Inductees

In only its fourth season of its softball program, Crowder College put itself on the map as a team to be reckoned with.

In 1983, the Lady Roughriders advanced to the national tournament of the National Junior College Athletics Association. It marked the first of six trips to nationals over the next decade.

What a run it was, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the 1982-1992 Crowder College Softball Era with the Class of 2026.

The 1983 team placed fourth, followed by national runner-up finishes in 1984, 1991 and 1992. The pinnacle came in 1986, when the program won the Junior College national championship.

It all started in 1982 with Crowder earning a regional title.

Annie Westfall Castle coached the team from 1983-1987, and her teams were 222-32, before moving on to the head coaching gig at Sam Houston State. She had taken a job at Crowder as an assistant without pay and lived in the dorms before becoming the head coach.

“I’m so excited for the players, because they’re the ones who deserve every bit of this,” Castle said. “They put in the blood and the sweat for two years to be successful and to put Crowder on the map. My heart is happy for them.”

The 1986 team won 63 game and 40 of those were shutouts — both figures are school records. That Lady ‘Riders team lost in the opening round, but rallied with six victories and beat Arizona Western twice to win it all, first by a 1-0 victory and then 2-1 in 19 innings.

Michelle Chia was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She finished with a 0.29 earned run average and 39 wins in 313 innings, all school records that still stand. The late Chia still holds six school pitching records, including career ERA at 0.40.

Following Castle was Millie George Gilion, whose teams were 496-141 from 1988-2000. Gilion was the first former player to take the helm, later followed by Lori Dilbeck Videmschek and Brandi Park Arthur.

The 1985 and 1989 teams suffered only four losses. Heading into the 2026 season, Crowder has a program record of 1,603-490, making the Lady Roughriders the best program in the state regardless of collegiate level.

Gilion found players near and far, like Shally Lundien, travel ball player because her high school didn’t offer the sport. Lundien played at Crowder in 1992-1993. After her sophomore season, she played for Team USA in the Canada Cup.

“Playing at Crowder was awesome because there were some local kids,” said Lundien, whose high school volleyball coach, Teresa Wise, played softball at Crowder as well. “But Crowder brought in players from Canada, from California, from Oklahoma, from Texas.”

During that 1982-92 era, Crowder had 25 All-Americans — 21 of them were All-Americans both seasons at Crowder.

There are still school records from that era.

Marla Looper, who pitched for Crowder in 1991-1992, holds four school records. She went on to play at Florida State and later became a pitching coach at Texas and head coach at Iowa.

Between Looper and Chia, they own all but one of the school’s pitching records.

The program still has three hitting records from that span. Gilion holds the career batting average record with a .485 clip. Third baseman April William) Varnell set the record for triples in a season with 13 in 1991. Kim Dean drew 44 walks in 1985.

Gilion said the Neosho college provided the foundation for many players.

Cori Jones Risener, who played for the team in 1990-1991, came from Sand Springs, Okla. That was a full-circle moment for Gilion as a coach, who used to babysit her, when Cori’s dad was a football and baseball coach at Miami, Okla.

Risener parlayed her time at Crowder into a scholarship at Louisiana-Monroe, winning a national championship there. Lundien was in the same situation, going to Missouri Southern and winning a Division II title.

“What an honor for all the softball players who played at Crowder College during this time frame,” said Gilion. “This is great for the players, the softball program and for Crowder College. It’s a unique situation for me because I played at Crowder and later became the head coach. As a student-athlete, Crowder gave me a great foundation to grow, mature and start my college career. Professionally, I was given the opportunity to coach and later became the athletic director. Thank you to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for acknowledging and hiring the 1982-1992 Crowder College softball teams.”