Women’s Track and Field & Cross Country Locker Room named in honor of Patty Vavra
· Yahoo Sports
Missouri Southern State University Athletics on Friday honored its former athlete and longtime coach Patty Vavra, naming a locker room in her honor.
The Patty Vavra Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Locker Room is located in Room 137 at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
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Vavra has been inducted into a number of halls of fame, most recently the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Grapevine, Texas, last year.
She was a 1993 MSSU Hall of Famer, a 2002 Joplin Sports Hall of Famer, a 2018 Missouri Sports Hall of Famer and a 2023 MIAA Hall of Famer.
Vavra also served as an officer in the USTFCCCA and was awarded the Jimmy Carnes Distinguished Service Award by the organization.
While at MSSU, she was named MIAA Coach of the Year for Track and Field 12 times and regional coach of the year four times. She led 43 athletes to NCAA Division II All-American honors in track and field and 10 cross-country runners to All-American status.
She began her coaching career at Carthage High School, where she coached a number of sports for 14 years before transferring to MSSU in 1994. She coached the Lions until 2016.
Vavra, a basketball and track athlete at MSSU, also was instrumental in lobbying former MSSU Athletic Director Sallie Beard to start the women’s track and field program at Southern.