NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State football and track great Mark Duper and USA Olympian LaMark Carter will join tennis All-American Gregg Manning and 2011 NCAA women's discus champion Trecey Rew-Hoover in the spotlight May 22-23 in Shreveport-Bossier City at the Fifth Annual NSU Legends Dinner and Golf Event presented by Superior Grill.
 
Duper, a three-time sprint All-American and part of the Demons' fabled NCAA champion 4x100 relay team in 1981, gave football a try at NSU and became a Pro Bowl NFL star receiver with the Miami Dolphins. Carter won four All-America honors as a Demon, seven USA Track and Field championships in the triple jump and represented the USA in the 2000 Olympics.

 

Manning won All-America honors in tennis in 1975 during the heyday of a Demon program that ultimately ranked in the nation's top 20. Rew-Hoover was a three-time All-America competitor, an Academic All-American and won NSU's third national title in track and field with her 2011 NCAA discus victory.
 
Northwestern State Athletics and the Demons Unlimited Foundation will host the Legends event, presented by Superior Grill, at Bossier City's Horseshoe Casino and Hotel and Shreveport's Southern Trace Country Club.
  
The Sunday evening (May 22) festivities in the Horseshoe's Riverdome begin at 6 p.m. with dinner and drinks followed by a panel discussion from the 2016 Legends.
 
Along with the Sunday evening Legends Dinner, the Monday morning Legends golf tournament at Southern Trace begins with an 8 a.m. registration and breakfast with a 9 a.m. shotgun start for the 18-hole scramble.

 

Duper, a Moreauville native, developed into one of pro football's most dangerous and productive receivers in Miami from 1982-92. He is in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Dolphins' Honor Roll and on the franchise's Top 50 Players in 50 Years roster. After only two seasons of college football, Duper was a second-round NFL Draft choice who caught 59 career touchdowns among 511 catches for 8,869 yards, an average of 17.7 per catch in his pro career.

 

Carter, a Shreveport-Captain Shreve product, finished as high as second in World Championships competition as a pro in an 11-year career. He won USA Championships in 1998, 1999 and 2001 outdoors, and 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2001 indoors in the triple jump, where he had a career best of 57-2 ¾, and also competed in the long jump, with a 26-2 ¼ personal best.

 

At NSU, he holds the school triple jump record (55-2 ¾ in 1993), won seven Southland Conference titles, and led the Demons to 1993 Southland Indoor and Outdoor conference championships.

 

Manning posted a remarkable 102-31 career singles record from 1975-78 and set school single-season records for singles (37, 1975) and doubles (27, 1976). He became the Demons' first tennis All-American as a freshman in 1975, reaching the NAIA Tournament quarterfinals.

 

Rew-Hoover claimed the 2011 NCAA discus title by topping competitors from Arizona State, Tennessee and Kentucky among others, throwing 192-4 to win. She graduated magna cum laude in broadcast journalism and along with making the 45-woman Academic All-America team, was the national Female Field Events Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2011. She led the Lady Demons to their best-ever Southland Conference finish, second, at the 2011 Outdoor Championships, while ending her career with eight individual conference crowns in the shot put, hammer throw and discus, setting school and Southland records in the shot and discus.
 
Event sponsorships, reserved tables and golf team entries are available, and all available spots are expected to be filled. Sponsorships begin as low as $100 for a golf tee sign and range up to $2,500 for a "Silver Sponsor" package.
 
Dinner-only tickets are $60. Tables for the Legends Dinner are $450 including eight dinner tickets, VIP access to a pre-event social hour, and recognition in the event program.

 

A golf foursome entry fee is $600, with individual entries $150.  All golf tournament participants receive a Sunday Legends Dinner ticket.

The "Silver Sponsor" package comes with a reserved dinner table, a golf foursome, recognition in the event program as well as access to the VIP social hour Sunday evening before the dinner.

 

For more information and reservations, contact NSU associate athletic director Adam Jonson at jonsona@nsula.edu via email or 318-357-4295; or assistant athletic director Haley Blount at blounth@nsula.edu or 318-357-4278; or visit NSUDemons.com.