Washburn To Be Inducted Into WIAC Hall of Fame
More than 100 UW-Oshkosh student-athletes and coaches from the past and present will be recognized at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Centennial Banquet on Saturday (Aug. 4) at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
UW-Oshkosh was represented 129 times, the most of any school, on the WIAC All-Centennial Teams. Throughout the past year, the conference selected these squads to recognize outstanding individuals from the past 100 years. There were 24 teams released – one for each of the league's championship sports since 1913. Selected athletes will receive a certificate at the banquet.
UW-Oshkosh athletes occupied 122 spots on the all-time teams, including 25 for women's track & field, 16 for baseball and 14 for both men's soccer and men's track & field. UW-Oshkosh also owned nine positions on the men's gymnastics team and six on the women's cross country squad.
Seven of the all-time coaches hailed from UW-Oshkosh. Deb Vercauteren (1981-2010) was named the coach for both women's cross country and women's track & field. Tom Lechnir (1989-present) and Russ Tiedemann (1968-69, 71-88) shared the centennial baseball coach honor. Other UW-Oshkosh all-time coaches were Ken Allen (1969-92) for men's gymnastics, Toby Bares (1984-2009) for men's soccer and Jim Davies (1965-90) for men's tennis.
The WIAC will also honor its inaugural Hall of Fame class at the banquet. The 30-member class features three members from each school, along with three conference officials. UW-Oshkosh's inductees are Vercauteren, Casey Edwards and Jarrod Washburn.
Washburn played baseball at UW-Oshkosh in 1994 and 1995. During 1994, he helped the Titans to a 41-4 record and the NCAA Division III title. Washburn threw a complete-game victory in the championship contest as the Titans defeated Wesleyan University (Conn.). In 1995, Washburn received NCAA Division III All-America honors after leading the Titans to a third-place national finish. He finished his UW-Oshkosh career with a 15-2 record, 141 strikeouts and a 1.97 earned run average in 118.2 innings pitched.
Following the 1995 season, the Anaheim Angels drafted Washburn with the 31st overall selection. He went on to play for the Angels, Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers during a career that spanned 12 major league seasons. His 2002 campaign featured an 18-6 record with a 3.15 earned run average. Washburn finished fourth in that year's Cy Young Award balloting as the Angels won the World Series.
Washburn started 300 games in the major leagues, while becoming the best professional pitcher to ever attend UW-Oshkosh. He concluded his career with 107 wins, 1,103 strikeouts and a 4.10 earned run average in 1,863.2 innings. Earlier this year, Washburn was selected to the WIAC All-Time Baseball Team.
The first organizational meeting of the State Normal School Conference (later to become the WIAC) was held in Madison in 1913 (July). The institutions represented at that meeting were La Crosse, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls, Stevens Point, Superior and Whitewater. Stout joined the conference in 1914, followed by Eau Claire in 1917. Milwaukee left the conference in 1964. The WIAC is the ninth-oldest conference in the NCAA, which is comprised of nearly 100 conferences at the Division I, II and III levels.