LMU To Induct Six Into Athletes Hall of Fame
September 30, 2009
HARROGATE, TN - On Saturday October 10, Lincoln Memorial University's Athletes Hall of Fame will induct the class of 2009.
Those to be honored and inducted this year include, Marcia Stout-Wasson (women's basketball, 1981-85), Tracey Martin (women's basketball, 1980-84), Lakeshia Salters-Mabe (women's basketball, 1999-2000), Lacy Serman (softball, 1999-02), Ritchie Richardson (1980-84-baseball) and Clark Wormsely (1979-83-baseball).
During the early 80's, Stout-Wasson played one year for former LMU coach Dave Miller and three years for former Head Coach Roger Vannoy. Over her four seasons she put together a career scoring average of 11.5 points per game, while leading the team in scoring and averaging 16.2 ppg. her junior season. She holds a career free throw shooting percentage of .711. Now, as she prepares to be inducted into the LMU Athletes Hall of Fame nearly 25 years later, Stout-Wasson ranks 12th all-time in scoring in the Lady Railsplitter record book (1,204 pts.), 9th in field goals made (462), 7th in free throws made (280), 7th in field goal attempts (1085) and 16th all-time in assists (228).
Martin was a teammate of Stout-Wasson for three seasons with the Lady Railsplitter basketball team and was also a standout for the Lady Railsplitter tennis team. Having played basketball two years for Dave Miller and two for Roger Vannoy, Martin ranks 22nd in the LMU record book in rebounding (442). In her four years on the collegiate hardwood, Martin played in 102 games, starting in 35. Although record keeping for tennis in the early 80's was limited at best, Martin's efforts were solid enough combined with her grades in the classroom to help her earn NAIA Academic All-American accolades and also be named Co-Female Athlete of the Year in 1984.
From 1999 to 2002, Lacy Serman was not only a leader for the Lady Railsplitters softball team, she was the definition of what most coaches look for in a catcher. A four-year starter, Serman holds a career batting average of .390, a career slugging percentage of .607 and a career on-base percentage of .446. During her career, Serman started and played in 212 games. Currently she ranks second in career at bats (661), hits (257), doubles (61), runs scored (135), and her .389 batting average is the third highest in LMU softball history. Over four years she totaled a fielding percentage of .966 and was selected All-Gulf South Conference First Team all four years of her college career.
Although she only played one year, during the 1999-2000 season, LMU fans quickly realized that Lakeshia Salters-Mabe was going to be something special. In only one season with the Lady Railsplitters,"Salt," as they called her, played and started in 27 games, averaging 28.5 minutes per game. In her last year of collegiate basketball she made 191 of 333 shots for a field goal percentage of .574, while grabbing 294 rebounds that year for 10.9 boards per game. In addition to being a dominant force on the boards, Salters-Mabe controlled the paint offensively, scoing 449 points that season for an average of 16.6 points per game. The 1999-2000 Lady Railsplitters finished the season with an 18-9 record and made an appearance in the GSC Tournament. For her efforts that season she was named First Team All-Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II First Team Kodak All-American.
On the baseball diamond, LMU has had many great players throughout it's long and illustrious history. From 1979 to 1983, Clark Wormsley wore the LMU blue and gray and was a four-year player for the Railsplitter baseball team. During his freshman season he turned in a .299 batting average, while hitting .290 his sophomore season. As a junior, Wormsley started coming into this own as he hit a blistering .351 while recording 10 homeruns and 50 RBI. As a senior, Wormsley again put up impressive numbers, hitting .320, notching eight homeruns and collecting 40 runs batted in. For his efforts with the Railsplitters, he was named a two-time All-Volunteer State Athletic Conference Team member and in the classroom he was a member of the Dean's List.
Ritchie Richardson, a 1980 to 1984 player with the Railsplitter baseball team rounds out the 2009 LMU Athletes Hall of Fame class. A four-year starter with the Railsplitters, Richardson led the team in hitting in 1981 with a .409 batting average, while finshing second in homeruns (7) that same year and second in RBI with 35. During his senior season in 1984, Richardson finished second on the team at the plate with a .386 batting average while finishing second on the team that year in homeruns with 10. Later that season he was named LMU's Male Athlete of the Year for 1984 and also received the Coaches Award.
Also being recognized this year will be 1990 graduate Monica Owens (women's basketall, 1986-90) who was inducted last year but was unable to attend the ceremonies. Throughout her collegiate career, Owens particpated with some of LMU's best basketball teams ever, eventually becoming the University's all-time assist leader (577) and the Lady Railsplitters' all-time assist leader for a single season (230). She is tied for second place in the career steals category with LMU Athletes Hall of Famer Nickie Snow, ranks seventeeth in career scoring with 982 career points, ranks eighteenth in career rebounds (459) and is second all-time in games played (122). Although she will be recognized at this year's induction ceremonies, officially she will go down in history as having been inducted in 2008.
The 2009 LMU Athletes Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on October 10 at 10 a.m. in Lincoln Memorial University's Tex Turner Arena. Immediately preceding the ceremony will be a reception in the Hall of Fame Room starting at 9:30. Both events are free and open to the public.
