Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
The Official Athletic Site of ASU

1992 UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame

OSHKOSH, Wis. (5/3/1992) – The UW-Oshkosh Athletic Hall of Fame increased its membership to 83 as three former UW-Oshkosh athletic standouts were inducted during a ceremony held last Sunday (May 3) at the Pioneer Inn in Oshkosh.

The 1992 inductees were John Dettmann, Carla Goodrich-Lehman and Gary Varsho.

The UW-Oshkosh Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1974 to give tribute and deserved recognition to former athletes, coaches and friends of the University. It is also intended to enhance school tradition by honoring those people who have shown such exceptional ability while on campus and since graduation.

John Dettmann enjoyed a record-setting career as a member of the UW-Oshkosh football team from 1978-81. The Algoma native still holds UW-Oshkosh records for pass receptions in a game (16), season (67) and career (129).

Dettmann enjoyed his finest season in 1981 when he received NAIA All-America honorable mention and All-WSUC first team recognition. Dettmann also received UW-Oshkosh's Most Valuable Player award that season after catching 67 passes for 738 yards and eight touchdowns. His 60 pass receptions during WSUC play led the league, while his 648 receiving yards and 48 points scored ranked third. Dettmann's 16 catches in a 10-7 loss to UW-River Falls that season also set a school single game mark.

After playing sparingly as a freshman, Dettmann received All-WSUC second team honors in 1979 after catching 36 passes for 643 yards and six touchdowns. During an injury-plagued 1980 campaign, he caught 24 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. Dettmann concluded his career with 129 pass receptions for 1,715 yards and 16 touchdowns. His receiving yards rank fourth all-time in program history.

Following his career at UW-Oshkosh, Dettmann fulfilled a lifelong dream by signing a professional contract with the Green Bay Packers in 1982. Dettmann suffered a knee injury during his tryout with the Packers and was released at the end of the season.

Dettmann returned to UW-Oshkosh after his release by the Packers and graduated in May of 1983. Since graduation, Dettmann has held positions of fitness instructor at the Oshkosh YMCA; corporate director at the Downtown YMCA in Houston, Texas; corporate director at the Enron Corporation in Houston; and executive director of the Downtown YMCA in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Dettmann was reunited with intercollegiate athletics in 1990 when he was named one of the strength coaches at the University of Wisconsin, and last December he was named the head strength coach.

Carla Goodrich-Lehman has the honor of being the first woman in school history to represent UW-Oshkosh in national track & field competition. Goodrich-Lehman accomplished this in 1975 when she participated in the 400-meter hurdles at the AIAW Outdoor Championship in Corvalis, Ore.

The Kiel native began her collegiate career at UW-Oshkosh in record fashion, setting a school outdoor mark in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.2 seconds as a freshman in 1973. The performance was the first of seven UW-Oshkosh and conference records she would be a part of.

In 1974, Goodrich-Lehman won all of her indoor races in the 50-yard hurdles and set a school record in the event with a time of 7.4 seconds. During the outdoor season she set the 400-meter hurdles record with a time of 1:11.7 and ran a leg on the 440-meter relay team that set a school mark with a time of 52.8 seconds. Her biggest achievement that season came at the WWIAC Outdoor Championship where she set a new league record in the 200-meter hurdles with a time of 30.8 seconds.          

The following year, Goodrich-Lehman set a UW-Oshkosh indoor record in the 60-yard hurdles with a time of 8.7 seconds while breaking her own mark in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.8. She capped her junior year by competing at the AIAW Outdoor Championship. In 1976, Goodrich-Lehman was a member of the mile relay team that set a school record with a time of 4:14.9.

After graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 1976, Goodrich-Lehman began her career in nursing at the Outagamie County Health Center in Appleton. She has since held similar positions in Marshfield; Parkersburg, W. V.; Elkhart, Ind.; and South Bend, Ind. Goodrich-Lehman, who lives in McPherson, Kan., with her husband, Mike, and two children, is presently an instructor at the McPherson School of Nursing. She also teaches aerobics at the McPherson YMCA.

Gary Varsho was the starting second baseman on UW-Oshkosh teams that won WSUC titles and earned berths to the NCAA Division III World Series from 1980-82. The Marshfield native batted .379 during his 103-game career with 129 runs scored and 82 runs batted in. Varsho stole 80 bases in 81 attempts in helping the Titans to a three-year record of 82-21.

Varsho was a fifth-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the 1982 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. His selection followed a junior season which saw him compile a .427 batting average with 29 runs batted in and 36 stolen bases. Varsho received All-WSUC honors that season after leading the league with a .447 average and 18 runs scored. Varsho set a UW-Oshkosh single-game mark that season when he stole five bases in a win over UW-Whitewater. He also received NCAA Division III All-World Series honors after helping the Titans to a fifth-place finish.

After spending six years in the minor leagues, Varsho made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1988 and batted .274 in 46 games. During his rookie season, he led all National League pinch hitters with a .393 batting average, going 11-for-28. Varsho split the 1989 and 1990 seasons between the Cubs and their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa. In 1989, when the Chicago Cubs won the National League Eastern Division title, Varsho made 11 starts in 61 games played.

Varsho's career with the Cubs ended in March of 1991 when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Steve Carter. Ironically, Varsho had his best game as a major leaguer against the Cubs at Wrigley Field that season when he homered twice, tripled, hit a sacrifice fly and knocked in six runs in leading the Pirates to a 13-4 win. Varsho played in 99 games for the National League Eastern Division champions that season and compiled a .273 batting average with four home runs and 23 runs batted in.

This season, success has also followed Varsho and the Pirates. On April 19, Varsho replaced injured All-Star outfielder Barry Bonds in the number four spot in the lineup and hit a two-run inside the park home run to lead the Pirates to an 11-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The victory gave the Pirates a 9-2 record and marked the team's best start in more than 25 years. Varsho is currently batting .273 for the first-place Pirates.

During the off-season, Varsho resides in Marshfield with his wife, Kay, and one daughter. Varsho has given numerous motivational slide presentations to elementary and high school students, stressing the importance of leading a life free of alcohol and drugs. He received his bachelor's degree from UW-Oshkosh in 1989 and received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 1991.