The Eastern Michigan University E-Club has announced the
addition of four former athletic greats, three coaches
and a sports physician into the EMU Athletic Hall of
Fame as members of the Class of 2005.
The eight new members will be honored at an official induction
ceremony Saturday, Feb. 11, beginning at 10:30 a.m., in
the atrium of the Convocation Center. A reception will
follow at noon in the Stadium Club.
The Class of 2005 includes: Sara Seegers, softball; Harold
Simons, basketball and later a men's basketball and men's
golf coach; Tommy Asinga, men's track; Dan Boisture, football
coach; Ben Braun, men's basketball coach; Hamilton Morningstar,
men's track; Dr. Waldomar Roeser, chief orthopedic specialist
for the athletic department; and Dan Schmitz, baseball.
The E-Club, a group of former EMU varsity letter winners,
sponsors the Hall of Fame and has a selection committee
to determine the inductees. The 2005 class will be
the 30th inducted into the Hall of Fame, which started
with the inaugural class in 1976.
This year's induction ceremony and reception is scheduled
prior to the EMU-Miami (Ohio) women's basketball game,
which has a 2 p.m. tip-off. The Hall of Fame inductees
will be introduced at halftime.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame ceremony are $35 each, which
includes the induction ceremony, reception and a ticket
for the women's basketball game. Hall of Fame tickets
can be ordered from the EMU Athletics Office by calling
487-1050.
The Hall of Fame was relocated from Bowen Field House
to the EMU Convocation Center with the induction of the
Class of 2001. The hall is located in the atrium of the
Convocation Center and is open to the public on a daily
basis at no charge.
A complete biography of the Class of 2005 is as follows:
 |
Seegers |
Sara Seegers (1995 graduate) was an
outstanding softball player who earned four varsity letters
(1990-93). She was named first-team All-Mideast
Region and first-team All-Mid-American Conference as a
senior in 1993. Seegers set five single-season records
in that year, for games played (66), at bats (218), runs
scored (47), hits (86) and stolen bases (42). All five
records still stand. Her .394 batting average that
year was the second best in school history. Seegers is
still ranked in career statistics in stolen bases (2nd-72),
batting average (3rd-.311), runs scored (4th-94), and hits
(7th-172).
 |
Simons |
Harold Simons (1969 and 1971 graduate).
At EMU, Simosn was an outstanding basketball player and
later a coach in two sports, men's basketball and men's
golf. He earned three varsity basketball letters (1965-68)
and finished his career with 698 points. He helped lead
EMU to a second-place finish in the 1966 President's Athletic
Conference with an 11-1 record. Simons served as co-captain
of the 1967-68 team that won the NAIA District championship
and advanced to the NAIA national tournament. He played
on EMU basketball teams that were 53-19 during his three
seasons.
After graduating, he went on to become an assistant men's
basketball coach at EMU from 1968-76 and also handled the
men's golf head coaching duties from 1969-72. His 1969-70
men's golf team placed 14th in the NAIA and 18th in the
NCAA-College Division nationals. The 1970-71 golf team
finished 11th in the NCAA-College Division and his 1971-72
team went 10-1 in dual-meet action and finished sixth in
the NCAA-College Division. Simons was selected as EMU's
Alumni Golfer of the Year in 1996.
He went on to become a highly successful boys basketball
and golf coach at Ann Arbor Huron High School.
 |
Asinga |
Tommy Asinga (1994 graduate) was an
outstanding track performer for EMU from
1991-94, earning All-American honors five times as an 800-meter
runner and on several relay teams.
Asinga also competed in three Olympic Games (1988, 1992,
1996) for his home country, Suriname, and served as his
country's flag-bearer at the '92 Olympics in Barcelona,
Spain. He turned in a third-place finish in the 800 meters
at the Pan-Am Games in 1991, finished second in the 800-meter
run at the 1991 NCAA Outdoor Championships and was sixth
in the 1992 NCAA Indoor Championships. He also ran the
anchor leg on EMU's winning 3,200-meter relay team at the
1993 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Asinga was a finalist at the 1991 World University Games
in England and also competed in the 1991 and 1995 World
Championships.
As an Eagle, he won the 800-meter title four consecutive
times at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and
Field Championships from 1991-94. Asinga almost
fared as well indoors, capturing three 800-meter MAC titles
from 1992-94. He also found success at the 400 meters,
finishing second outdoors three consecutive years, from
1992-94. In addition, he ran on three straight, winning
3200-meter relay teams at the Drake Relays and helped EMU's
4 x 400-meter relay team win the MAC outdoor
crown twice (1991, 1994).
He graduated from Tuskegee University School of Veterinary
Medicine in 1998 and is a practicing veterinarian.
 |
Boisture |
Dan Boisture served as head coach of
EMU's football team for seven seasons (1967-73) and had
a 45-20-3 record (.684), the best winning percentage of
any football coach in school history.
He led the team to seven consecutive winning seasons and
also produced the longest unbeaten streak in school history
at 13 games during the 1970 and 1971 seasons. Boisture
led the '71 squad to a 7-0-2 record, which included EMU's
first-ever post-season bowl game, the Pioneer Bowl. The
1971 team earned a No. 1 national ranking in the NCAA-College
Division.
Boisture coached six EMU players that earned All-American
honors. He eventually went on to coach the Detroit Wheels
of the World Football League.
 |
Braun |
Ben Braun served as EMU's head men's
basketball coach from 1985-1996 before leaving to take
over the head coaching duties at the University of California-Berkeley.
In his 10 1/2 seasons as EMU's head coach, he led Eastern
to the most successful decade in school history in the
NCAA Division I ranks, finishing as the winningest head
coach in school history with an 185-132 record.
During his EMU tenure, he was named Mid-American Conference
Coach of the Year three times (1987-88, 1990-91, 1995-96).
During those three years, he directed the basketball team
to Mid-American Conference and MAC Tournament Championships,
as well as three NCAA post-season tournament appearances,
including a "Sweet 16" appearance in 1995-96. Braun also
coached the 1994-95 team to the school's first-ever National
Invitation Tournament (NIT).
He was chosen to be the head coach of the United States
team at the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 1989 and led the
team to a silver medal, losing the championship game
to host Israel.
Before joining EMU, Braun enjoyed great success at Siena
Heights College, recording a 148-103 record in eight seasons
as the head coach. During his tenure at Siena Heights,
Braun was the winningest head coach of all of the four-year
Michigan colleges. He was named NAIA Michigan Coach of
the Year in 1981-82.
 |
Morningstar |
Hamilton Morningstar (1940 graduate)
was an outstanding high jumper and pole-vaulter on the
track team. He won numerous awards as a collegiate AAU
competitor, including finishing second nationally in the
decathlon at the 1938 National AAU Championships. That
same year, Morningstar also won the National Sigma Delta
Psi title, competing in 12 events against a field representing
47 universities. He went on to set many national age-group
track and swimming records after retiring.
He coached track and cross-country at Bad Axe and Ann
Arbor.
Morningstar died Nov. 14, 1995.
 |
Roeser |
Dr. Waldomar Roeser has served the Eastern
Michigan University athletic department as its chief orthopedic
specialist for 35 years (1971-2006). He has been active
with assisting all of the EMU varsity sports teams and
continues to serve the department.
Roeser attended the University of Michigan from 1953-56,
where he was a Regents Alumni Scholar (1954), a Moses Gomberg
Scholar in Chemistry (1955-56) and a recipient of the
Rollo E. McCotter Anatomy Award (1957). He completed medical
school at the University of Michigan in 1960 and served
an internship there for two years.
From 1962-71, Roeser was a member of the Army Medical
Corps, where he was a Lieutenant Colonel. He served 1 1/2
years as a MASH surgeon and a Division Surgeon during the
Vietnam War (1968-70). Roeser earned numerous honors during
his career, including the Bronze Star, with a Four Oak
Leaf Cluster while serving in the Army.
Roeser entered private practice with Orthopedic Surgery Associates,
P.C., from 1971-1999, and is currently a member of the University
of Michigan, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Division of
MedSport, and an assistant professor.
 |
Schmitz |
Dan Schmitz (1979 graduate) was one
of the outstanding baseball players in EMU history, earning
four letters from 1974-77. He played second base on two
teams that went to the NCAA College World Series, including
the 1976 team that was the runner-up to national champion
Arizona and the 1975 squad that was fifth in the nation.
Schmitz was named to the NCAA College World Series All-Star
team in 1976 and was selected honorable mention All-Mid-American
Conference that same year. He led EMU in runs scored
in 1976 and 1977, and in stolen bases in 1977. Schmitz
finished second on the 1977 team in hitting with a .339
average and served as a co-captain. He finished his EMU
career with a .294 batting average and a .975 fielding
percentage. He played on a United States All-Star Team
in the summer of 1976.
Schmitz was chosen in the 20th round of the 1977 Major
League Baseball Draft by the New York Yankees and played
eight seasons of minor league baseball. He also coached
in the minor leagues for three years and led his Visalia
(Calif.) team to the Northern Division pennant in 1986.
He spent the 1988-90 seasons as an assistant coach at
EMU before being named head coach at Bowling Green State
University in 1990. Now in his 16th season as BGSU's head
baseball coach, Schmitz has a 409-362-4 record and has
led the Falcons to four MAC East Division titles, two MAC
Tournament championships and two NCAA regional berths.
He has more wins than any coach in BGSU history.
