The Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame kicked off 2002 by inducting four new members in grand ceremony Jan. 22 at the Wichita Marriott: baseball star Doug Mirabelli fs ’97, javelin champion Deana (Alexander) Torgerson ’97/99, cross country record-setter Mornay Annandale ’93 and the second man to score 1,000-plus points in a Shocker jersey, Bob Hodgson ’57.
Doug Mirabelli
Doug Mirabelli, who now plays for the Boston Red Sox, passed up a sixth-round draft pick from the Detroit Tigers to become one of the university’s two most memorable catchers. Behind the plate for the Shocks, Mirabelli threw out 46 percent of attempted base-stealers, a staggering percentage considering 72 percent of all stolen-base attempts are successful. Having played in the big leagues for nearly 10 years, Mirabelli expressed his gratitude for his time at wsu, 1990-92, and also thanked the Shocker Hellraisers for “all their noise and for coming out no matter the weather.”
Deana (Alexander) Torgerson
Deana Alexander is a name that many Shocker fans know from her days as a guard for the women’s basketball team. While she was deadly from behind the arc, holding a wsu career record of 39.2 percent from three-point land, it was the arc of her javelin that made its mark in Shocker history. She is the only four-time javelin champion in Missouri Valley Conference history. After winning her first two conference championships in 1993 and 1994, she took a two-year hiatus to fight cancer. She returned, victorious, and won two more MVC championships in 1997 and 1998.
Mornay Annandale
For all his speed, stamina and cross country records, one of Mornay Annandale’s greatest contributions to Wichita State is his devotion to the university and the city. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Annandale chose to stay in Wichita after he graduated because, he explains, “I’ve always been taught that in all the great cities from history, it was the people who made the city great. That’s why I make my home here. It’s the people who make this city great.”
Bob Hodgson
During Bob Hodgson’s career as a center for the Shockers (1953-56), he scored 1,112 points, and to this day remains the fourth highest scoring center in wsu history. A native of Scammon, Kan., he not only lit up the scoreboard with hook shots, but snatched up rebounds at an alarming rate. He averaged a double-double for his senior season: 17.5 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game.
— Robert Graves
