Retired Director of Athletics Lori Flanagan selected for induction into Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

Flanagan’s induction will take place on Nov. 24 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.

By Luke Rinne, UMSL Athletics

Lori Flanagan, who retired as Director of Athletics earlier this year after serving 18 years at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame as part of its 2024 class.

Flanagan’s induction will take place on Nov. 24 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. She will be part of an induction class that includes numerous noteworthy sports figures in the St. Louis area, including St. Louis soccer star Taylor Twellman, St. Louis Cardinals radio network engineer Jim Jackson and media personality Earl Austin, Jr.

Flanagan arrived on campus in August 2006 as the associate director of athletics, overseeing the department’s day-to-day operations and serving as the chief financial officer. She then served as interim athletic director in August 2008 before earning 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 have won nine conference championships, three D-II regional championships and saw the men’s basketball team reach the Elite Eight, the women’s volleyball team advance to two Final Fours, the women’s tennis team advance to the national quarterfinals and men’s golfer Joel Sylven claim the school’s second-ever national championship.

Multiple coaches enjoyed tenures of more than 10 years during her time leading the department, and UMSL hosted the 2023 D-II women’s golf national championship, as well as regionals and super regionals in volleyball and softball.

Flanagan added men’s and women’s cross country and track and field in 2019, five years after restoring 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 while posting an academic success rate above 83 percent.

Previously, she worked 14 years for Saint Louis University, holding roles as assistant director of athletics, senior woman administrator and senior associate director of athletics for administration. Additionally, Flanagan served as liaison to the Atlantic 10 Conference and as the SWA to ensure program compliance within Title IX and gender equity. 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 2005-06. 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, both of which were held in St. Louis. Flanagan also served as a member of the NCAA Peer Certification Review Team from 2000 to 2006.

Flanagan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and holds a master’s in sport administration from Minnesota State University Mankato.