WSCC coach inducted to Hall of Fame

Coach Dave Kragel was inducted into the Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame on Sunday in Morristown. Dr. L. Quentin Lane, Commissioner was on hand to present Kragel with the honor. Also in attendance for the presentation was Walters State President and TJCCAA President, Jack E. Campbell. Kragel has enjoyed much success in the state, region and nation in women’s basketball. His teams are consistently ranked in the top 20 among NJCAA Division I teams. They have made national tournament appearances three times and have won six state championships. He has been named TJCCAA coach of the year 11 times throughout his career. At the beginning of the 2004-05 season, Kragel was among the top 10 winningest active junior and community college coaches in the nation with a 563-208 record. His longest home winning streak occurred between 1990 and 1995 with 47 games. His proudest accomplishment, however, is the high graduation rate of his players, with 90 percent completing their degrees. A total of 82 players have signed with four-year institutions. During the ceremony, Walters State was presented with the All Sports award from the TJCCAA. This award goes to the athletic program with the best win-lose record of combined teams in the conference. This is the third consecutive year that WSCC has won this award. In the ballgames for the afternoon, Walters State hosted Volunteer State in a TJCCAA conference match-up. The Lady Senators defeated the Lady Pioneers 79-46, and the Senators prevailed 91-68. For the Lady Senators, Vicky Blanchard led scoring with 13 points. Brittany Frazier added 10 points. For Vol State, Jennifer Cunningham led all scorers with 16 points. LaToya Williamson scrapped for 10 rebounds. The win takes the 8th ranked Lady Senators to 7-0 in the conference (12-1 overall) and the Lady Pioneers go to 1-6 in the conference (5-9 overall). In the Men’s game, five Walters State players scored in double figures. Darryl Sommerset led scoring with 24 points. He grabbed 13 rebounds to complete the double-double. Ralph Legg finished with 15 points. For Vol State, Mario Lusk poured in 21 points, and Brian Vann added 10 points. Montrelle Crittendon finished with nine rebounds. The Senators go to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference. The Vol State team goes to 9-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference. The next home game for the Senators will be Sunday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. and for the Lady Senators, Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. in the “Z” Buda Assembly Hall and Gymnasium.