Former athletics director Lori Flanagan elected to Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
Mr. Flanagan’s induction ceremony will be held on November 24th at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.
Former athletics director Lori Flanagan will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony Nov. 24 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Luke Rinne, UMSL Athletics
Lori Flanagan retired as director of athletics earlier this year after 18 years at the University of Missouri-St. Paul. Louie will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class.
Mr. Flanagan’s induction ceremony will be held on November 24th at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. She was part of an introductory class attended by many notable athletes in the St. Louis area, including St. Louis soccer player Taylor Twellman, St. Louis Cardinals radio network engineer Jim Jackson, and media personality Earl Austin Jr. I will be participating.
Mr. Flanagan arrived on campus in August 2006 as associate dean of athletics, overseeing the department’s day-to-day operations and serving as chief financial officer. He then served as interim athletic director in August 2008 and earned the full-time title the following March.
Overall, she has overseen a department with 290 student-athletes in 19 sports. Under her leadership, the Tritons have thrived in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference. They won nine conference championships, three D-II regional championships, the men’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight, the women’s volleyball team advanced to two Final Fours, and the women’s tennis team reached the national quarterfinals. Reaching the final, male golfer Joel Silven claimed victory. This is the school’s second national championship.
During her time leading the division, multiple coaches had tenures that spanned more than 10 years, and UMSL hosted the 2023 D-II Women’s Golf National Championship, volleyball and softball regionals and super regionals .
Flanagan added men’s and women’s cross country and track and field in 2019, five years after bringing back men’s and women’s swimming.
Triton student-athletes also achieved academically with 18 individuals named Academic All-Americans. The program as a whole consistently maintained a cumulative grade point average above 3.5 and had an academic success rate of over 83 percent.
Previously, she spent 14 years at Saint Louis University, where she held positions including Assistant Director of Athletics, Senior Women’s Administrator, and Senior Associate Director of Athletics in the Administration Department. In addition, Flanagan served as a liaison with the Atlantic 10 Conference and as SWA to ensure program compliance with Title IX and gender equality. She was a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s National Tennis Committee from 2000 to 2004 and the NCAA Women’s Softball National Committee from 2005 to 2006. She was also a member of the organizing committee for the 2001 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Final Four and the 2005 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four in St. Louis. Flanagan also served as a member of the NCAA Peer Recognition Review Team from 2000 to 2006.
Flanagan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and holds a master’s degree in sports management from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
