Kay Woodiel
Coach
Arkansas State women’s basketball 1975-78
Arkansas State women’s tennis 1975-79
Arkansas State volleyball 1975-83
Hall of Honor 1988
If there’s a godmother of women’s sports at Arkansas State, it’s Kay Woodiel.
Woodiel was the first head coach of not one, not two, but three A-State programs, leading women’s basketball, women’s tennis, & volleyball in 1975. If that wasn’t enough, she also served as the women’s athletic director.
Coach Woodiel’s path to leading the then-Tomahawks started when she was working on her Master’s degree at A-State and volunteering with women’s extramural teams. Tennis player Faye Cromwell wrote a passionate letter imploring the school to start women’s sports, gathered signatures, and presented it to Athletic Director Don Floyd, who was on board with the idea. Woodiel was hired in November of 1974, and immediately got to work.
“It was crazy,” Woodiel said in the Around the Sun Podcast with Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill in March of 2022. Woodiel put an ad in the Herald to recruit student athletes to begin the first women’s basketball team. Playing in the Arkansas Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Association originally, she also helped transition women’s athletics at A-State to the Southland Conference and the NCAA.
Woodiel’s programs all found success before she departed, but none more so than volleyball, who won an incredible 96 straight conference games under her leadership from 1976-81. (Photo: A-State Athletics)
Aundrea Gamble
Arkansas State women’s basketball 2013-16
Arkansas State assistant coach, 2016-18
Hall of Honor, 2023
If you’re making a list of all-time greats at Arkansas State- in any sport- Aundrea Gamble belongs on it. Only one player in Sun Belt Conference history has been named the women’s basketball Player of the Year three times, and she suited up for the Scarlet & Black.
Gamble arrived on the A-State campus in 2012 and redshirted after spending her true freshman season at Kilgore College. It took all of one game on the court to make her presence felt for the Red Wolves. Gamble turned in a 30-point, 10-rebound performance in the first game of the 2013-14 season, earning her first of seven eventual Sun Belt Player of the Week honors.
The accomplishments and accolades only continued to get bigger throughout Gamble’s career. Of the six highest-scoring seasons in program history, she accounts for three of them. Of the top three seasons in total assists, she claims the first and third spots. Gamble ranks fourth all-time in points, second in total assists, and eighth in steals.
She helped lead A-State to three straight WNIT appearances, two regular season league ‘ships, and an 18-game win streak. In addition to her Sun Belt recognition, she earned honors from the WBCA, NCAA Senior CLASS, College Sports Madness, and was a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year.
Following graduation and a tryout with the LA Sparks, Gamble was an assistant at A-State from 2016-18. (Photo: A-State Athletics)
Gina Bowman
Assistant SID 1976-94
Assistant AD / Media Relations 1994-2008
Senior women’s administrator 1994-2002
Director of media relations 2008-2022
Honorary Hall of Honor member, 2021
Long before she was the social media phenomenon know as #Regina, Gina Bowman served as the backbone of communications for Arkansas State Athletics.
Bowman arrived on campus as a student studying journalism in the early ‘70s and never left. After graduating from A-State in 1976, she went to work in the Athletics department as the assistant Sports Information Director. She became the Assistant AD for Media Relations in 1994, and was often the only woman in the press box.
The life of a SID is not glamorous. There are no SID highlights airing on Sportscenter, and no such thing as a weekend off. Despite that, Bowman called her time working with Athletics a “dream job.” She recorded achievements, counseled coaches, compiled stats, but above all was an incredible storyteller for A-State Athletics.
“You’ve been the eyes and the ears in many instances and certainly the voice,” the honorable Mike Beebe said in a message to Bowman at her retirement in 2022.
From her days as a student sports editor of the Arkansas State Herald to her time as the Director of Media Relations for the entire university, Bowman put in five decades of work. She was recognized multiple times for her contributions to A-State, receiving the Outstanding Service Award in 1988, being added to the Arkansas State Staff Centennial Wall of Honor in 2010, and inducted into the Hall of Honor as an honorary letterman in 2021. (Photo: Arkansas State University)
Amanda Beeler
Arkansas State women’s golf,
1997-2001
Hall of Honor 2018
Whether you call Amanda Beeler the “Golf Whisperer” or the “Golf Wizard” these days, you can always call her an Arkansas State alum who was the first women’s golfer inducted into the Hall of Honor.
Beeler’s days on the course started early at the age of 8 growing up in Bartlett. After getting a golf scholarship to A-State, she immediately started making her mark on the program and the Sun Belt Conference, carding top-10 finishes in the league championship in all four seasons. She also earned all-SBC honors all four years with the program.
Beeler led the team in stroke average as both a junior and a senior. Her junior year included postseason play as well, when she competed in the NCAA East Regional in Columbus, Ohio as an individual. However, it wasn’t just personal success happening during Beeler’s days with the program. The team also spent four years near the top of the Sun Belt leaderboard, winning the championship in 2000, and finishing in second in 1998, 1999, & 2001.
Beeler has been honored for her collegiate career accomplishments not just at Arkansas State, where she was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2018, but also by the Sun Belt as a member of the 30-year all-time team (1976-2006). (Photo: A-State Women’s Golf | X.com)
Shyla Tucker
Arkansas State women’s basketball,
1991-1994
Hall of Honor 2003
“Meaner than a junkyard dog” is not typically a phrase you would think of as complimentary, but that’s how Shyla Tucker was affectionately described on the court.
After an all-state career in high school basketball in Fredericktown, Mo, Tucker had a wide range of suitors but chose Arkansas State. She made an immediate impact, averaging 12.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game as a true freshman, and the stats just climbed from there. As a senior she was a double-double machine, averaging close to 20 & 10. She ranks top-5 all-time in points (2nd), rebounds (5th), and steals (3rd). She could shoot, score, rebound, defend and pass.
Tucker wasn’t just a stat line, either. She played in 124 games in her Lady Indians career despite battling stress fractures and back problems. The toughness was a big reason the team went 91-33 in her time with the program. A-State went to back-to-back-to-back WNITs and won the tournament in 1993. Despite a runner-up finish in ’94, Tucker was still named the tournament MVP.
She is one of just three players in A-State women’s basketball history to earn Sun Belt Player of the Year honors. Inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2003, Tucker was also named to the Sun Belt’s 30th Anniversary All-Time Team (1976-2006). (Photo: A-State Athletics)
Sarah Lokker
Arkansas State bowling,
2011-2015
There has never been a time where Arkansas State bowling has found anything other than success, with rosters stacked full of the top talent in collegiate bowling, but even then some players stand out.
After a stellar prep career at New Baltimore Anchor Bay (Mich.), Sarah Lokker landed at A-State in 2011. She showed she fit in with the storied program immediately, earning all-tournament team honors at the Greater Ozarks Invitational in her very first collegiate event. The list of honors, accolades, and accomplishments grew dramatically after that.
Lokker was recognized as a NTCA All-American her first season, and then the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that. She’s the only player in program history to be named All-America all four years with the program. Additionally, Lokker became the first Red Wolf to earn D1 Player of the Year laurels in 2013-14 and remains one of just two players in program history to earn that honor. She finished her career with a whopping 16 all-tournament selections and six MVPs.
Unsurprisingly, the team found success during that era, too, with continued appearances in the NCAA Tournament and a 3rd-place finish in 2013.
Lokker also found international success during her time in the Scarlet & Black, bowling on Junior Team USA and earning gold medals in mixed doubles and women’s doubles. She spent time on the PWBA Tour after graduation. (Photo: A-State Athletics)
Pedtra Wilson Flournoy
Arkansas State track 1990-1993
Hall of Honor, 2002
Arkansas State didn’t always dominate Sun Belt track & field. Don’t forget- behind standouts like Pedtra Wilson Flournoy, the then-Indians had plenty of wins in the American South, too.
Wilson Flournoy’s first season at A-State was in 1990, following her fantastic prep career at Foreman High School. She found success quickly as a college athlete. Her first season saw wins in the 200m & 400m Indoor American South championship, and she was voted Outstanding Performer at the 1990 outdoor championship.
While Wilson Flournoy found success in several individual and relay events, she truly shined in the 400m, completing the indoor-outdoor sweep in 1990, 1991, AND 1993. 30 years later, she still remains in the top-10 in the all-time A-State performance lists in that event.
All together, Wilson Flournoy won 14 total conference gold medals in indoor & outdoor championship meets. When she wasn’t busy sprinting away from her competition, she also competed in the long jump and ran cross country.
In addition to her Hall of Honor induction in 2002, where she is just one of five women’s track & field athletes to earn the prestigious honor, Wilson Flournoy has also been recognized by Arkansas State for her off the track accomplishments. She was added to the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CoECS) Alumni Academy in 2023. (Photo: The Indian, 1991)
Margie Kolat McGee
Arkansas State volleyball, 1991-1994
Hall of Honor, 2006
Very few, if any, people have left a bigger mark on Northeast Arkansas volleyball than Margie Kolat McGee, and her contributions to the game began at Arkansas State.
McGee landed in Jonesboro after a stellar high school career in Chicago Ridge, Ill., and began her assault on the A-State record books immediately. She turned in a 45-dig performance in the first tournament she played, setting the tone for a phenomenal freshman year and even better career.
Every season was a standout season for McGee, but her senior season in 1994 saw the outside hitter & passer recognized as the Sun Belt Player of the Year. Her 748 digs that year are the third-most ever in the non-rally era, and she became just the second woman in NCAA history to pass the 2,000 career digs mark that season.
30 years later, her 172 matches played is still the ALL-TIME top mark in D1. She remains the A-State career leader in digs and attacks.
The then-Indians also found incredible team success during the McGee era, compiling an overall 140-35 mark and a 32-0 Sun Belt regular season record. The program went to two NCAA Tournaments and won four consecutive conference championships.
McGee continues to help grow volleyball in NEA today as the head coach of Valley View, where the Blazers have won 16 state titles under her leadership. She was named the USMC/AVCA National Co-Coach of the Year in 2019. (Photo: A-State Athletics)
Marcia Williams
Arkansas State tennis, 1977-80
Arkansas State tennis coach,1981-2011
Hall of Honor, 1993
If only we could all learn as quickly as Marcia Williams. Despite not picking up a tennis racquet until she was 15 years old, Williams left an immeasurable impact as a player and a coach on Arkansas State tennis.
Williams’ first season as a player at A-State was a success, as she won the Arkansas Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Association (AWISA) singles title. She repeated that feat the following two seasons, additionally adding a runner-up finish in 1980. In 1978, she won the Region IV singles and finished seventh in the national tournament. She was also an accomplished doubles player and was a part of three AWISA runner-up finishes in doubles from 1978-80.
And that was only the beginning of Williams’ contributions to A-State tennis.
Williams took over the reins of her alma mater’s program in 1981 and continued to lead the way until her retirement 31 years later. The then-Indians competed in four different conferences under her leadership but found success in them all. She guided the program to 22 winning seasons, over 300 wins, and finished with a .588 winning percentage.
Her contributions to athletics were recognized in 1993 with a Hall of Honor induction. Additionally, she was named as a staff member who made significant contributions to A-State during its history by landing on the Centennial Wall of Honor unveiled during the university’s Centennial Celebration in 2010. (Photo: A-State Athletics)
Megan McClure
Arkansas state soccer, 2017-2021
Number 1 on the field, number 1 in a whole lot of statistical categories for Arkansas State: Megan McClure was a part of the most successful era thus far of Red Wolves soccer.
After wrapping up a standout career and earning St. Louis All-Metro Player of the Year honors at Webster Groves, Mo., McClure was part of a stellar 2017 A-State signing class. She made her debut as a starter in goal in an exhibition game as a true freshman, with her shutout time between the posts showing what was to come. She became A-State’s primary goalkeeper as a junior.
McClure’s assault on the record books picked up from there. After completing her super-senior season in 2021, she stood atop the stat rankings in wins (33), goals-against average (0.97), shutouts (27), starts (64) and minutes played (5,833). Her efforts earned her 2020 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year and 2021 Sun Belt Conference Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
The A-State program also found plenty of success during her time wiht the team. The Red Wolves won back-to-back Sun Belt Conference regular season titles in 2020 & 2021. The ‘20 division title was the first in program history.
Following her collegiate career and a brief stint in pro soccer, McClure spent 2023 as an assistant coach at her alma mater. She is also an accomplished artist. (Photo: A-State Athletics)