Vicksburg’s Versen inducted to MC Hall|[04/27/07]

Published 12:00 am Friday, April 27, 2007

Hunting squirrels in Warren County led to Greg Versen earning the nickname &#8220Buckshot.”

Even though, to this day, he says he never used it to hunt the furry creatures, he liked the nickname enough to carry it with him to Mississippi College where he became a track star and team captain. Last week, the Mississippi College sports alumni committee remembered &#8220Buckshot” by inducting the Vicksburg native into the MC Sports Hall of Fame.

&#8220‘Buckshot’ came from my days squirrel hunting around Warren County,” Versen said by phone from his home in Harrisonburg, Va. &#8220I was accused of hunting squirels with buckshot but I never did. Still, it stuck with me and I carried it to college. I guess it was easy to remember.”

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Versen’s father worked for Koestler Bakery and Greg would go hunting with his friends after school. In high school, after being encouraged by Ace Allen at Cooper High, Versen began to run track and cross country.

&#8220He became involved in the track and cross country program but didn’t play football. His brother, Joe, did and was good enough to go on to Mississippi State,” former Cooper High football coach Gene Allen said.

While enjoying running, Versen said he never ran in what has become one of the most popular running spots in Vicksburg these days – the Vicksburg National Military Park.

&#8220Jogging wasn’t very popular in the 60s,” he said. &#8220Instead of running in the park, I rode my bicycle. It was a wonderful experience.”

When he went to MC, Versen says the track coach there, Jim Parkman, helped develop him into a good runner.

&#8220He saw my potential and was able to bring it out of me,” Versen said.

Versen participated in several events: the 220-yard dash, 440-yard relay, 440-yard dash, and mile relay. The Choctaws’ 440-yard relay team set several school records.

Versen said he was glad to come back to MC but remarked how much the school has changed since the early 1960s.

&#8220The campus is radically different from what it was when I went there. It’s expanded tremendously,” he said.

Versen graduated from MC in 1965 with a degree in social work. He later earned a Masters from the University of Tennessee’s School of Social Work and then served four years in the U.S. Army in the medical services field.

When he left the service, Versen began a 30-year career in education starting as a sociology professor at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus in 1972.

After five years in Columbus, he moved on to James Madison University in Virginia where he taught for 25 years until retiring as an associate profressor and program director in the sociology, anthropology and social work departments.