Former Herd Greats Honored on Southern Conference 100th Anniversary Teams

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Marshall Thundering Herd had 33 former athletic greats named to the Southern Conference 100th Anniversary Teams, the league announced as part of its celebration of its first 100 years. Marshall's players were honored across 11 sports.

Marshall University was a member of the Southern Conference from 1976-1997.

The league named teams in each of the sports it currently sponsors that it has sponsored for at least 25 years. All of the teams can be viewed here: 100th Anniversary Teams. There is also a special section on the league's website that is dedicated to the anniversary and history of the league.

Among the criteria that merited selection to the teams were the common benchmarks of:
- Member of the collegiate hall of fame for that sport
- Member of the SoCon Hall of Fame
- National player of the year
- All-America honors in two different academic years
- SoCon Male or Female Athlete of the Year
- Two-time SoCon Player of the Year
- Student-athletes must have competed in the SoCon for at least two seasons

The sports that have a Herd player represented are baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, football, men's golf, men's soccer, softball, men's track and field and volleyball. Tony Petersen was named for both baseball and football as he was a pitcher and a quarterback for the Herd.

The Southern Conference was founded on Feb. 25, 1921, when delegates from 15 of the 30 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association institutions met at the Piedmont Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, to finalize plans for a new conference. Alabama, Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn), Clemson, Georgia, Georgia School of Technology (Georgia Tech), Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi A&M (Mississippi State), North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) and Washington & Lee all signed on to form the Southern Intercollegiate Conference, while Tulane attended the meetings but did not join until the following year.

The league has had 44 full-time members over its illustrious history, spawning the Southeastern Conference (1932) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (1953) and currently serving as home to 10 institutions throughout six states in the Southeast. Among current members, VMI joined in 1923 and celebrated 88 years in the league in 2021 (the Keydets were not members from 2003-14). The Citadel and Furman own the longest continuous tenure in the league, as both programs joined in 1936.

Marshall's Athletes Honored
Baseball
Greg Hill, DH
1st-team All-SoCon 1980, 1981, 1983
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2001

Tony Peterson, P
SoCon Male Athlete of the Year 1987-88
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 1994

Todd Sager, 3B
1st-team All-SoCon 1982, 1983, 1984
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 1997

Men's Basketball
Skip Henderson, G
1st-team All-SoCon 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88

John Taft, G
SoCon Player of the Year 1988-89, 1989-90
1st-team All-SoCon 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2003

Women's Basketball
Karen Pelphrey, F
SoCon Hall of Fame 2016
1st-team All-SoCon 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 1992

Men's Cross Country
John Dotson
1st-team All-SoCon 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2011

Mark Gladwell
1st-team All-SoCon 1991, 1992, 1994

Duane Miller
1st-team All-SoCon 1988, 1989, 1990

David Tabor
1st-team All-SoCon 1984, 1985, 1986
SoCon Championships Individual Champion 1986

Women's Cross Country
Christa Gibson
1st-team All-SoCon 1988, 1990, 1991

Tina Maynard
1st-team All-SoCon 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989

Football
Mike Barber, WR
College Football Hall of Fame 2005
All-America 1987, 1988
1st-team All-SoCon 1986, 1987, 1988
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 1994

Troy Brown, WR/KR
All-America 1991, 1992
1st-team All-SoCon 1992
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2002

B.J. Cohen, DL
All-America 1995, 1996
1st-team All-SoCon 1994, 1995, 1996
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2005

Melvin Cunningham, DB
All-America 1995, 1996
1st-team All-SoCon 1995, 1996
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2016

Sean Doctor, TE
All-America 1987, 1988
1st-team All-SoCon 1987, 1988
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2000

Todd Donnan, QB
SoCon Male Athlete of the Year 1994-95
1st-team All-SoCon 1993, 1994
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2009

Aaron Ferguson, OG
1st-team All-SoCon 1994, 1995, 1996
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2007

Roger Johnson, DB
All-America 1993, 1994
SoCon Freshman of the Year 1991
1st-team All-SoCon 1993, 1994
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2004

Billy Lyon, DL
All-America 1995, 1996
1st-team All-SoCon 1994, 1995, 1996
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2007

Chris Parker, RB
All-America 1993, 1994, 1995
SoCon Offensive Player of the Year 1993, 1995
1st-team All-SoCon 1993, 1994, 1995
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2000

Michael Payton, QB
Walter Payton Award 1992
SoCon Male Athlete of the Year 1991-92, 1992-93
SoCon Offensive Player of the Year 1991, 1992
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 1999

Tony Petersen, QB
SoCon Male Athlete of the Year 1987-88
SoCon Offensive Player of the Year 1987
1st-team All-SoCon 1987
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 1994

Phil Ratliff, OL
All-America 1991, 1992
SoCon Jacobs Blocking Award 1992
1st-team All-SoCon 1992, 1992
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2008

Men's Golf
Tom Kies
1st-team All-SoCon 1986, 1987, 1988
SoCon Championships Individual Champion 1986
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2008

Gary Rusnak
1st-team All-SoCon 1983, 1984, 1985
SoCon Championships Individual Champion 1985
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2001

Eric Shaffer
1st-team All-SoCon 1991, 1992, 1993
SoCon Championships Individual Champion 1991

Men's Soccer
Brad Puryear, D
1st-team All-SoCon 1983, 1984, 1985
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2010

Softball
Stefanie Cook, SS/2B
SoCon Freshman of the Year 1995
1st-team All-SoCon 1995, 1996, 1997

Carrie Hinkle, SS/OF
1st-team All-SoCon 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
SoCon All-Tournament Team 1996

Men's Track & Field
Shaun McWhorter
ITK shot put champion 1982, 1983, 1984
Marshall Hall of Fame Class of 2005

Tony Patrick
OTK 3,000-meter steeple champion 1991, 1992, 1993

Volleyball
Kellie Beckelheimer-Hicks, MB
1st-team All-SoCon 1989, 1990, 1991

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Former Herd Greats Honored on Southern Conference 100th Anniversary Teams

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