1999 UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame
OSHKOSH, Wis. (5/2/1999) – The UW-Oshkosh Athletic Hall of Fame celebrated its 25th Anniversary by inducting six new members during a ceremony held May 2 at the Pioneer Inn in Oshkosh.
The 1999 inductees were Ken Allen, Pete Benson, Phyllis Hardt, Philip Nelson, Jamie Pollard and Dale Race. Nelson was honored posthumously.
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. There are now 107 members in UW-Oshkosh's Hall of Fame.
With eight NAIA and three NCAA Division II men's gymnastics titles to his credit, Ken Allen is regarded as one of the most successful head coaches in UW-Oshkosh history.
Allen, who retired as head coach of the Titans in 1992, began his tenure at UW-Oshkosh in 1969 by taking over a men's gymnastics program that was only in its fourth year of existence. In 1973, after nearly four years of laying the foundation, Allen's hard work began to show dividends as he led the Titans to the WSUC and NAIA championships.
The NAIA title won by Allen's squad was the first national championship claimed by any UW-Oshkosh athletic team. The following year, UW-Oshkosh repeated as both conference and national champion and began to establish itself as one of the premier men's gymnastics programs in the country.
Allen and his UW-Oshkosh teams closed the 1970s and began the 1980s with a flourish. The Titans won five NAIA titles from 1978-82 and claimed three NCAA Division II championships from 1980-82.
Allen was rewarded for his team's accomplishments by being named NCAA Divison II Coach of the Year in 1980, 1981 and 1982 and NAIA Coach of the Year in 1973, 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982. Prior to his retirement from coaching, Allen guided UW-Oshkosh athletes to 44 NAIA, 22 NCAA Division II and 13 WSUC event championships.
The Jersey City, N.J., native also has some impressive coaching credentials outside of those at UW-Oshkosh. Allen served as head coach of the United States men's gymnastics team at the 1979 World University Games in Mexico City and was an assistant coach for the Switzerland national team during the 1982-83 school year.
The Montclair State University (N.J) former gymnast and graduate also is an internationally certified gymnastics judge, having most recently worked at the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1997 World Championships. Today, Allen resides in Oshkosh, where he is the chairperson of UW-Oshkosh's Department of Physical Education and Health Promotion.
A true ambassador for the sport, Pete Benson becomes only the second UW-Oshkosh golfer to be inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Benson enrolled at UW-Oshkosh in 1965 after a stellar high school career in Oconto. At UW-Oshkosh, Benson immediately became an impact performer as he helped the Titans to their first WSUC golf championship since 1955. The Titans repeated as league champion in 1967 and 1968 with Benson receiving all-conference status for finishing second in the individual standings both years.
Qualifying through their performance at the NAIA District 14 Meet, Benson and his UW-Oshkosh teammates made four appearances at the NAIA National Championship. The Titans finished 12th in the country in 1965, 15th in 1966, 7th in 1967 and 11th in 1968. Benson's individual success matched that of the Titans as he averaged 79 strokes per 18 holes in 1965, 78 in 1966, 76 in 1967 and 74.3 in 1968.
Since graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 1968, Benson has taught and coached at public schools in Kaukauna. As head boys' golf coach at Kaukauna High School, Benson has led the Galloping Ghosts to two second-place finishes at the WIAA State Tournament and two Fox Valley Association championships. In addition, he has guided teams to eight WIAA State Tournament appearances and 18 invitational titles.
Besides golf, Benson has coached third and fourth grade boys basketball, seventh and eighth grade boy' basketball and ninth grade girls' basketball.
Residing in Kaukauna, Benson remains active as an amateur golfer. His past accomplishments include a Wisconsin Publinx Championship, a Northwestern Wisconsin Golf Association Championship and five Fox Cities Tournament titles. Young children have also benefited from Benson's expertise in the sport as nearly 200 participants have taken part in his Pee Wee and Junior Golf Program each summer since 1984.
With 12 league championships to her credit, Phyllis Hardt's success as head coach of the UW-Oshkosh women's gymnastics team is rivaled by few in the history of the WIAC.
Hardt started her coaching career at UW-Oshkosh in the fall of 1976 by inheriting a relatively young women's gymnastics program. After taking the Titans to an eighth-place finish in 1977 and a fifth-place finish in 1978 at the then-called WWIAC Championships, Hardt began to receive the rewards for hard work.
In 1979, Hardt's gymnastics not only won their first WWIAC championship, but the first WWIAC championship by any UW-Oshkosh athletic team. The 1979 campaign marked the beginning of a dynasty for Hardt's Titans as they would go on to win 12 WWIAC titles over the next 14 years, including nine straight from 1979 to 1987.
UW-Oshkosh also claimed three national titles under Hardt's guidance, winning the AIAW Division III Championship in 1980, the NAIA Championship in 1986 and the NCGA Championship in 1989.
Hardt's team accomplishments are matched with several individual accolades as well. During her tenure at UW-Oshkosh she coached athletes to four NCAA Division II, eight NAIA and 49 WWIAC event championships. In addition, she was named NCGA Coach of the Year in 1985, NAIA Coach of the Year in 1986 and WWIAC Coach of the Year in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1987 and 1991.
The Denver, Colo., native graduated from Southern Illinois University, where she was a three-time AIAW Division I All-American and a member of the 1973 AIAW Division I national championship team. Following the 1973 season, Hardt was selected as an alternate to the World Games for Team USA.
Hardt resides in Oshkosh, where she has been president and owner of the Oshkosh Gymnastics Center since 1992. Under her leadership at the club, eight gymnasts have qualified for the USAG Junior Olympic Trials.
One of the founding members of the Titan Booster Club, the late Philip Nelson enters the UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame after nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the university.
Nelson's support for, and love of, UW-Oshkosh athletics was unequivocal. It began when he attended sporting events at the university as a youngster and continued until his death in March of 1998. Nelson knew all the UW-Oshkosh athletic greats and loved to recite their special moments with friends. He enjoyed talking with UW-Oshkosh athletes and coaches about team personnel and their perspectives on the upcoming content.
While many others have strongly supported UW-Oshkosh athletics, Nelson was unique because of his upbeat and high-energy style that created a special presence at home sporting events. In his own special way he was outstanding at promoting the growth and happenings of UW-Oshkosh athletics.
Nelson was a loyal and participate member in various organizational phases of the UW-Oshkosh Titan Booster Club for over 30 years and was a board member of the Hall of Fame Committee for more than 20 years. It is guessed that he served hundreds of donuts at halftime of UW-Oshkosh football games and cooked thousands of brats and hot dogs at Titan Booster Club sponsored events.
Nelson received his bachelor's degree from Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1947 and a law degree from Marquette University in 1951. Nelson, along with his wife, Jean, alumni director at UW-Oshkosh for 23 years until she retired in 1991, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from UW-Oshkosh at the May 1997 commencement ceremony. The Nelsons were honorary co-chairs of the university's 125th Anniversary Planning Committee in 1997.
Jamie Pollard enters the UW-Oshkosh Athletic Hall of Fame after enjoying an exceptional distance running career for the Titans.
As a varsity letter winner on the men's cross country team from 1983 to 1986, Pollard was a member of the first UW-Oshkosh squad to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship. He also established himself as the school's first All-American in the sport.
At the WSUC Championship, Pollard helped UW-Oshkosh to a fifth-place finish in 1983, a fourth-place finish in 1984, a second-place finish in 1985 and a fourth-place finish in 1986. Pollard and his UW-Oshkosh teammates emerged on the national level in 1985 and the result was a seventh-place finish for the Titans and an 81st-place finish for himself. Pollard qualified individually for the NCAA Division III Championship the following season and the result was All-America status, a 24th-place finish.
The Oshkosh native had an outstanding career in track & field, culminated by a 5,000-meter run title at the 1987 NCAA Division III Outdoor track & Field Championship. His time of 14:31.20 in the race established a school record, one that stood for 10 years. Pollard, who received varsity letters in track & field in 1984, 1986 and 1987, helped UW-Oshkosh to two second-place finishes, one third-place finish and one fourth-place finish at the WSUC indoor and outdoor championships.
Since graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 1987, Pollard has utilized his education and athletic backgrounds to complement each other for a career in athletic administration. Pollard presently resides in Madison, where he is the associate director of athletics at the University of Wisconsin. He returned to his home state after holding similar positions at St. Louis University (Mo.) from 1989-94 and the University of Maryland from 1994-98.
As a four-year basketball player at UW-Oshkosh, Dale Race was an integral part of two conference championship and two NAIA National Tournament teams. As an assistant men's basketball coach at Milton College and UW-Eau Claire for nine years he was a part of three conference championship and three NAIA National Tournament Teams.
As head men's basketball coach at Milton College and the University of Minnesota Duluth for 18 years, Race guided teams to eight NAIA National Tournaments, one NCAA Division II Tournament and eight conference championships.
Following an outstanding high school athletic career in Marinette, Race attended UW-Oshkosh to play basketball for the Titans. After averaging 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game as a freshman in 1966, Race became the first player off the bench the next two seasons on teams that have been regarded as two of the finest in UW-Oshkosh history.
As the tallest guard in the conference, maybe even the country, Race helped the Titans to a 17-6 record and a WSUC championship in 1967 and another league crown in 1968. Both the 1967 and 1968 teams advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., with the latter squad finishing third in the country after upsetting No. 1-seed Guilford College (N.C.) and the NBA Seattle Supersonics' 1968 first-round draft pick Bob Kauffman in the opening round. Race closed his career with the Titans in 1969.
After coaching stints at Milton College and UW-Eau Claire, Race found his home at the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1984. There he guided the Bulldogs to a 293-120 record, including nine 20-plus win seasons.
Race, who was an assistant men's basketball coach on gold medal-winning North Team at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival, retired from coaching in 1998 after compiling a career 363-177 record and a .672 winning percentage, the 37th-highest mark in the history of NCAA Division II men's basketball. Race remains a resident of Duluth and is still active with the University of Minnesota Duluth's athletic department.