Southern Arkansas University Athletics will add eight new individual members to its 20th Sports Hall of Fame class.
New members will be formally inducted tonight at 6:30 p.m. in a ceremony in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The class will also be open to the public during halftime of Saturday’s homecoming football game between the Mueller Riders and Oklahoma Baptist.
The Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is comprised of eight former student-athletes, one of whom also served as a coach in college.
They include:
Jerry Chandler – A native of Atlanta, Texas, Jerry Chandler broke into the athletics world in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference as a member of SAU’s high-speed 4×400 relay team during his true freshman season in 1986, earning All-Conference outdoor honors. won the honor. He competed as an individual for the first time at the NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championships, finishing seventh in the 400m.
Charles Jones – A native of Banks, Arkansas, Jones arrived on campus for the 1963-64 season. By the time he graduated, he was an All-AIC first-team performer on the hardwood, with 41 strikeouts and five wins in 55 innings pitched during his senior season in 1967, before being named All-AIC on the diamond. The AIC First Team performed well.
Maddie (Dow) Ray – from Bonham, Texas. Dow’s journey to Magnolia began in 2014 as a true freshman. As an individual, she was a four-time All-Region honoree and finished her distinguished career at the pinnacle of her 12th career. His statistical records at Southern Arkansas University included batting average (.363), on-base percentage (.522), hits (244), home runs (74 – 7th all-time in Division II), RBIs (224), walks (175 – 5th) ) It is included. She was the all-time Division II) and total base (502). This accomplishment led Southern Arkansas University to 162 wins in four seasons, two GAC Tournament championships with Dow winning MVP in 2016, two NCAA Regional Tournament appearances, and the 2016 NCAA Central Regional title. In 2016, they qualified for the NCAA DII World Series for the first time in program history. .
Aharon Eggleston – From Las Vegas, Nevada. In his first season in 2004, Eggleston’s presence in the lineup was very welcome. In 60 games, Eggleston posted a .431 batting average, a mark that ranked within the top 30. Nationally, he set single-season program records for bats (239), hits (103), and runs scored (87). He’s also the leading mark in the Gulf South Conference. As much as Eggleston was a threat in the batter’s box, he was equally dangerous on the bases. He had a GSC-leading 37 bags, ranked within the top 20 in NCAA Division II in steals per game, and ranked eighth nationally in runs scored at about 1.5 per game.
Maggie (Ross) Glover – A native of Waxahachie, Texas, she arrived at Southern Arkansas in 2006 and after four seasons, the Texan established herself as one of the top performers in program history, leading the way during the rally-scoring era of the show. continues to be the gold standard. She became the first player in the program’s rally-scoring era to reach 1,000 career kills and 300 total blocks, and remains one of only two Mule riders to reach her career totals. Glover was named the 2010 Daktronics All-South Her Region Second Her Team Performer, following All-GSC First Her Team honors. She is the first in program history to be an NCAA All-Region selection, and the first all-conference recipient to win the award three times.
Trevor Rucker – A native of nearby Prescott, Rucker was named the 2014 GAC Newcomer of the Year. He was a first-team All-GAC outfielder and was the league’s unanimous 2017 GAC Player of the Year, while Rucker was the consensus Central District Player of the Year by Daktronics/D2CCA and NCBWA. He was named a first-team All-American and will also earn second-team honors. He comes from Rawlings/ABCA and was a finalist for both the 2017 Tino Martinez DII Player of the Year Award and the 2017 Josh Willingham DII Player of the Year Award. Rucker was named the 2017 Natural State Baseball All-Arkansas Player of the Year and finished his senior season as the 2016-17 GAC Player of the Year.
Tyler Sikora – A standout signal caller at Jesseville High School, Sikora also impressed as a senior, tossing for over 2,600 yards and scoring 27 touchdowns in 10 games. He was again named All-GAC Quarterback, earned team MVP honors from the Little Rock Touchdown Club, was a finalist for the Arkansas Star of Tomorrow Award, and was named Auburn Smith’s Player of the Year. He earned both Male Athlete of the Year honors and SAU Male Scholar. -Athlete of the Year Award. Sykora, who twice earned GAC All-Academic team honors, was also a nominee for the National Football Foundation’s (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete Award.
Allen Gumm – A native of Bentonville, Arkansas, Gumm led the Mueller Riders to five dominant seasons. Under Gumm’s leadership, Southern Arkansas won 226 games (.769 – highest career winning percentage in program history), the third most by any head coach in program history, and won 40 or more games in all five seasons. , with a program record 52 wins. It will appear in 2009.