Vercauteren 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.

Vercauteren achieved unprecedented success as head coach of the UW-Oshkosh women's cross country and track & field teams. She won a total of 18 NCAA Division III titles while coaching cross country from 1981-2010 and track & field from 1982-2009.

In cross country, Vercauteren led the Titans to four national championships and 15 WIAC titles. She was named National Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996. Vercauteren coached UW-Oshkosh to eight NCAA outdoor track & field titles and six NCAA indoor track & field crowns. Vercauteren, who was selected as the National Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2004 and National Indoor Coach of the Year in 2006, led her track & field teams to a total of 21 WIAC titles.

In 2005, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected Vercauteren as its NCAA Division III Cross Country Silver Anniversary Coach. During 2007, Vercauteren was inducted into the organization's Hall of Fame. One year later, the association named the NCAA Division III Program of the Year Award in her honor.

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.