Bentonville man enters alma mater’s Sports Hall of Fame
Posted on Sunday, October 7, 2007
MAGNOLIA — Bentonville’s Larry Lundeen was among eight athletes inducted Saturday into the Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame.
SAU’s fifth Sports Hall of Fame class was honored at halftime of the Muleriders’ football game against Valdosta State.
Lundeen played baseball and football at SAU. He arrived in Magnolia in the fall of 1985 after stints at Illinois State, Blackhawk (Ill. ) Community College and Illinois Central Community College. In 1986, the Muleriders finished with a 36-12 record and won the AIC baseball championship. Lundeen, a southpaw from Washington, Ill., suffered an elbow injury during his junior year, but still posted an 8-2 record, walked only 31 in 81 2 / 3 innings, struck out a team-high 54 and was an AIC All-Star.
As a senior, Lundeen helped lead the Muleriders to their best record in school history (46-7 ) and a third-place finish in the NAIA World Series. He won a school-record 14 games. His 12 consecutive wins during that season were one short of tying the national collegiate record of 13 straight wins. He was named First Team NAIA All-America with the Muleriders, who again won the conference title with a 25-1 record.
Lundeen ended his two-year SAU career with a 22-4 record, striking out 126.
Lundeen played in the National Baseball Congress World Series in the summer of 1987, winning both the Most Valuable Player and Pitcher awards. In 1988, he signed a free agent contract with the Boise (Idaho ) Hawks of the Class A Northwest League, the first player signed by the independent Hawks. He also pitched for the Red Oak (Iowa ) Red Sox.
Lundeen was honored with the Distinguished Young Alumni Award at SAU in 1997. He went on to a career as a Special Agent with the United States Secret Service from 1996-2002, serving on the Vice-President’s protective detail in his final year.
Lundeen was with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., from 2002-07, serving as Director of Corporate Services-Global Security his final two years.
He currently serves as Assistant Federal Security Director for the Department of Homeland Security-Transportation Security Administration at Northwest Regional airport.
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