Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) Athletics recently inducted three athletes and one team into the newly renovated Hall of Honor. The inductees include Miranda White Terry, Luke Yoder, Jamie Fraysher Runner, and the 2003 Women’s Basketball Team.
The Hall of Honor was formed in 1979 by the athletic department, composed of an “elite group of athletes, coaches and administrators who have distinguished themselves by their outstanding athletic achievements and exemplary performance at EMU.” To be considered for induction, there must be at least ten years since the athlete graduated.
Jamie Fraysher Runner, a 2009 graduate, was a standout softball player in her time at EMU. She ended her career with 437.2 innings pitched, 40 total wins, 13 shutouts, and 239 strikeouts. Runner set multiple records, including wins in a season (14), strikeouts in a season (88), lowest ERA (1.23), and lowest opponent batting average (.180), including selection to All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) teams in 2006 and 2008.
Runner spoke of the love she had for the game: “I craved practicing to get better and be the best I could be. Learning how to ‘tempt’ the batters and learning their weaknesses and seeing how successful it was made me feel good about myself. It made me feel accomplished and pitching softball was my passion.”
Being inducted into the Hall of Honor over the weekend was “like the cherry on top of that sundae,” Runner added. Her induction speech brought tears to her face when “reminiscing all the memories my team and I shared on that field.” Her nine-year-old son told her, “Mom, I’m so proud of you and I want to be on that wall someday too,” which made Runner’s heart “flutter with emotion and excitement!”
The second inductee, Miranda White Terry, was a 2008 softball graduate and teammate of Runner who found her success at the plate. She completed her career with the Royals with a batting average of .373 with 174 hits, including 39 doubles, 119 RBI and four All-ODAC Team honors. In her time, Terry broke the single-season records of hits, with 56, and doubles, with 16. She also held career records in numerous offensive statistics.
Terry’s success, along with her teammates, were able to rebuild and bring excitement back to the EMU softball program. “The community and the university start to get excited. People want to come watch and cheer you on. That’s an amazing feeling,” she said. Terry never imagined playing college sports, let alone getting inducted into the Hall of Honor. Looking back, she never realized the impact she had on the softball program. “Everyday whether it was practice or a game I always tried to give 110 percent. That hard work and dedication that I gave 15 years ago is now being honored.”
The third inductee, Luke Yoder, was a 2008 graduate who qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Track & Field Championships twice and was a multiple-time All-ODAC runner in his career. In 2005, he was an ODAC Champion in the 800m. His time of 1:52.92 put him atop the EMU record book for 12 years, and still remains third all-time. Yoder also was a part of the record-setting 4×400 relay team with a time of 3:18.38. The record still stands today.
Yoder knew after playing five sports in high school at Iowa Mennonite School that he wanted to continue to play sports in college. “Making the 15-hour trip out with my family this past weekend really brought back memories,” he said, “and gave me the chance to reflect on my time as an athlete at EMU and just my entire EMU experience. I was thrilled to have a great reason to make it back to campus to show my young kids where I attended college 15 years ago.”
In addition to the three individual athletes, the 2003 Women’s Basketball Team has also been inducted into the Hall of Honor. In the 2003–04 season they got out to a hot 7–0 start to the season. They finished the regular season 21–3 overall and 17–3 in the conference giving them the top seed in the ODAC tournament where they went on to defeat Randolph-Macon 65–54 to win the conference title. Following the conference tournament, they made a run in the NCAA bracket advancing to the Sweet 16.
