Runnin' With The Racers Podcast: Recent Episodes
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Shane Burns of Murray State Baseball joins the podcast #126. A sophomore from Princeton, Ky., Burns is an All-OVC level talent and one of the top lefties in NCAA D-I pitching. Burns and his teammates are following the lead of Coach Dan Skirka and are building a baseball program that can become a force in the OVC by great talent and a great team culture. The spring of 2021 is unlike any other. We also preview the Murray State football opener to their 96th season and news of the week from the Racers.
On episode 125, Hannah James of Murray State Softball is our guest, as the All-OVC pitcher and her teammates are ready to play nearly a year after the pandemic halted the season last spring in March of 2020. James, the 2019 OVC Freshman of the Year, has proved to be a durable and consistency ace from the moment she stepped foot on the field out of Nicholasville, Kentucky. She is also the owner of only the third perfect game in the history of MSU Softball. Having a heart to work in special education, James talks about the love she has of her sport and the outstanding education she is getting at Murray State University.
On episode 124 of the program, we get to know Murray State Football student-athlete Alec Long better as the Racers get ready to play a strange 2020 season, in early 2021. Out of Jackson, Tenn., and Liberty Tech High School, Long has found his place at Murray State and is performing at a high level as a sophomore linebacker. Lots of discussion today on how the Racers have dealt with the pandemic and how Coach Dean Hood has created an outstanding culture in the program that transcends what happens on the field.
Episode 123 gets a student-athlete back on the show for the first time since the pandemic began. Callie Anderton and her Murray State Volleyball teammates are excited to get their season going in early 2021. Today she talks about how her team stayed close in these uncertain times and how Coach Dave Schwepker's culture of Racer Volleyball is a family, from the way they practice to the way they play. Anderton is studying architectural engineering and enjoys finding old home and fixing them up.
1991 Murray State Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Coulson of Thoroughbreds Baseball, is our guest this week on episode 122 of the podcast. Coulson was an immediate contributor to Coach Johnny Reagan's teams for two seasons in 1972-73. A multi-talented player, Coulson's skill set drew attention from the big Leagues. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the seventh round of the 1973 MLB Draft. Getting one step from joining the big club in 1975, Coulson eventually retired from professional baseball after five successful minor league seasons. Using the training of his education degree from Murray State, he served 27 years in the Fulton County school system in Hickman, Ky., as an educator and coach.
Episode 121 shines the spotlight on Racer football great, James "Squeeky" Yarbrough who was an outstanding All-OVC cornerback for Coach Frank Beamer from 1982-85. Yarbrough later spent time in the National Football League with the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants. Out of Knoxville, Yarbrough was courted by a lot of schools, but made one visit to campus and it had to be Murray State. Squeeky was a big part of some of the greatest defenses in MSU history. He was also an OVC champion in track & field as a sprinter and hurdler. A man of great faith, Yarbrough is involved with J&B Outreach, a nonprofit that helps at risk children in the Dallas area. He is retired from the Dallas County Sheriffs' department after 20 years of service.
It's episode 120 with MSU hall of famer, Don Mann, of men's basketball as we remember the days from 1985-89 when the Racers won the program's first NCAA Tournament game. Mann teamed with Jeff Martin tas the M&M Boys, they became the MSU all-time assister, all-time scorer. In 1988, the Racers were given little chance in beating North Carolina State in the NCAA Tournament, but they did and two days later, nearly did the same to eventual national champion Kansas. Mann's assist records stood 30 years until Ja Morant topped them in 2019. Mann comments on what it was like to see Morant become a star and the pride he feels of being a member of the Murray State Hall of Fame.
Doug Vance is our guest on the podcast episode 119, as the former sports information director talks about his memories of covering the Racers from 1978-83. This was a golden age of revival for Racer men’s basketball and football. Coach Ron Greene guided the men's basketball program back to a championship level as did Coach Mike Gottfried with MSU Football. Vance was there when Johnny Reagan’s 1979 baseball team was one win from going to the College World Series and he covered Racer hall of famers including: Lamont Sleets, Danny Lee Johnson, George Greenfield, Ronald Hopkins, Terry Love, Andy Rice and coaches Johnny Reagan, Bennie Purcell and Frank Beamer. Vance also has a great story to tell about the time the San Diego Chicken made a visit to Racer Arena.
Episode 118 of the podcast takes us back a wonderful time for Racers' women's basketball with point guard Alaina Lee. Out of Texas, Lee was part of the resurgence of women’s basketball at MSU from 2004-08. Lee and the Racers set the program record with 24 wins and a share of second place in the OVC in 2007-08. A year after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the title game, the Racers won the OVC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. With a coaching career that has taken her from Houston to Kansas, Lee is now impacting her student-athletes in a great way at the high school level as a teacher and coach.
Episode 117 of the program features Pokey Harris of Racer football and baseball fame from 2012-15. In his junior season on the gridiron, Harris became just the 11th player in OVC history to record a 100-yard kick off return and then he did it back-to-back weeks in games at Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky. He was named to eight different All-America awards and was the top returner in FCS with an average of 28.8 yards per return. On the baseball field, Harris was a second baseman and center fielder and saw action in 64 career games. Pokey is one of the most memorable nicknames in Racer history and how he got it, is quite the story as well.