The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Pittsburg State Sports

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June 7, 2012

MSSU, PSU championship teams join MIAA shrine

The Joplin Globe

National championship teams from Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State were inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame on Thursday night in Kansas City, Mo.

Former Gorillas’ All-Americans Ronald Moore and Christie Allen Logue were also inducted during ceremonies during the MIAA Awards Dinner at the Downtown Marriott.

Missouri Southern’s 1992 softball team capped a 50-7 season by winning the national championship in Shawnee, Kan. The Lions, coached by Pat Lipira, allowed only one run in three national tournament games — an 8-1 first-round victory over Saginaw Valley State followed by 1-0 decisions over Bloomsburg and Cal State-Hayward.

Pittsburg State captured the 1991 national title with a 23-6 victory over Jacksonville State in Florence, Ala. The Gorillas, under coach Chuck Broyles, won the final 11 games of a 13-1-1 season and became the first conference school to win a national football title.

Moore, a running back at PSU from 1989-92, rushed for 4,299 yards and scored 52 touchdowns in his career. He won the 1992 Harlon Hill Award as Division II’s player of the year.

Logue ran track and field and cross country for the Gorillas from 1989-93, finishing her decorated career as an eight-time national champion and 11-time All-American. She was named Division II Woman Athlete of the Year in 1993 and received three GTE Academic All-America honors.

Three more national championship teams from the league were inducted Thursday night — Central Missouri’s baseball team in 1994 and Northwest Missouri State’s football teams in 1998 and 1999.

Other individuals inducted:

• Jim Crane, Central Missouri baseball, compiled a career 21-8 record and 2.42 earned run average. He became owner of the Houston Astros in November 2011.

• Bill Fennelly, Central Missouri basketball, played from 1977-81 and is still the league’s career leader with 2,819 points.

• Rosie Jones, Central Missouri basketball, played on three Jennies teams that reached the Final Four in the mid-1980s, including the 1984 championship squad.

• Tad Reid, Central Missouri men’s basketball coach, went 178-110 from 1923-38 and won national titles in 1937 and 1938.

• Emily Bloss, Emporia State basketball, scored 1,915 points and grabbed 823 rebounds from 1997-2001 and received four national student-athlete of the year awards.

• Deandra Doubrava McBride, Emporia State track, was a two-time national champion and 14-time All-American from 1994-99. She was named Division II Women’s Track Athlete of the Year in her final season.

• Walter Ryle, Truman State administrator, served as athletics director and faculty athletics representative from 1955-99.

• Ed Schneider, Truman State cross country, won the national title in 1964 and was a three-time All-American from 1961-64. He later coached the Bulldogs from 1974-2005.

• Chris Greisen, Northwest Missouri football, was a two-time All-American quarterback and directed the Bearcats to a 15-0 season as a senior in 1998.

• Bill Lowe, official, called league basketball and football games for 18 years and served as the director of football officials from 1990-2007.

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