Every year, the Men and Women's Varsity O Alumni Boards induct former athletes into the OSU Sports Hall of Fame. There are certain criteria that each board evaluates and then we vote on which athletes should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Former softball players include Krinon Clark, Shauna Bowman Miller and Anna Smith-Ferrara. I am sure I am forgetting someone...
The festivities include a lunch for us to get to know the women, where the master of ceremonies, Barbie Tootle, asks them a bunch of questions for info at the induction ceremony on Friday night. Lunch this year was in the Geiger room at the Schott. I unfortunately had to cut out early to that, as I had ethics training I needed to go to (I am in a re certification year for my CPA and needed this course - trust me, I would have rather stayed where I was!)
In addition to the Hall of Fame honorees, we also have 2 special awards we present. They are the Barbie Tootle Spirit Award and the Phyllis Bailey Career Achievement Award. Barbie bleeds scarlet and gray, and is a legend of her own at OSU. She retired as some sort of special director to the President when Gee left the first time, and has gone back on a part time basis since Gee's return. Thirty seconds around Barbie and her love for the Scarlet and Gray is infectious. Phyllis Bailey is also legendary in her own right - she saw so much change in the field of women's athletics in the 40+ years of service she gave to our fine university. She was legendary in the establishment of women's sports at OSU before and after title 9. The award we named in her honor reflects the accomplishments of women both in and out of their athletic careers. Ms Bailey is still alive and well, and participates in both lunch and dinner on induction day.
As for the induction ceremony, this year it was at the Blackwell. The University does a nice job on this event. Guests who made appearances included Jim Tressel (current OSU FB Coach), Archie Griffin (Currently in charge of the OSU Alumni Association and former 2 time Heisman trophy winner) Gene Smith (Current Athletic Direction of the finest university in the land) and finally, our university's leader, President E. Gordon Gee. Each made about a three minute speech and congratulated the inductees - I tried to record it on my camera, but the sound was muffled. Gee apologized for his perceived tardiness - apparently he was off massaging Beanie's foot. He should have been talking to the team as a whole based on their performance on Saturday!!!
Friday September 5 was the 2008 induction. Among the honorees was my former roomie in the dorms, golfer Amy Langhals. Amy was the Big Ten freshman of the year and throughout her career, was critical to the success the golf team is now enjoying. She played on the tour for a few years, but a car accident rendered her a back injury that ended her professional career. In the spirit of giving back to the university, Amy is in her second year as the assistant coach of the women's golf team at our Alma mater. Amy is the youngest of 8, and the whole Langhals tribe came down to celebrate the event. Her coach even had most of the team come - they are back early as they are leaving for a trip to Scotland this coming Friday. Good year to be on the women's golf team. Coach Tressel thanked Amy for the assistance she has given him on his golf game!
At any rate, congrats to Amy! This is truly an honor that was well deserved, and I know Amy's family and team were very proud of her. The class of 2008 included:
Maxi Meissner - Rowing
Amy Langhals - Golf
Krista Keir - Track and Field (throwing)
Megan Mirick - Lacrosse (1st womens lacrosse player to be inducted)
Carolina Moraes - Synchronized Swimming
Isabela Moraes - Synchronized Swimming
**Note on Carolina and Isabela - they were undefeated in their career. OSU has a dominant synchro progam. Currently, the twins work on a water show at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
Enjoy the photos!
Nicole and Amy sporting Amy's plaque
Old roomies from Mack Hall - yep, we lived in the Virgin Vault!!! (all girls dorm)
Football team arriving at the Blackwell. These young men are enormous in size. They were carrying their game day dress clothes and they were HUGE!
Women's Varsity O Board
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