Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) athletics department will add 15 of the program’s greatest student athletes to the Governors Ring of Honor during Homecoming weekend ceremonies, October 24th-25th, 2025.
This season’s honorees include the following alumni:
- Baseball: Tyler Rogers (2012-13) and Reed Harper (2010-13)
- Football: Mike Betts (1975-78) and DeAngelo Wilson (2017-21)
- Men’s Golf: Erik Barnes (2006-10) and Marco Iten (2011-14)
- Men’s Tennis: Gary Boss (1973-77)
- Softball: Morgan Rackel (2018-19)
- Track & Field: Savannah Amato (2015-20) and Carrie Burggraf (2006-10)
- Volleyball: Ashley Slay (2014-17) and Kristen Stucker (2015-19)
- Women’s Basketball: Tiasha Gray (2012-16)
- Women’s Golf: Amanda Phillips (1999-03)
- Women’s Tennis: Vanja Tomic (2009-12)
The addition of the 15 newest members will bring the Governors Ring of Honor to 55 members.
The Governors Ring of Honor is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon student-athletes or coaches. It recognizes those individuals as among Austin Peay’s most outstanding in their associated collegiate sport. This honor enshrines its recipients within Austin Peay’s athletics facilities by permanently displaying an honoree’s name in their home facility, where possible.
The Austin Peay State University Ring of Honor incorporates retired jerseys from baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, football, soccer, softball, and volleyball. The Ring of Honor also provides the ability to recognize those Austin Peay State University student-athletes who competed in men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s indoor and outdoor track & field, women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s rifle, women’s tennis, and men’s tennis.
2025 Ring of Honor Inductee Biographies
Savannah Amato, Track & Field
Savannah Amato still is the only student-athlete in Ohio Valley Conference history to win the pole vault in three-straight OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships, but add on her record-tying three gold medals in the outdoor championships, and the Delaware, Ohio native finished her career as a six-time OVC champion.
An 11-time OVC Field Athlete of the Week and three-time selection to the NCAA East Preliminaries, Amato claimed 26 victories during her six-year career in Clarksville and helped the Governors claim the 2020 OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Erik Barnes, Men’s Golf
A three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference performer, Barnes began his career in 2007 by being named the OVC Freshman of the Year while earning a Second Team All-OVC and OVC All-Newcomer Team selection. As a sophomore in 2008, Barnes won the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate and set the tournament and program 54-hole record with a score of 199.
The following season, Barnes led the Governors to the first title of the Kirk Kayden Era, winning OVC Golfer of the Year and Individual Medalist honors to lead the team to the 2009 OVC Championship. Barnes earned First Team All-OVC honors in 2009 and led the Governors with a 34th-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional.
Barnes led the APSU Govs in all 11 events during his senior season, posting a 72.60 scoring average and earning a second-straight First Team All-OVC honor to close his career.
Mike Betts (#44), Football
Mike Betts truly personified the 1977 Austin Peay State University football team, which was the first to capture a conference title in program history when they won the Ohio Valley Conference championship. The 5-10, 180-pound Centerville, Tennessee native was known for his hard-hitting, aggressive play during his four seasons in the Govs’ secondary, which earned him First Team All-American and OVC Defensive Player of the Year in 1978.
As a sophomore, he led APSU’s secondary with 83 tackles while also grabbing two interceptions. The following season, Betts was involved in 100 tackles, leading the OVC in that category, en route to being named an honorable mention All-American and First Team All-OVC selection as a junior while leading the 1977 APSU Govs to that elusive conference title.However, the best was yet to come, in his senior season, Betts again led the Govs in tackles (88) while being named a First Team Associated Press All-American and the OVC Defensive Player of the year.
Gary Boss, Men’s Tennis
Gary Boss was a two-time Ohio Valley Conference Tennis Player of the Year during his illustrious Austin Peay career. The Sydney, Australia native earned All-OVC each of his four seasons. As a freshman, he was a member of the 1974 OVC Championship team, teaming with Mario Valle to win at No. 3 doubles.
After playing at No. 3 singles his first two seasons, Boss jumped to No. 1 singles in 1976-77. In that two-season period, he was a combined 24-9 in singles and won the OVC singles championship both years. He was a combined 45-19 in doubles during his career. Boss also was awarded the 1977 Joy Award as APSU’s most valuable senior athlete.
Carrie Burggraf, Track & Field
Carrie Burggraf was a five-time Ohio Valley Conference champion in the pole vault, with a trio of her titles coming during the outdoor season and two during the indoor season. During the 2010 OVC Outdoor Championships, Burggraf claimed her fifth and final OVC title after becoming the first player in conference history to clear 13 feet following a 13-foot, 5-inch leap in the event.
She then advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track Regionals for the third time in her career. Following her senior season, Burggraf also was Austin Peay State University and the OVC’s NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
However, her on-field performances only tell half of her story, as she was named a First Team Academic All-American by ESPN in 2010, following a Second Team Academic All-America recipient as a junior.
In addition, she was a four-time OVC Medal of Honor recipient, two-time Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award selection – the only student-athlete to win the award multiple times in a career – two-time OVC Scholar Athlete, a three-time United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team selection, received the esteemed NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 2010, and was the recipient of the John Burgess Award, which is presented to Austin Peay’s top political science graduate.
Tiasha Gray (#1), Women’s Basketball
Tiasha Gray is among the program’s all-time top-five in points, field goals made, three-pointers made, free-throws made, assists, and steals. Two-time All-Ohio Valley Conference First-Team –one of just a handful who can make that claim as members of the Austin Peay women’s basketball program. 2015 OVC Defensive Player of the Year – the only one of those the Governors have ever had, men or women.
She still is the only player in women’s hoops history at Austin Peay to record a triple-double, and she had two. She’s the only person not named Maxwell or Armistead to put together two seasons where she averaged 20-plus points per night. Unlike Armistead with her cavalcade of greats and Maxwell with Tracie Mason in the fold, Gray carried a lot of the offensive burden – over her final two seasons, she either scored or assisted on 51 percent of Austin Peay State University’s field goals. Not only was she able to easily get hers, her presence got her teammates free as well.
Once her defense took off in 2015, Gray truly became unstoppable. That season, she set a program-record with 110 steals—breaking the old mark by 25 – which was second in Division I and the fourth-highest in league history.
Her defense was not the only thing which garnered national attention that season, however as her 635 points and 171 assists also ranked 15th and 23rd, respectively, across the national during her junior season.
The next year, she again led the league in steals and added a league-leading 5.3 assists per night – the first player to lead the OVC in both categories since 1998 and just the second player in Austin Peay history to top the OVC in assists.
Reed Harper (#15), Baseball
Reed Harper began his Austin Peay State University career as a walk-on, but he set the program and OVC records for most games played and started in a career – playing all 237 games by the end of his career. A member of the Governors historic Three-Peay-t teams (2011-2013), he twice was First Team All-OVC at shortstop, was a two-time OVC All-Tournament Team honoree, and was named the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of the 2013 OVC Tournament.
In the classroom, Harper earned distinction as a four-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, culminating with Academic All-America Third Team honors in 2012. Harper capped his collegiate career by being named Austin Peay State University’s 2012-13 Legends Award winner and then was selected in the 25th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves.
Marco Iten, Men’s Golf
Marco Iten was the first, and to date only, golfer in program history to win the individual title at an NCAA Men’s Golf Regional Championship, claiming the 2014 Auburn Regional by four shots. A three-time All-OVC selection, twice earning first-team honors, he was part of a remarkable stretch that saw Austin Peay State University’s golf team finish first (2013) or second (2012, 2014) at the OVC Championship.
Iten was selected as an at-large competitor to the 2014 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship after winning the OVC Championship that season, eventually winning the regional title and advancing to the national championship. He was named APSU’s 2014 Male Athlete of the Year.
Amanda Phillips, Women’s Golf
Amanda Phillips was the first, a lot of firsts for Austin Peay State University women’s golf. She was the first women’s golfer in program history to break 70 in a single round, and she did that with a 69 in the 2001 Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championship. Phillips also was the first Governor to garner First Team All-OVC honors, doing so in 2000, just two years after the women’s golf program returned from a decade-long hiatus.
She also was the first Gov to earn OVC Player of the Year and Individual Medalist honors after winning the OVC Women’s Golf Championship in 2001. That performance in the OVC Championship also made her, along with teammate Jody Swierm, the first Govs to earn OVC All-Tournament honors as well.
Phillips closed her career by earning three-straight All-OVC honors from 2000-02, making her the first Governor to earn a trio of all-conference selections, a distinction she’s still just one of five Austin Peay State University golfers to accomplish.
Morgan Rackel (#99), Softball
Even though Morgan Rackel spent only two seasons at Austin Peay State University after beginning her career in the Texas Junior College ranks, her name appears in nearly all career, single-season, and single-game records in the APSU softball record book.
Rackel began her career by being named the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year, a First Team All-OVC selection, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Third Team All-Central Region selection, an OVC All-Tournament selection, and an OVC Medal of Honor recipient in 2018. Her 22 wins during her junior season rank second in program history, and her 1.41 ERA remains the third-best mark in APSU history.
Rackel followed her junior season with an impressive senior campaign, posting 21 victories and the third-most strikeouts in a single season with 242 in less than 200 innings pitched. Not only did Rackel excel in the circle, but she also had great success in the batter’s box, where she finished her career with a .288 batting average, 96 hits, and 16 home runs – her 16 homers rank 12th in APSU history. Rackel also still ranks fifth in program history in career wins (43), fifth in strikeouts (446), 5th in shutouts (13), third in ERA (2.16), and tied for first in no-hitters (2).
Tyler Rogers (#14), Baseball
The closer by which all others will be judged, Tyler Rogers was a key member of the Governors 2012 and 2013 OVC Championship teams. A junior college transfer, Rogers began his Austin Peay career by setting the program record with 12 saves in a season in 2012 and leading the Govs to a sweep of the regular-season and tournament titles.
Rogers followed that with one of the most dominating performances by a closer in NCAA history in 2013, becoming the first relief pitcher to win OVC Pitcher of the Year honors and earning Second Team All-America recognition from both the American Baseball Coaches Association and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The Governors set a program record with 47 wins that season, and Rogers had a hand in 30 of those victories, posting a 7-2 record with a program-record 23 saves.
He struck out 41 batters in 49.2 innings, posted a 1.63 ERA, and held opponents to a .169 batting average. Rogers’ 23 saves in 2013 were tied for the NCAA single-season record until it was broken later by UCLA’s David Berg in the NCAA College World Series.
Ashley Slay (#6), Volleyball
One of the most versatile players in APSU volleyball history, Slay was both a middle blocker and a right-side hitter during her four-year career and helped lead the Governors to the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Championships.
During her storied career, she became one of only six APSU volleyball student-athletes to earn multiple First Team All-OVC honors (2016 and 2017) while capping her career as the fourth APSU volleyball athlete to earn the league’s Player of the Year in 2017 following a 475-kill, 104-block campaign.
Slay also became the first APSU volleyball athlete to earn AVCA National Player of the Week recognition after posting 37 kills and seven blocks in wins against SIUE and Eastern Illinois, posting a 22-kill, 11-dig double-double against SIUE with five blocks and two service aces. Slay finished her APSU career as the program’s leader in career blocks (349), fourth in attack percentage (.271), sixth in total kills (1,289), and 10th in matches played (128).
Kristen Stucker (#29), Volleyball
The only three-time Setter of the Year in Ohio Valley Conference history, Kristen Stucker led Austin Peay State University to back-to-back OVC Regular-Season Championships, the 2017 OVC Tournament Championship, and an appearance in the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
Stucker was a First Team All-OVC and OVC All-Tournament Team selection in 2016, 2017, and 2018. In addition, Stucker was named the OVC Setter of the Week 20 times during her career, including 10 times during her junior season in 2017. Stucker ranks second in Austin Peay State University history and ninth in OVC history with 4,705-career assists.
She posted three of the top-seven single-season assist totals in program history, including an APSU record 1,508 assists during the 2017 season – a mark that still ranks as the 11th-best season in OVC history. Stucker was the setter for two of the four best teams by attack percentage in program history, with her teammates hitting .236 during her junior and senior seasons.Stucker also was able to play all over the court, becoming one of just five setters in APSU history to record 1,000 digs in their career.
Vanja Tomic, Women’s Tennis
Vanja Tomic, who hails from Belgrade, Bosnia and Herzegovina, spent her first season stateside at Lindsey Wilson College before decamping for Clarksville and becoming a three-time all-conference competitor. In her first season, she turned in an 18-2 record at No. 1 singles, winning all league matches and 17-in-a-row before the NCAA Tournament.
She led the APSU Govs to the program’s first OVC title in more than 20 years, with the Govs facing Georgia Tech in that year’s NCAA Championship. She followed that with two more high-level seasons, winning 16 singles matches in 2011 and 19 in 2012, with both performances earning her All-OVC honors.
DeAngelo Wilson (#11), Football
DeAngelo Wilson authored the greatest season by a wide receiver in Austin Peay State University history, setting the single-season records for receptions (89), receiving yards (1,564), touchdown receptions (15), and receiving yards per game (104.3) during the 2019 season.
After totaling 28 catches for 478 yards and seven touchdowns during his sophomore season, Wilson was set to take over as the Govs top pass-catching threat during the 2019 season. He opened the 2019 season with six catches for 106 yards and three touchdowns against North Carolina Central – his first of eight 100-yard games and the sixth-most touchdown receptions in a game in APSU history.
Wilson would go on to catch a touchdown in 11-of-15 games while helping the APSU Govs win their first Ohio Valley Conference Championship in 42 years and advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs. Wilson was named a First Team HERO Sports All-American and a Second Team All-American by Stats Perform and the Associated Press. Despite the 2019 season being his best by the numbers, Wilson was named a Consensus All-American in 2020-21 after being named a First Team selection by Stats Perform and the AFCA; he also was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Year and finished 15th in the voting for the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award following his senior season.
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During that senior season, Wilson recorded 44 receptions for 619 yards and three touchdowns during the COVID-affected 2020 season, which carried over into Spring 2021. Wilson finished his Austin Peay career with the second-most receptions (162), receiving yards (2,672), and touchdown receptions (25) – trailing only APSU Hall of Famer Harold “Red” Roberts in all three categories.
