gather March 15 for a team send-off at the Hotel Monaco Portland
before the Shockers head to their second-round NCAA Tournament
game against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams.
Shocker alumni from Wichita and elsewhere converged in Portland, Ore., for the WSU men's basketball team's first NCAA Tournament game since 2006.
Working with the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission, the alumni association chartered a plane for Shocker faithful to travel together to Portland. Seats on the plane sold out in a matter of days, and the Shocker flyers met up with fellow fans not only for the March 15 WSU second-round tournament game against Virginia Commonwealth at Portland's Rose Garden, but also a series of other activities, including a team send-off before the game and a Friday evening reception at the Hotel Monaco Portland, the team's hotel.
Despite WSU's loss to the VCU Rams, the reception — sponsored by the alumni association, WSU Athletics and the WSU Foundation — was a Shocker success, bringing Portland-area alumni together with alumni, Wichita State officials and university friends who made the trip. Among the hundreds of Shockers in Portland were Jan and Jerry '63 Aaron, Rachel '01 and Paul '70 Allen, Pamela Ammar '80, Jack Focht, Debbie Gurnsey, Pam Hamrick '70, Stacy and Joe '99 Hand, Debbie Haynes '76/76, Joy '00 and Brian '96 Heinrichs, Denise Irwin '83, Zach Koch '07/09, George Neavoll, Joe Palacioz '71/76, Cindy '77/85 and Barry Schwan, Rick Schoepf, Ralph Vautravers '52, Sheryl Wohlford '82 and Jim Zielke '86.
