2001 UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame
OSHKOSH, Wis. (5/6/2001) – The UW-Oshkosh Athletic Hall of Fame increased its membership to 116 with the inductions of five former athletes at a ceremony in Oshkosh on May 6.
The 2001 inductees were Kim (Bemowski) Olson, Terry Jorgensen, Ric Kunnert, Tom Lechnir and Debbie (Lindemer) Stenson.
The UW-Oshkosh 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 exceptional ability while on the UW-Oshkosh campus and since graduation.
Competing in the sports of women's cross country and track and field, 10-time All-American Kim Bemowski personified success during her athletic career at UW-Oshkosh.
As a member of the cross country team from 1987-90, Bemowski helped UW-Oshkosh to two NCAA Division III titles and four WIAC championships. The Titans won their first NCAA Division III crown in women's cross country in 1987 and repeated the accomplishment one year later.
In 1990, Bemowski's final season of cross country, she helped the Titans to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship by finishing 11th individually to gain All-America recognition. The Titans won their fifth straight WIAC title that season, with Bemowski recording a personal-best fourth-place finish. UW-Oshkosh swept the top five places at the league championship in 1990 to count a perfect score of 15 points.
Bemowski's success and that of the Titans also continued in track & field. From 1988-91, the Stevens Point native spirited UW-Oshkosh to NCAA Division III outdoor championships in 1990 and 1991 and a total of eight WIAC indoor and outdoor titles.
Bemowski received NCAA Division III All-America status five times indoors and four times outdoors.
In 1990, Bemowski ran on the Titans' 1,600-meter relay team that posted a first-place time of 3:56.50 at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship. She also received All-America accolades in the indoor 800-meter run in 1990 and 1991, the indoor 1,600-meter relay in 1989 and 1991, the outdoor 800-meter run in 1990 and 1991 and the outdoor 1,600-meter relay in 1988 and 1990. Her highest national ranking in the 800-meter run came in 1991 when she finished second indoors with a time of 2:13.23.
Running against her WIAC counterparts, Bemowski won the indoor and outdoor 800-meter run events in 1990 and 1991. She also ran on the Titans' first-place indoor 1,600-meter relay teams in 1990 and 1991.
Bemowski's name also appears in connection with several UW-Oshkosh track & field records. She owns the school's indoor 600-meter run record with a time of 1:36.74 and the indoor 600-yard run mark with a clocking of 1:28.08. Her name is also mentioned in school records for the indoor 1,600-meter relay and outdoor 2-mile relay events.
Following graduation from UW-Oshkosh in 1993, Bemowski taught high school physical education and health at Mosinee High School for four years while coaching middle school gymnastics and freshman volleyball for nearly two seasons. She resides in Stevens Point with her husband, Tim Olson, and two children. Bemowski is a graduate of Stevens Point Pacelli High School.
Terry Jorgensen played baseball for the Titans from 1985-87 and concluded his career as one of the most dominant hitters in UW-Oshkosh and NCAA Division III history.
Jorgensen played 117 games during his three years at UW-Oshkosh, leading the Titans to one national championship, three conference titles and an overall record of 109-15. The Luxemburg native hit .445 playing for UW-Oshkosh with 41 home runs, 32 doubles, 164 runs batted in and 150 runs scored. In 12 NCAA Division III World Series contests, Jorgensen hit .460 with five home runs and 23 runs batted in.
Jorgensen's name is typed often in baseball record books compiled by the NCAA Division III. He currently ranks second in career slugging percentage, 14th in career batting average and 18th in career home runs. In UW-Oshkosh annals he ranks second in career batting average, fourth in career home runs and fifth in career runs batted in.
As a freshman in 1985, Jorgensen impacted the UW-Oshkosh baseball program immediately and the results were NCAA Division III and WIAC championships for the Titans. Jorgensen hit .418 during his rookie season with 12 home runs, 13 doubles and 50 runs batted in to gain NCAA Division III All-America second team accolades. During the Titans' winning effort in the NCAA Division III World Series, Jorgensen was named the event's most outstanding player after recording 11 hits in 20 at-bats, two home runs, nine runs batted in and six runs scored.
Jorgensen continued to terrorize opposing pitchers his next two seasons, hitting .462 with 15 home runs, 50 runs batted in and 52 runs scored in 1986 and .458 with 14 home runs, 64 runs batted in and 53 runs scored in 1987. He gained NCAA Division III All-America first team mention after both of those seasons.
Following his junior year in 1987, the Minnesota Twins selected Jorgensen in the second round of Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft as the 29th overall choice. After two years in the minors, Jorgensen appeared in his first major league game for the Twins during the 1989 season. He also appeared in major league games for the Twins during the 1992 and 1993 seasons, with the latter including a spot on the opening day roster. Prior to his retirement from baseball in 1995, Jorgensen played in 93 major league games, totaling one home run, 21 runs scored, 19 runs batted in and a .240 batting average.
Today, Jorgensen resides in Luxemburg, where he teaches physical education classes and coaches baseball at Luxemburg-Casco High School, his alma mater. Jorgensen, a 1998 graduate of UW-Oshkosh, and his wife, Roxie, are the parents of five children.
As a standout performer on both the basketball court and on the golf course, Ric Kunnert put together an exceptional two-sport career while attending UW-Oshkosh.
In men's basketball, Kunnert played for the Titans from 1987-90, receiving All-WIAC and NAIA All-District 14 first-team accolades in each of his last three seasons. The Dubuque, Iowa, native is one of only three UW-Oshkosh men's basketball players to receive All-WIAC first team honors three times, with the others being Ralph Sims from 1976-78 and Brad Clark from 1998-2000.
Kunnert played in 108 basketball games during his UW-Oshkosh career, including 96 as a starter. He currently ranks third in UW-Oshkosh annals with 1,783 career points, fifth with 760 career rebounds and seventh with 114 career 3-point field goals. UW-Oshkosh posted three winning seasons during Kunnert's basketball career, including 15-12 records in 1987 and 1990.
Appearing in 27 games, including 15 starts, during the 1987 season, Kunnert averaged 9.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. Kunnert displayed his scoring ability early during his freshman season, tallying 20 points in just his fifth game, a 115-111 triple-overtime loss to UW-Platteville.
In 1988, Kunnert started all 27 games for UW-Oshkosh and averaged 18.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest, both team bests. The following season, Kunnert started all 27 games that he played and averaged 19.6 points and a team-leading 8.1 rebounds per contest. In WIAC play, Kunnert averaged 9.3 rebounds per game to lead the league. Kunnert paced the Titans in scoring 12 times and rebounding 16 times that year, including a 33-point, 14-rebound performance in a 75-73 loss to UW-River Falls.
In 1990, Kunnert's final season on the hardwood, he averaged 17.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, both team highs. Starting all 27 games that he played, Kunnert led the Titans in scoring 13 times and rebounding 19.
Competing on the UW-Oshkosh men's golf team from 1986-89, Kunnert was a four-time NAIA All-District 14 and three-time All-WIAC first team selection. He finished second in the WIAC in both 1986 and 1988 and fourth in 1987. Kunnert's talents as a golfer were recognized in 1987 when he was selected to participate in the NCAA Division III Championship.
Kunnert, a 1990 graduate of UW-Oshkosh, has made playing and teaching golf a way of life. He currently resides in Glenview, Ill., where he is the head golf professional at the Westmoreland Country Club. Previously, the Dubuque Wahlert High School graduate was the head golf professional at the Janesville Country Club. Kunnert and his wife, Jackie, have one child.
Take a look in the dictionary for the meaning of the word consistency and one could very well find the name of Tom Lechnir, with special mention of his UW-Oshkosh baseball tenure as player, assistant coach and head coach.
Before taking the reins as the current head coach of the Titans, Lechnir was an intricate part as a player on a team that went 101-29 during a four-year period from 1979-82. UW-Oshkosh appeared in three NCAA Division III World Series and captured four WIAC championships with Lechnir roaming the outfield.
Lechnir saw his first regular action with the Titans in 1980. He hit .330 for UW-Oshkosh that year with eight home runs and 40 runs batted in. In 1981, the Mosinee native hit .289 with seven home runs and 38 runs batted in. Lechnir's senior season of 1982 was his finest as he hit .369 with eight home runs and 50 runs batted in. During an 11-2 win over UW-Eau Claire that year, he belted three home runs, a UW-Oshkosh record that stood for nearly 14 seasons.
After his playing days were over, Lechnir remained at UW-Oshkosh to serve as an assistant to head coach Russ Tiedemann. The Mosinee High School graduate served as an assistant coach from 1983-88, with the Titans compiling a 193-36-1 record, one NCAA Division III championship and six WIAC titles. In addition, UW-Oshkosh participated in five NCAA Division III World Series, had 17 athletes gain All-America accolades and had six players drafted to professional baseball during Lechnir's tenure. Among the professional draft picks was Terry Jorgensen, a hall of fame inductee tonight and a player Lechnir recruited.
Since being named head baseball coach in 1989, Lechnir has continued and improved upon the tradition of the UW-Oshkosh program. During his 12-plus seasons, the Titans have claimed one NCAA Division III title and 10 WIAC championships while fashioning an impressive 409-114 record and appearing in eight NCAA Division III World Series. In addition, he has tutored 32 NCAA Division III All-Americans and 14 professional draft selections, including current major league player Jarrod Washburn of the Anaheim Angels. Lechnir entered the 2001 season with a .781 winning percentage as head coach, the fourth-highest mark among active coaches in the NCAA Division III.
In all, Lechnir has been a part of two NCAA Division III titles, 20 WIAC championships and a 703-179-1 record as player, assistant coach and head coach at UW-Oshkosh.
Lechnir, a 1983 graduate of UW-Oshkosh, lives in Oshkosh with his wife, Tina, and their twin sons.
With two national and nine conference individual championships to her credit, Debbie Lindemer is recognized as one of the finest female gymnasts in UW-Oshkosh and WIAC history.
Lindemer competed in women's gymnastics at UW-Oshkosh from 1983-86 and established a standard of excellence that also includes leading the Titans to one NAIA and four WIAC team championships. The Oshkosh North High School graduate immediately became an impact performer at UW-Oshkosh, winning the all-around, floor exercise and uneven bars titles at the WIAC Championship during her rookie campaign.
Lindemer's finest season came in 1984 when she became a Broderick Award nominee after qualifying for the NCAA Division I Championship in the all-around competition. The Broderick Award is presented annually to the top collegiate athlete in women's gymnastics, with Lindemer's 1984 resume also featuring NCAA Division II titles in the all-around and uneven bars and WIAC crowns in the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise. Lindemer compiled scores of 35.25 in the all-around and 9.15 in the uneven bars en route to the NCAA Division II titles.
Lindemer also enjoyed a banner season in 1985, gaining NCAA Division II All-America accolades in the floor exercise and winning WIAC titles in the all-around, balance beam and the floor exercise. Hampered by injuries in 1986, Lindemer provided spiritual leadership in helping the Titans to NAIA and WIAC championships.
In all, Lindemer's nine WIAC individual titles are the second-highest count in league history, bettered only by the 14 of UW-Oshkosh's Mary Levian, a teammate of Lindemer in 1986.
Following graduation from UW-Oshkosh in 1988, Lindemer moved to Park Falls, where she was an elementary school teacher and assistant girls high school gymnastics coach. Lindemer returned to her hometown in 1990 by being named the head girls gymnastics coach at Oshkosh West High School, a position she held through the 1993 season.
Today, Lindemer lives in Oshkosh, where she has taught elementary school-aged children in the city since 1991. Lindemer, the first woman gymnast to be inducted into the UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame, and her husband, Mark Stenson, are the parents of three children.