9 selected to UT Hall of Fame

1/9/2004

Casey McBeth

The University of Toledo Hall of Fame announced nine new members yesterday - eight athletes and a coach.

The Hall of Fame induction banquet will be held Feb. 13 at the Pinnacle in Maumee. On Feb. 14 the inductees will be introduced at halftime of the men s and women s basketball games. The women s game will begin at 4:30 p.m., with the men following at 7.

The inductees are:

Dan Draeger, swimming, 1995-98. Draeger was the most dominating male swimmer in UT history and one of the best ever in the Mid-American Conference. Draeger was an NCAA DivisionI All-American in the 200 and 400 freestyle relay in 1997, and won an unprecedented 15 MAC titles in his career - seven individual and eight relay titles. He also was the MAC swimmer of the year in 1997 and 98.

Angela Drake, basketball, 1993-97. Fittingly, Drake and teammate Mimi Olson will join the Varsity T Hall of Fame in the same year. Drake and Olson were a dominating duo in the MAC from 1993-97, winning three straight MAC titles and earning three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Drake was voted the 1996-97 MAC player of the year after being runner-up as a sophomore and junior. She ranks third in career scoring at UT with 1,952 points and is the school s all-time leader with 1,087 rebounds.

Matt Eberflus, football, 1988-91. Eberflus, a linebacker, earned first-team All-MAC honors as a junior and a senior. In his senior season he was a co-captain and was chosen for the Nicholson Award as “the player contributing the most to the team s success.” Eberflus was an assistant coach at UT from 1994-2000, and currently is the defensive coordinator at Missouri under former Rocket head coach Gary Pinkel.

George Grailer, football, 1940, and basketball, 1940-42. Grailer started for the 1940 football team but made his reputation in two seasons as a basketball forward. At 6-1, 180 pounds, Grailer was considered a big man for that time. He was a key player on the 1941-42 team that went 23-5 and made it to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament. The Rockets were 44-8 in Grailer s two seasons. He died in 1998.

David Krol, baseball, 1987-89. Krol was a dominating pitcher for three seasons, earning first-team All-MAC honors in 1988 and 1989. Krol also was an outstanding student, and in 1988 he became the first Rocket baseball player to earn Academic All-American honors. Krol graduated from UT magna cum laude and went on to earn his medical degree at Yale Medical School. He is an assistant professor of pediatrics and health policy & management at Columbia University.

Mike Larsen, basketball, 1972-76. A three-year letterman, Larsen totaled 1,020 points and 608 rebounds in his career. In his senior year in 1975-76 he averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and earned second-team All-MAC honors. More importantly perhaps, as team captain he rallied the Rockets from an 0-4 start to win 18 of their final 21 games and finish 18-7.

Casey McBeth, football, 1991-92, 1994. A running back, McBeth was the first Rocket to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season, and he was first-team All-MAC in 1992 and 1994. A co-captain as a senior, McBeth set the UT single-game rushing record with 304 yards against Akron. He also set the school record for most points scored with 32 in the Akron game (five touchdowns and one two-point conversion). He still is third on UT s all-time career rushing list with 2,719 yards.

Mimi Olson, basketball, 1993-97. Olson and Drake formed a deadly one-two punch that dominated the Mid-American Conference from 1993-97, winning three straight MAC titles and earning three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Olson debuted as the MAC freshman of the year in 1993-94, and went on to earn second-team All-MAC honors as a sophomore and first-team All-MAC honors in her junior and senior seasons. Olson ranks second on UT s career scoring list with 2,144 points.

Cheryl Sprangel, softball coach, 1984-97. Sprangel coached the softball team for 14 years, and 12 of those seasons her teams posted winning records. Her all-time record is 461-355-1 (.568). Her teams won MAC titles in 1985, 89 and 92, and she was named MAC coach of the year in each of those seasons. Her teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 1989 and 92, and in 1989 the Rockets won the NCAA Mideast Regional and advanced to the College Softball World Series. Sprangel left UT in 1997 to become the coach at Virginia.