Nance Lyons Hall (2023) - Hall of Fame - Michigan State University Athletics

Nance Lyons Hall

Induction:
2023
Class:
1979

Nance Lyons Hall
Field Hockey (1976-78)/Softball (1976-79)
Westport, Conn.
MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023

HALL OF FAME FEATURE: CLASS OF 2023

Shock and honor were the first two thoughts that came to mind for former field hockey and softball student-athlete Nance Lyons Hall when she received news from Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller of her forthcoming induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. Shock because for Lyons Hall it's always been about putting others before herself and honor because she continues to bleed green over 40 years after her graduation.

"My first reaction was that it was a prank phone call," said Lyons Hall. "I finally realized after Mr. Haller knew what years I played that it wasn't something a regular person would know. I was screaming, I was crying and kept saying 'Are you kidding? Are you joking?' over and over again. My husband wasn't sure whether something bad had happened. This is not anything I have ever thought about happening."

Lyons Hall is the seventh softball inductee into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame, joining fellow 1976 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national champions Gloria Becksford, Carol Hutchins, Diane Spoelstra and Kathy Strahan. She is the third member of the field hockey program to receive induction joining Shirley Cook and Floor Rijpma.

Nance Lyons Hall Hall of Fame Graphic

"I am so honored," said Lyons Hall. "I love Michigan State, so there is nothing that is more of an honor to me than an institution that I've loved so dearly paying some respect back to me. It's beyond understanding.

"Gloria Becksford was someone who showed me how to take my game to another level by watching her and seeing her mental attitude. (Teammate and longtime Michigan softball coach) Carol Hutchins is the only person that can get me to cheer for Michigan, so I have the utmost respect for her. These are women that I put on pedestals and followed their careers, so for my name to be incorporated along with theirs, it doesn't seem real."

Despite not playing field hockey her freshman season and without the tracking of assists, Lyons Hall still ranks No. 2 in program history for career points with 150 and her program record 75 goals hasn't been sniffed. Lyons Hall owns two of the top three seasons in all-time points and goals (60 in 1977, 56 in 1978) along with four of the top six single-game goal marks. Her seven goals and 14 points against Grand Valley State in 1978 still rank No. 2 in program history. Lyons Hall helped the field hockey program to a 32-10-6 record over her three seasons.

"It's an honor to know that the game has changed, but that it's still been the same enough that I had an impact," said Lyons Hall. "Someone once said to me 'Did you ever think that for every young girl who came to Michigan State, that your name or that record was something they were aspiring to be?' and that's really cool if somehow I set a benchmark for someone else to try to exceed."

One of the crowning achievements of Lyons Hall's career is winning the 1976 AIAW softball national championship for the Spartans. Playing in just the eighth ever Women's College World Series (WCWS), the Michigan State softball team defeated Northern Colorado, 3-0, to win the national title. Along with Lyons Hall, Michigan State softball amassed a 91-53 record over her four seasons.

"For those of us on the 1976 softball team, participating in the World Series in Omaha, and then actually winning the World Series will always hold a special place in our hearts," said Lyons Hall. "Some of the special memories were the opportunities that opened up because of us winning the World Series. We played in New Mexico and then the following year we were invited to go to Belize to play in one of the first international tournaments.

"Some of my favorite memories came from being together as a team. People have often asked me if I'm jealous of the way teams travel now, and I'm not. Some of my favorite team moments are of seven of us traveling in a university station wagon with two people facing backwards in the third row. I don't regret that. That camaraderie is what made us close."

Now the Women's College World Series is one of the biggest events in all of college athletics, drawing sellout crowds to Oklahoma City annually to watch the finals. Televised viewership of the 2023 championship series peaked at over 2.3 million and averaged 1.9 million viewers.

"I remember our championship game being postponed and when they finally decided to play, we played on an AstroTurf football field, not a softball diamond," said Lyons Hall. "They put bases down, and you know what? We didn't care because it was the finals of the World Series against Northern Colorado. I went to a payphone at a restaurant and called my parents collect to tell them we had won. When we got back to the university there were students and faculty waiting for us to congratulate us. Those are the moments that I'll never forget."

Lyons Hall looks back at her time playing at Michigan State fondly as she recollects the life lessons it taught her, while also crediting her mentors that shaped her experience along the way.

"Sports were the roots that molded me into what I did later in life because it teaches you so much," said Lyons Hall. "Sports teach you so much about people, they teach about time management, and they teach you about challenges and setting goals. I carried everything I learned on the field hockey field and on the softball diamond into my profession later in life.

"At Michigan State it was important for me to find mentors that challenged me to improve. I know it's cliché but learning from failures and being able to celebrate the victories are life lessons that athletics teaches you. Accepting that you're not always the best and identifying what you need to do to change that is an important lesson."

After graduating from Michigan State with a bachelor's degree in medical technology in 1979, Lyons Hall went on to work in the clinical laboratory field as a Medical Technologist before eventually transitioning to the marketing field where she helped to design, develop and market products used worldwide in clinical, environmental and pharmaceutical research. Before retirement, Lyons Hall held the role of Vice President and General Manager of PerkinElmer's Robotics, Liquid Handling and Detection Systems division.