returned to campus for an all-years football reunion. Others included Linwood Sexton
’48, Anthony Jones ’84, Michael Bruce ’72, Prince McJunkins ’86, Jay Hull ’83 and
Bryan Hanning ’80.
Eighty-six former Shocker football players and coaches returned to campus May 15-16 for an all-years reunion, hosted by the WSU Alumni Association.
Among the featured events were a punt, pass and kick contest, and a formal dinner and premier of “Endzone to Endzone: The History of Shocker Football,” a DVD covering the 90 years of football at Wichita State.
After once again taking the field at Cessna Stadium, former players — most wearing commemorative jerseys — were introduced.
Some of them then vied for the longest distances in a punt, pass and kick contest. During the formal dinner, a panel of former players shared gridiron tales, and these individuals were recognized as “Shockers of Influence”: former head football coach Willie “Jeff” Jeffries; James Rhatigan, dean emeritus of students; Dorothy Harmon, former athletics administrator and secretary; and Roland “Mr. B” Banks, longtime equipment manager, director of stadium events and assistant to the athletic director.
Spearheaded by Jay Hull ’83 and sponsored by Dr. Ray Cook and Dr. Eugene Kaufman, the team’s former physicians; Philip May, WSU professor emeritus of accounting, and Maggie Hoppe; WSU Athletics; WSU’s division of Campus Life and University Relations; House of Schwan; and Pepsi, the reunion sparked many vivid memories of gridiron glory among both reunion attendees and Shocker supporters who heard or read accounts of reunion activities.
Consider the recollections of Tom Allen ’50, whose rugged profile graces the cover of a Wichita oil company publication of the late 1940s.
Allen, a former Marine, battled his way through the opponent’s front lines to break free and catch passes — including a standout grab in the final minutes of a contest with archrival Tulsa that resulted in a 27-21 Shocker victory, its first football win over the Golden Hurricane.
A complete blow-by-blow account of the historic pass and win was chronicled by former Wichita Beacon sports editor Bob Overaker under the headline “My Most Thrilling Moments in Sports.” It was just that, Allen agrees.
Allen also has two “next most thrilling” moments, as he terms them: playing in two bowl games, the Raisin Bowl in California and the Camelia Bowl in Louisiana. “We didn’t win either one, but being there was delightful,” he says.
Although he didn’t play football at the University of Wichita, Toby Elster ’48/50 clearly remembers the Wichita-Houston homecoming game of 1954, and he doesn’t want anyone to overlook that contest.
The game was played with a strong north wind whipping through a full house at Veterans Field — which had an effect on game strategy, including the fourth quarter in which Wichita dominated in offensive possession.
The Shockers entered the game as three-touchdown underdogs and left victorious, 9-7. They went on to compile a 9-1 record, the best in Shocker football history.
“Everyone thought WU was going to go down big,” Elster recalls of that contest. “But they didn’t. It was the best game we ever played.”
