LeeAnn Mongar to be inducted into TTU Sports Hall of Fame Nov. 7

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- LeeAnn Mongar Shurette’s Golden Eagle resume is one of the most impressive in Tennessee Tech athletics history. It includes not only success on the softball field, but Academic All-America selections and TTU Woman of the Year honors that reflect her overall contributions to the university. Those credentials have landed her in the Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Mongar Shurette is one of five people who will be inducted at the annual Hall of Fame Dinner, scheduled for Friday night in the Multipurpose Room of the Roaden University Center. The induction dinner is part of Homecoming festivities. Tickets for the dinner, or the Saturday afternoon game against Southeast Missouri, can be purchased through the Athletics Ticket Office in Eblen Center or by calling (931) 372-3940.

A starter on the softball team from the day she set foot on campus, Mongar helped take the Golden Eagles to two NCAA Tournaments and capture two Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships. The power-hitting first baseman batted fourth in the lineup for four seasons (2000-03) and was one of the most dangerous hitters in the league, helping the team produce a combined 161-94 record and an astounding 65-17 mark against OVC foes.

With Mongar clubbing extra base hits from the cleanup spot, the Golden Eagles rolled to Ohio Valley Conference tournament championships in 2001 and 2003 and she was a three-time first-team All-OVC selection.

Her grades placed her on the OVC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll all four years and she was a member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in each of her eight semesters. In 2002, she was voted CoSIDA Academic All-District followed by Academic All-America. She repeated those two honors as a senior in 2003. She is one of just six student-athletes in Tech history to win multiple Academic All-America awards.

She capped off her list of academic awards with back-to-back President’s Awards for her sport and was chosen as Tech’s NCAA Woman of the Year in 2003.

Her success on the field mirrored her classroom achievements. She was voted first-team All-OVC three straight seasons, and named all-region in 2002. That same year she was selected the OVC Player of the Year. She played her way onto the OVC all-tournament team all four seasons.
 
She was chosen the team MVP in 2002 and was also winner of the Best Offensive Player award as a junior.

As a freshman, she helped Tech post its first-ever 40-win season with a 40-36 mark. The team went on to reach the 40-win plateau three of her four seasons. That year, she topped Tech in home runs and RBI.

In Mongar’s sophomore season, Tech went 44-20 and won the OVC regular season and tournament titles, and was an NCAA Tournament Play-In participant. Tech posted a 36-23 overall record in 2002 while tying the school record with 17 wins (17-3) in OVC play. She set the school record for home runs (12) and RBI (47), and was also Tech’s leader in batting average, hits and doubles.

As a senior, Mongar and her teammates (including 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Stephanie Dallmann) cruised to a gaudy 41-16 overall record and a second consecutive 17-3 mark in the league to win the regular season title. Mongar led the team in doubles, home runs and RBI as Tech captured another OVC Tournament crown and advanced to the Texas Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

She wrapped up her career ranked first in doubles (52), home runs (34) and RBI (154), and was second (to Dallmann) in hits (244) and total bases (407). She was third in at bats (736) and sixth in batting average (.334). She was named three times as the OVC Player of the Week.  

In 2004, she received her bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Tech in health and physical education. LeeAnn and her husband, Burt (a former Golden Eagle football player), were married in 2004. They have two sons, Stonewall (8) and Rock (4).