February 8, 2010

11th class inducted into Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame

Recognized for their contributions to Cowley College athletics, Dave Burroughs, Tim Shanahan, Kristi “Buggy” (Davis) Loney and Francis Browning Pipestem were inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday. Pipestem was inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame posthumously.

The new inductees were treated to a social gathering Friday night in the college's Earle N. Wright Community Room as well as a luncheon on Saturday. The induction ceremony took place at halftime of the Tiger men's basketball game against Independence Community College.

The Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame began in 2000 and currently has 57 members.

Burroughs is the second winningest coach in Cowley College sports history. He helped guide the Tiger baseball team to back-to-back JUCO World Series titles in 1997 and 1998, and has won 868 games in 22 seasons as head coach.

The Cowley College baseball team has captured three straight Jayhawk East titles and 13 of the past 15 conference championships. Burroughs’ teams have qualified for two of the last three JUCO World Series tournament’s played in Grand Junction, CO as he has been named the Jayhawk East coach of the year each of the past three seasons.

Shanahan was an All-American member of the Cowley College men’s tennis team, which won the school’s first national championship in 1989. He also teamed to win the NJCAA doubles title in 1989. As a sophomore at Cowley, Shanahan helped the Tiger tennis team place third nationally.

He went on to earn All-Conference honors while playing tennis at Oklahoma City University. Following graduation from OCU, Shanahan went on to become a highly successful women’s tennis coach at the school. He was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year/NAIA Region 6 Coach of the Year from 1994-2002. He was also named the ITA/Wilson NAIA Women’s National Coach of the Year in 1996 and 1999.

Shanahan has been the head tennis professional at Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City since 2003.

Loney was the first dominant player in the softball program’s successful history. She was a two-time All-Conference and All-Region VI performer at Cowley. During the 1986 season, Loney led the nation in wins (28) and helped the Lady Tigers win the Region VI championship. Cowley went 55-16 in her two years at the school and captured back-to-back conference titles.

Her 28 victories in 1986 stood as a school-record for 14 years, while Loney's 39 career wins was the most in the program’s history until 1998, and her 218 strikeouts remained a school-record until 1999.

She has since worked in the Critical Care Unit at Wichita’s Wesley Medical Center, and is currently working as a registered nurse at the South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center in Arkansas City.

Pipestem was an All-American offensive and defensive tackle for the Arkansas City Junior College football team during the 1961 season. He played on two successful teams, which were coached by fellow Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Ben Cleveland.

ACJC went 7-4 during the 1961 season and did even better in Pipestem’s second year at the school as the Tigers went 8-3 and finished as conference co-champs. After graduating from ACJC he played two years of football at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and was offered tryouts with several NFL teams.

Pipestem instead went on to become a noted attorney, judge and lecturer who was a committed and compassionate lifetime advocate for Native Americans. He has a Wellness Center named after him in Red Rock, OK.

Pictured from left, Tim Shanahan, Harold Barse (accepted the award for Francis Browning Pipestem), Kristi "Buggy" (Davis) Loney, and Dave Burroughs.