (15) and receptions per game (7.25).
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He was drafted by the New York Giants in the sixth round of the 2003 draft and was a kick returner there in 2004, averaging a league-best 26.9 yards per kickoff return.
Ponder returned to Southeast in 2014 to complete his degree as an undergraduate assistant coach on Tom Matukewicz's staff, which he considered another second chance from the university. He recently joined the coaching staff at Division II Colorado Mesa.
"After playing in the NFL and having all those highs then losing everything from not being prepared, got back, got a chance to be with Tuke and really got a chance to see what it was to be family and understand and respect those things," Ponder said. "I'm just really, really honored about this opportunity. Thank you to everyone here. This is my family. You guys really kind of raised this man up here."
Means, who was a defensive lineman at Southeast from 1970-73, was unable to attend the ceremony due to a family obligation, but Southeast Hall of Famer Bruce Thomas spoke in place of his former teammate, who was a three-time all-conference selection, had 18 sacks during the 1972 season and was a 12th-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills.
"He's so proud of this university and to have played football here," Thomas said. " ... He was an outstanding player and he's the one that talked me into coming to this university. We both talked about it -- this university gave us a skill and a trade in our future and everyone here was so kind to us and it was like our home."
Hastings posted a 2.30 ERA while at Southeast and was an All-MIAA pitcher three years in a row. He, along with Hogan, was a member of Southeast's 1976 team that finished third in the Division II College World Series and holds Southeast's all-time carer records for shutouts (5), strikeouts (239) and complete games (24) and is in the top 10 in a few others.
Stacy, a Friend of the Redhawks, came to Southeast as a freshman in 1973 and has been involved with the university since. She held the Director of Alumni Services position until she retired in 2008. She was the First Lady of the university for nearly a decade while her former husband Dr. Bill W. Stacy served as the university's president.
Stacy helped raise funds to begin the Southeast Athletics HOF and has written a commemorative book called "The Athletic Hall of Fame of Southeast Missouri State University." Southeast's Development Office estimates that she was responsible for raising more than $15 million for the university.
Pickering became the first soccer player and 18th multi-sport athlete to be inducted into the HOF.
She came to Southeast as a softball player, but joined the soccer team as a goalie for three years.
She was the OVC's Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and 2007 and was first-team all-OVC both years as well as second-team all-conference in 2006. Southeast won the OVC regular-season title in 2007 and was OVC tournament champions and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2006 and 07.
She was an outfielder on the softball team from 2004-07 and was second-team all-conference in 2006.
She later served as an assistant on soccer coach Heather Nelson's staff for a few seasons.
"I honestly don't think that there is any athlete in my program that is more fitting or deserving of this award," Southeast soccer coach Heather Nelson said. "When I look at Lindsay and everything that she did to enhance our program as a student-athlete, the championships that she was an impact player for and then to go on and have a long-term coaching career as an assistant within our program -- man, she's done it all."
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