Tickets Still on Sale for the Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A pair of outstanding basketball players, a men’s golf pioneer, two excellent football players, a couple All-American track & field athletes and a national championship-winning team will be inducted into the Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame in a special ceremony on Friday (April 21) in the Scruggs University Center Ballroom at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
Tickets for the ceremony are available for purchase online at https://athletics-hall-of-fame-dinner.square.site/.
The class of 2023 includes men’s basketball players Anthony Virdure and Anthony Walton; football players Valin Carey and Ralph Porter; men’s golfer Stephen Sampson; women’s track & field athlete Vickie Boone; men’s track & field athlete Robert Logan; and the 2018 Lincoln women’s outdoor track & field team, which captured the program’s 13th overall NCAA Division II Championship.
The MIAA’s leading scorer in 2016-17, Anthony Virdure earned first team All-MIAA honors and was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners All-Central Region second team following a stellar senior season with the Lincoln men’s basketball program. Virdure, who also was fourth in the MIAA in assists with 4.2 per game, led LU to 17 wins and secured the Blue Tigers’ first back-to-back winning seasons since 2000-01 and 2001-02. Virdure highlighted that season with a 50-point performance against Northwest Missouri, which was then ranked No. 1 in the country, and he broke the school single-season record for made free throws at 169, the 14th-most in the nation.
Virdure earned All-MIAA second team accolades following his first year with the program in 2015-16, and he is the fastest player in LU history to score over 1,000 points, as he finished with 1,275 for his career. His 21.6 points per game are the third-most in program history, and he also ranks third in LU history in free throws (327), fourth in assists (221), fifth in assists per game (3.7) and sixth in made three-pointers (126). Virdure led Lincoln to 33 wins, including a pair of postseason victories, he helped the Blue Tigers win playoff games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1976-77 and 1977-78.
Anthony Walton twice led the MIAA in rebounding, averaged 12.5 per game in 1983-84 and 11.3 in 1984-85. Walton pulled down 748 rebounds between 1982-85, the seventh-most every by a member of the LU men’s basketball team. For his career, Walton averaged 10.5 boards per contest, the fourth-most in program history.
A two-time All-MIAA first team selection, Valin Carey totaled 484 tackles between 1981-84. The third-leading tackler in Lincoln history, Carey finished his junior and senior seasons on the all-conference list. In addition to his stellar play on the football field, Carey, who had 142 tackles in 1984 alone, was a proud and active member of the Lincoln University ROTC, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1985. Carey spent a year as a student assistant coach for the Blue Tigers before graduating in 1986.
Ralph Porter was the starting quarterback during one of the most successful eras of Blue Tiger football from 1957-60. That includes Lincoln’s 21-0 win over Emporia State in the Mineral Water Bowl that capped off a 1958 season in which LU went 7-1 and was the MWAA Champions. Porter led the Blue Tigers to four-consecutive winning seasons and his teams won 27 games. In 1959, Porter led a rebuilding LU squad to a 7-2-1 record.
The second-ever African-American golfer at Lincoln University, Stephen Sampson was the anchor of a very successful Blue Tiger program between 1966-71. One of the team’s best golfers, Sampson was strategically placed as LU’s fourth-spot golfer, a strategy that took other teams by surprise and allowed Lincoln to win a high percentage of its matches. As a senior, he moved up to the number two slot and helped the Blue Tigers qualify for the NCAA Division II regional championship in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Sampson later started the golf program at Lincoln Senior High in East St. Louis, Ill., and, in 1999, was invited to serve as an instructor in a workshop for kids aged 6-16 that was hosted by Tiger Woods.
A six-time All-American, Vickie Boone was one of Lincoln’s top track & athletes from 1981-1985. Boone was an All-American in the long jump in 1983, earned All-American recognition in the long jump again as a junior, and, in 1985, captured four All-American awards. During her senior season, she was the national runner-up in the long jump, and also scored points for LU at the NCAA Division II championships in the 55m, 400m relay and the 1600m relay. She was also a two-time MIAA Athlete of the Week in 1985. Following her career at Lincoln, Boone became a successful coach, working at high schools and middle schools throughout Texas. One of her athletes at Jackson Middle School, Jeff Okudah, went on to play in the NFL for the Detroit Lions.
Robert Logan earned four All-American awards as a sprinter for the Blue Tigers between 1971-75. As a freshman, Logan earned All-American status by anchoring the mile relay team to a 3:12.08 finish. Logan later won national championships as a member of the 1600m relay squad in 1973 and 1975, and also won the mile relay as a senior. After graduation, Logan later returned to Lincoln in the 1990s to serve as an assistant track & field coach. He has also served as an official for NCAA and Olympic track & field events.
The 2018 Lincoln Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Team won three events and scored 60 points to claim its eighth outdoor national championship. Diana Cauldwell, Rene Medley and Christine Moss each turned in three All-American performances, including in the 4x100m relay, where they teamed with Shaian Vandenburg to win the race in 44.51. Cauldwell also was the national champion of the triple jump and the national runner-up in the long jump.
Medley had Lincoln’s other victory, winning the national title in the 200m with a time of 23.22 while Moss took seventh in that event in 24.20. Moss later teamed with Renea Ambersley, Segale Brown and Shanice Clarke to place third in the 4x400m relay, and Ambersley had another third-place finish in the 400m. Rounding out the scoring for LU was Medley, who became the national runner-up in the 100m by timing in at 11.50.
The Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 2008 and will now be comprised of 119 members. Inductees are nominated by their peers and voted upon by a select panel of Lincoln administrators and alumni. A minimum of five years must pass before any athlete, coach, team or administrator is eligible for the Hall of Fame. Athletes must have earned a minimum of two varsity letters at Lincoln while coaches and administrators must have been on the LU staff for a minimum of five years. Qualifications are based mainly upon the nominees’ performance at Lincoln, although accomplishments post-graduation may also be considered.
