UW-Oshkosh Hall Of Fame Welcomes Three Inductees

The UW-Oshkosh Athletics Hall of Fame increased its roster to 166 members on Sunday (May 6) with the inductions of Tiffany (Speckman) Ebensperger, Jamie Ford and Braugeor Zeitler. The induction ceremony was held in UW-Oshkosh's Reeve Memorial Union.

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.

In the 34-year history of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Cross Country Championship, only one woman has run to three individual titles. That person is Tiffany (Speckman) Ebensperger, who also led UW-Oshkosh to six national championships and 10 conference titles in cross country and track and field from 1994-98.

Ebensperger's senior year, the 1997-98 campaign, was an outstanding one. In the fall, she captured her third WIAC cross country title with a time of 18:01. Ebensperger was named the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and UW-Oshkosh earned its fourth straight WIAC championship. The Titans placed fourth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship as Ebensperger won the individual crown with a time of 18:29. Laura Horejs (1991) is the only other person in UW-Oshkosh history with a national cross country title.

When the indoor track and field season came around in 1998, Ebensperger led UW-Oshkosh to the WIAC championship with individual titles in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs. She also won both of those events at the WIAC outdoor meet. At the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship, Ebensperger was victorious in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:16. She nearly gained two more national titles when she finished second in both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs at the outdoor competition.

Ebensperger received the 1998 Honda NCAA Division III Woman Athlete of the Year Award, becoming the first winner from the WIAC. She was also a three-time selection to the Successful Farming All-American Team. Ebensperger's national awards contributed $6,000 to UW-Oshkosh's general academic scholarship fund.

In cross country, Ebensperger was part of four WIAC championship teams. In three of those years (1994, 1996, 1997), she won the individual conference title and earned NCAA Division III All-America status. UW-Oshkosh also took the team crown at the 1996 national championship.

UW-Oshkosh captured NCAA Division III indoor track and field titles in 1995 and 1996. Ebensperger helped the Titans to WIAC indoor crowns in 1995, 1996 and 1998, while also winning the 3,000-meter run in 1995.

Outdoors, Ebensperger achieved a three-peat (1996-98) in the 3,000-meter run at the WIAC Track and Field Championship. The Titans then won the WIAC title and the NCAA championship from 1995-97.

Ebensperger, a four-time Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America, was named to both the WIAC Women's Cross Country and Track and Field All-Centennial Teams in 2012. She was inducted into the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005.

The Juda High School graduate still races competitively and has completed 13 marathons. At the 2012 Boston Marathon, she finished in 3:24:29 to lead all women from Wisconsin.

Ebensperger graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 1998 and is currently a science teacher at Albany High School. She lives in Juda with her devoted husband, Eric.