In the early 1980s, even though she may not have truly realized it, Dana Ozbun Stillwagon was inspiring the next generation of young women who eventually would participate in athletics. After all, she was a multi-sport athlete at Doniphan High School and then Southwest Baptist University in the first decade after passage of Title IX.
“We were trained in practices to not ‘cut corners’ when running laps and sprints,” Stillwagon said. “To this day, I still have ingrained in me not to ‘cut corners’ at work and in life. Work hard and have fun.”
Now her career is being remembered by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Stillwagon will be among nine who will receive a Wynn Award during the Women’s Sports Luncheon sponsored by the Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation and presented by Central Bank/Central Trust. The event is set at 11 a.m. March 28 at the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield. For tickets or to support Stillwagon in some way, call 417-889-3100.
Her award also will be presented on a day featuring the inductions of the Diamond High School Volleyball Program, swimmer Michelle Langsford Dickemann, longtime volleyball coach Ann Luetkemeyer Gulshen, college basketball assistant Lynnette Robinson, track & field and cross country coach Patty Vavra and the MSSU Women’s Track & Field and Cross Country Programs. Jacquie Dowdy will receive the President’s Award.
The Wynn Awards are named in honor of Dr. Mary Jo Wynn, the pioneer of women’s athletics at Missouri State University, a 1999 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee and 2014 Missouri Sports Legend. The awards are presented to former high school, college and pro athletes for their contributions in athletics.
Stillwagon was an all-conference selection in basketball in 1982 and 1983 at Doniphan High School, where she also still holds the volleyball program’s record in blocks (159 in 1982). At Southwest Baptist University from 1983 to 1987, she was a three-sport athlete, competing in volleyball, basketball and softball.
“As you might guess, role models for women’s athletics were fewer in the early ‘80s,” Stillwagon said. “My coaches were dedicated to leading us to be productive, hard-working young ladies, so we practiced hard and had fun in the process.”
She later added, “We were inspired to do our best.”
In volleyball, she was an NAIA All-American as a sophomore in addition to earning multiple all-conference and All-District 16 selections in her time there. She finished her junior season ranked fifth in the NAIA in blocks. In basketball, her 682 rebounds are fifth in SBU history but were second-most at the time of her graduation. She scored 971 points and had 682 rebounds in 100 career games and was All-MIAA. She later played one season of softball at SBU.
“Yes, we lost games and we won even more, but the fun times we had were priceless,” Stillwagon said.
Fun times such as basketball trips to Colorado, Texas, Tennessee and Mississippi, or drinking watered-down lemon lime Gatorade during weekend volleyball tournaments, or developing blisters and bruises from those matches. That and the softball game in which a girl running full speed to first base bounced off Stillwagon, the first baseman, and onto her back. Or the basketball team’s repeated post-game trips as they wiped out the food bars at Golden Corral.
“These memories, and many more, keep the bond that we as players and coaches will always have together,” Stillwagon said.
Other Wynn Award recipients will be Shelley Seider Davis (Rich Hill High School/Pittsburg State University), swimmer Brianne McGuirk Madura (Missouri State University), The Opfer Sisters (Lorin Fiehler, Alix and Kasey) of Glendale High School Soccer, track and field’s Brenda Hayes Raynor (Branson High School/Missouri State University), track and field’s Trudi Spain (Missouri State University) and volleyball’s Bri Walsh (Clever High School/MSU-West Plains/Evangel University).
Stillwagon, who now works for Duck Creek Technologies, has long called Bolivar home. She and her husband, John, and their sons, Bradley and Conner, are all SBU alums while their daughter, Jennifer, is attending the university.
She thanks God for the continued blessings of family and friends, and said mentors on and off the field cared about her development as both a player and person.
“There were many people in my life who took the time to support me, pray for me and contribute to who I have become,” Stillwagon said. “The time and energy which was poured into me for years continues to make a difference in who I have become. I pray I am doing the same for those I come in contact with.”
