Eleven to be Inducted into UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame

NEWS RELEASE
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Matt Stanek * Sports Information Director * 780 Regent Street * Madison, WI 53715 * Phone: (608) 265-6406 * www.uwsa.edu/wiac/

RELEASED: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Eleven to be Inducted into UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame

Whitewater, Wis.--The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will welcome eleven inductees into the class of 2005 Saturday, October 22. The honorees will be introduced at halftime of the football game versus UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon, and will be formally inducted at the annual Athletics Hall of Fame banquet beginning with a reception at 4:30 in the University Center Commons and dinner at 5:45 in the Hamilton Center.

The class of 2005 includes:
" Kathy Weitala Bley (swimming, 1985 graduate)
" Ed Brady (wrestling, 1989 graduate)
" James Eike (track and field, 1985 graduate)
" Lisa Bartnicki Eyssautier (tennis, 1989 graduate)
" Mary Jo Weberpal Hull (softball, 1989 graduate)
" Pam Kane (volleyball, 1989 graduate)
" Willie Myers (wrestling, retired in 2004)
" Jeff Seifriz (basketball, graduated in 1989)
" Bill Wickman (baseball, graduated in 1989)
" Randy and Pat Cruse … Distinguished Service Award recipients

For tickets to the banquet or information about the Hall of Fame contact:

Jim Miller or Joyce Follis
Intercollegiate Athletics 252 South Ardmor Drive
Williams Center Whitewater, WI 53190
UW-Whitewater follisj@charter.net
Whitewater, WI 53190
(262) 472-5649
millerjb@uww.edu

Kathy Weitala Bley
When she graduated Kathy Weitala owned, or was a part of as a member of a relay, the school record in 15 of 25 (60%) events. Over twenty years later she set the mark so high that Weitala still holds the UW-Whitewater records in: 100 (54.73) and 200 freestyle (1:58.88); 100 (1:03.39), 200 (2:15.51) and 400 (4:52.10) individual medley; and 50 butterfly (28.59). She is a member of four record setting relays, including: 400 (3:46.56) and 800 (8:20.67) freestyle, 300 butterfly (3:13.94), and 850 crescendo freestyle (9:04.25).

Weitala was among a group of Warhawk women that were the first to qualify for a national championship in swimming and diving, earning that distinction at the 1982 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Division III championship at Allegheny College (PA). She earned All-American honors in five events that year, her first year of collegiate competition. She placed sixth in the 100 freestyle, ninth in the 100 individual medley, and eleventh in the 200 IM. Her 200 freestyle relay finished seventh, and the 400 freestyle relay placed twelfth. In addition, Weitala met AIAW III qualifying standards in the 200 freestyle and as part of the 800 freestyle relay. She was part of another first in 1983 as a sophomore, part of the first group of Warhawk swimmers to qualify for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship (which UW-W had recently joined). In '83 she qualified for the 100 butterfly, the 400 individual medley, the 50 and 100 freestyles, and as part of the 200 freestyle relay. Weitala also won the 1982 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 200 individual medley title, and was named UW-Whitewater's Sportswoman of the Year for Swimming in 1983. A 1981 graduate of Greendale (WI) High School, Weitala Bley is now a resident of Chesterfield, Missouri.

Ed Brady
Ed Brady's name is scattered throughout the Warhawk wrestling record book. He wrestled for the Warhawks for four years, finishing second at 142 pounds as a freshmen before reeling off league championships in 1985 (at 142 pounds), 1986 (150) and 1987 (150). As a sophomore he earned NCAA III All-American honors with a fourth place finish in the national championship, then returned two years later to claim the national title at 150 pounds. During that 1986-87 season Brady went 35-1, giving him the fourth best winning percentage (.972) and tenth most wins in school history; compiled 183.75 team points, which is third in the record book; recorded the second highest number of takedowns (157); and went on a 35-match win streak, third best ever. Among the season record categories Brady is still tied for tenth in consecutive pins (4, 1985-86) and tied for fifteenth in pins (14, 1984-85). In the career record categories Brady ranks third in winning percentage (.856, 106-17-2), fourth in team points (465.5), seventh in wins, and eighth in pins (38). Brady helped UW-Whitewater win the 1987 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, and led UW-W to a tenth place finish in the 1985 NCAA III tournament and seventh place in '87. He is currently a math teacher and track coach at Sabish Middle School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Randy and Pat Cruse
The Distinguished Service Award recipients, Randy and Pat Cruse have been long-time contributors to the welfare of the Whitewater community and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, including the department of intercollegiate athletics. Randy served on the Athletics Hall of Fame board for ten years and is currently a member of the UW-Whitewater Foundation board of directors. They have helped with athletic department golf outings and booster club events for many years, and even support the annual Athletics Hall of Fame banquet at which they are being honored. Both Pat and Randy are 1971 graduates of UW-Whitewater. Randy and Pat are the founders and former long-time owners of Randy's Restaurant and Fun Hunter's Brewery, the Cruse's are residents of Whitewater.

Jim Eike
Jim Eike won the 1984 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III pole vault championship, at the time just the second individual champion in track and field for UW-Whitewater. In 1983 Eike won the WIAC indoor pole vault title, setting a conference record at 15-7, when he also qualified for the NCAA III championship. One year later he added his second league crown, upping the WIAC indoor record to 15-9.5. Later that spring he made it three championships, winning the pole vault at the WIAC outdoor meet. He was the team captain in 1984, when his individual national title led UW-W to twenty-first place in the NCAA III team standings. One year earlier Eike was part of the team that finished thirtieth in the national meet. Eike is a dentist, and a resident of Neenah, Wisconsin.

Lisa Bartnicki Eyssautier
Lisa Bartnicki was a two time national qualifier in women's tennis. She qualified for NCAA III singles play in 1985 and partnered with Mary Sarbacker for the doubles competition in 1987. She was also an alternate for the 1986 NCAA III singles tourney. She won the flight two singles title at the WIAC meet in 1984, then won flight one championships in 1985 and 1986. She added flight one doubles titles, with Sarbacker, to her haul in 1986 and '87. She was a tri-captain for UW-W in 1985 and co-captain in 1987, and the team's MVP in both 1986 and 1987. During her four years UW-Whitewater went 53-21 in dual meets, winning WIAC titles in 1984, '85 and '87. Bartnicki went 23-7 in 1985 at number one, the fifth best winning percentage at flight one in school history, followed in sixth place by her 13-5 mark in 1987. The 23 wins is the third most at the most challenging level of singles play in UW-W history. In her two years of partnering with Sarbacker the duo went 27-3 in 1987, the school's best winning percentage ever at the top flight of doubles and the most wins ever at #1, and 20-6. As a sophomore Barnicki and partner Diane Sullivan went 15-5 at #2 doubles, the seventh best doubles mark at a flight other than number one. She compiled 50 wins at number one singles in her career, fourth in the school record book, and 59 wins overall, seventh best. Her career mark of 50-20 at number one singles
in third best ever at UW-W. Her career total of 48 wins with Sarbacker place that duo atop the wins list at one doubles, and their winning percentage (.842) is second all-time. Bartnicki Eyssautier is a resident of Menomonee Falls.

Mary Jo Weberpal Hull
Mary Jo Weberpal was a major contributor to the Warhawk softball team during her four years at UW-W. She was a four-year starter, helping the team to at least 24 wins all four years, and winning WIAC championships in 1986, 1988 and 1989. In addition to the league titles, Weberpal played a key role in UW-W receiving NCAA III championship tournament bids those same years. The Warhawks finished fifth in the 1986 national championship, and topped that with a second place finish in 1987. She was named to the regional all-tournament team in 1986. She was also UW-W's Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, team MVP in '88, a co-captain in '88 and '89, and the softball team's Sportswoman of the Year her junior and senior years. Weberpal batted .311 with a team high 24 runs batted in for the 1989 squad, when she also earned All-WIAC honors. She is tied for second in career triples, tied for fifteenth in career home runs, and tied for nineteenth in career doubles in the UW-W record book. Weberpal was also a standout in the classroom, earning a spot on the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll all four years, receiving the WIAC's Judy Kruckman Scholar Athlete Award in 1989, and capping her academic accomplishments with Third Team Academic All-American honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. She is a resident of Bloomington, Illinois where she works at Saint Mary's School as a learning resource teacher.

Pam Kane
Her first year at UW-Whitewater Pam Kane helped the Warhawks win 37 matches - and that was the worst any team she played on ever did. The win total jumped to 51-7 in 1987, 57-4 in 1988, and 47-3 in 1989. The Warhawks won WIAC championships in 1988 and 1989, and earned NCAA III championship tournament berths in 1987,'88 and '89. The 1988 team advanced to the final four. Kane earned First Team All-WIAC honors in 1988 and 1989, and added first team all-region both year. She was named a First Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in 1988, then repeated that honor and added second team honors from Volleyball magazine in 1989. Kane's name is found throughout the Warhawk record book. She holds the school record with 12 service aces in a match (vs. Platteville, 1989) and her .762 versus UW-Green Bay that same year is the fourth best performance in a match. She served 80 aces in 1989, fourth in the record book, and her hitting percentage of .402 in 1989 is also the best ever. She had 549 kills in 1988, second on the list, and 507 in l989, seventh. Kane compiled a .353 career hitting percentage, also number one in the UW-W annals. She had 1,393 kills, sixth, and 112 aces, fifteenth. In addition to being a top front line performer, ranking eighteenth in career blocks, Kane is also twenty-second on the school's assist list. She had sixty matches with
double figure kills, and five with twenty or more kills. Kane, a resident of Onalaska, Wisconsin, is a middle school health and physical education teacher in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau school district.

Willie Myers
Myers was a teacher, coach and administrator at UW-Whitewater for thirty-six years prior to his retirement in June 2004. The wrestling coach for that entire period, Myers directed UW-Whitewater teams to more conference championships, twelve, than any coach, men's or women's sports, in school history. He also directed UW-W to seventeen top twenty finishes in national championships, including thirteenth place in his last season in 2004. Myers coached sixty-four conference champions, wrestlers earned All-American honors fifty-three times under his direction, and thirty athletes were named NCAA III Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-Americans. Three individual won four NCAA III championships in that time. Following the 2004 season Myers earned his fifth WIAC Wrestling Coach of the Year honor, was named Wisconsin College Coach of the Year by the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association, and added Wisconsin State Coach of the Year (including high school coaches) from the WACA. Myers received the Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and has been inducted into the George Martin (state of Wisconsin wrestling) Hall of Fame, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame, and the Eastern Illinois University (his alma mater) Athletics Hall of Fame. Respect among his peers led Myers to numerous positions in the NAIA Wrestling Coaches Association and, when UW-W joined the NCAA in 1980, in the NCAA wrestling community. He served as president of both coaching groups, in the NAIA and in Division III of the NCAA. In the early 70's Myers was chosen to lead a NAIA all-star team on a tour of Japan and Korea, he coached the United States freestyle team in the 1977 World University Games, and served as wrestling team administrator for the U.S. 1979 World University Games team. In addition to his years as wrestling coach, at various times Myers served UW-W as an assistant football coach, as chairman of the department of coaching (an academic unit now part of health, physical education, recreation and coaching), and as a tenured professor in the HPERC department. In addition, Myers was UW-W's director of athletics-men for fifteen years (1983-98). Myers is a resident of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

Jeff Seifriz
Seifriz was the team captain and co-Most Valuable Player of the 1989 NCAA III championship basketball team. In that championship year he was a first team all-conference pick and first team all-midwest region. He was named the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA III Tournament Midwest Regional and earned a spot on the NCAA III Final Four All-Tournament Team. The Warhawks also shared the WIAC title on their way to the '89 national championship, when Seifriz ranked among the top ten in Division III in both three point percentage and three point
shots made per game. Off the court, he was earned second team Midwest region all-academic honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. In his four years at UW-W Seifriz helped the Warhawks earn NCAA III tourney berths three times, while also earning honorable mention all-conference honors as a junior. He is still mentioned throughout the Warhawk record book, including fourth in season scoring (627 in 1988-89) and second in three point field goals made (216 in 1988-89). His sophomore, junior and senior seasons rank first, eighth and second, respectively, in three point field goal accuracy. He holds the school record for three point shooting in a game, hitting seven of seven January 14, 1989. He is second on the school's career lists for three pointers made, and the all-time leader in three point percentage. In fact, his career mark of .513 (217-423) is still the NCAA III career record. Seifriz is currently the assistant director of athletic facilities at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities).

Bill Wickman
Bill Wickman was the first baseman on UW-Whitewater's baseball team when it earned a NCAA III championship tournament bid and advanced to the final series for the first time in school history, finishing fifth. That was just the capstone on a career that included four winning seasons, including 26-9-1 in 1987 and 28-15 in 1989. He earned Honorable Mention All-WIAC recognition in 1987, and first team all-conference honors in both 1988 and 1989. Wickman was also named first team all-midwest region and to the all-midwest regional tournament in '89. He earned UW-W's Top Hitter Award in 1987 and 1989, was UW-W's Most Valuable Player those same years, and was Whitewater's team captain in 1988 and '89. Wickman batted .451 as a sophomore, still the fourth best single season average at UW-W. He followed that with a .372 season in 1988, and in 1989 he hit .400 with 14 home runs and 53 runs batted in. His '89 home run total is tied for third in the record book, and 53 RBI's is fourth. He is among the top ten in career home runs (tied fourth, 31), average (fourth, .393), runs batted in (fifth, 127), and hits (tenth, 150). Wickman is a resident of Wausaukee, Wisconsin.

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