Beginning in 2010, the Parkside Athletics Hall of Fame began inducting full teams.
Class of 2010
1980 Women's Cross Country
The 1980 women’s cross country team earned UW-Parkside’s first team national championship. The 1980 season was the first year women were a part of the NAIA. Up until that point, all women’s university sports programs were affiliated with a women’s-only governing body, which made UW-Parkside the NAIA’s first-ever women’s national champion! In addition, this was the first complete women’s cross country squad at UW-Parkside.
Led by individual national champion Wendy Burman and joined by All-Americans Kellie Benzow (3rd place), Sharon Keller (13th place) and Dona Driscoll (17th place), the Rangers won the title with a total of 52 points, well ahead of runner-up Emporia State, which totaled 100 points. The notable moment in UW-Parkside and NAIA history took place in Salina, Kansas, and was engineered by National Coach of the Year Bob Lawson.
The solid Ranger roster was solidified by Barb Osborne, Joanne Carey, Sandy Venne, Joann Carey and Linda Pfeilstifter.
1984 Men's Soccer
The 1984 men’s soccer team had a first-year head coach in Rick Kilps and only nine returning players on its roster. Three junior college transfers and nine freshmen were brought in and this group went on to post a 14-3-3 regular season record, with all three losses coming to NCAA Division I schools.
The team was the only UW-Parkside soccer squad ever to reach the NAIA national tournament. The Rangers won their first ever NAIA Area title, beating Sangamon State University, 2-1, in the championship match. UW-Parkside blanked Concordia St. Paul, 5-0, in the semi-final. Their reward was a trip to the NAIA national tournament in Fresno, California, where its stellar season ended. Only 12 out of 240 teams advanced to the national tournament and the Rangers were a part of the elite dozen.
Members of the team include Wayne Adema, Andrew Buchanan, Richard Blay, Dave Dahlke, Steve Donovan, Jeff Fischer, Scott Gerhartz, Ed Herrera, Jeff Medin, Tony Pinkert, Jose Ramirez, Michael Riva, Mike Robertson, Charles Rodriguez, John Scanlan, Chris Schuleit, Jim Spielmann, Don Theisen, George Vuckovich and Greg Whipple.
1990 Softball
The 1990 UW-Parkside softball squad won the NAIA District 14 championship and then went on to capture the Bi-District VI crown. The Rangers advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Pensacola, Florida, where the team emerged victorious in its first two games at the 16-team, double-elimination tournament, beating Bloomfield (NJ), 5-2, and Pacific Lutheran (WA), 1-0.
After losing to host West Florida in a true road game, 5-2, the Rangers came back to beat St. Mary’s (TX), 3-0, but were eliminated by the eventual national runner-up, Pacific Lutheran, 2-1. The Rangers finished fourth in the country.
The Rangers featured four All-Americans in Tracy Burbach, Wendy Sackman, Pam Hosp and Kim Vanderbush along with three who would become All-Americans in a Ranger uniform in Laura Stock, Tammy Wright and Rachel Sielaff.
Coach Linda Draft was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year.
The talented roster was bolstered by Tara Carlson, Jeanne Esselman, Jodi Farber, Patty Fink, Beth Hansen, Karen Livesey, Kathy Livesey, Laura Nowdomski, Sue Palubicki, Merisa Posig, and Jackie Vukos. The team finished with an overall record of 44-15.
Class of 2012
1994 Men’s Soccer Team
The 1994 UW-Parkside Men’s Soccer team came closer than any other Ranger squad to an NCAA National Championship. Coach Rick Kilps capped an incredible four-year stretch by breaking through a difficult selection criteria to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
After a 44-7-3 run yielded no postseason berths, the 1994 team was on a mission to force its way into the Division II Championship. They answered with a 14-0-2 start to their season and a number one national ranking. That included a 13-game winning streak in which the Rangers allowed just one goal. All told, the team allowed just seven goals in 19 games, best in the country and still fifth all-time.
Goal keeper Chris Sagar still holds the NCAA record for goals against average (0.32) thanks in part to his 1994 season which is 12th best in Division II history. He teamed with Mike Guszaski who led the nation that season allowing just .31 goals per game. Central defender Jason Gould earned first team All-American honors while striker Patrick White earned second team honors. David Siers and Peter Gyurko each earned All-Region while Gyurko was voted team MVP by his peers.
The Rangers earned the region’s number seed before falling to Oakland University in a national quarterfinal match. UW-Parkside ended the season ranked third in the nation with a final mark of 15-2-2. They were 10-1-2 against Division II competition while also scoring three victories against Division I squads; the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Drury University.
1996 Softball Team
The 1996 UW-Parkside Softball team put together one of the best seasons in NCAA history going 64-6-1 while advancing to its second straight Division II World Series. The Rangers dominated their opponents all year long, outscoring the opposition 493-115.
A year after winning its first regional championship, Coach Tory Acheson’s Rangers left no doubt they would once again be one of the nation’s best teams. They won 18 straight games to start the season, and 36 out of their first 37 to position themselves for another magical year.
The Rangers earned the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season title and a top seed in the league tournament. After a game two loss, the team responded with five straight victories, including two in a row over Lewis University, to earn the GLVC Tournament championship.
Playing much of the year as the nation’s top-ranked team, UW-Parkside rolled through the regional with three consecutive victories by star pitcher Wendy Wolff. Unfortunately a pair of tough one-run losses at the national tournament ended a banner season.
The 1996 team can still be found throughout the NCAA Record Book. Their 64 wins are the second-most in Division II history while the offense still stands as one of the best ever. The Rangers have the fifth-most hits (672) and sixth-most runs (493) ever. They also led the country in doubles (106), home runs (62), and total bases (998).
A team with five All-Americans also was one of the best in the classroom. Coach Acheson’s squad was fifth in the nation with a team grade point average of 3.145.
1997 Softball Team
Following one of the best seasons in NCAA history would be no easy task, but the 1997 UW-Parkside Softball team was up to the challenge. Coach Tory Acheson’s Rangers registered a 62-10 record and finished just two wins away from claiming the school’s first national championship.
UW-Parkside was once again ranked number one in the country for multiple weeks of the 1997 season. Another difficult schedule prepared the Rangers for what was in store come tournament time. The team started the season 37-5 on the road before returning home to their new jewel of a ballpark.
The program spent countless hours the previous summer building what would become known as the Case Softball Complex. The field debuted on April 1, 1997 and saw the Rangers rout Saint Joseph’s, 14-2 and 10-5 in a conference doubleheader. The team once again went on to earn Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the postseason.
There, the Rangers rolled to a regional championship, taking two from Lewis University to advance to the program’s third straight Division II World Series. This time a 3-0 victory over UC-Davis put UW-Parkside into the championship game with a chance to avenge a 1-0 loss earlier in the tournament to California University of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately a late run broke a 1-1 and gave Cal (Pa.) the title.
The Rangers had three more NCAA All-Americans led by Jackie Aiken whose 87 runs batted in were best in the country. The team’s 62 wins, at time of induction, were the fifth-most in NCAA Division II history.
Class of 2014
1974-1975 Men's Basketball Team
Featuring UW-Parkside Hall of Famers Abdul Jeelani (formerly known as Gary Cole), Bill Sobanski, Al-Haj Jameel Ghuari (formerly Chuck Chambliss), Rade Dimitrijevic and Hall of Fame Coach Steve Stephens, the 1974-1975 men's basketball squad racked up a school record 24 wins on the year, including a program record 16 in a row.
Playing a national schedule that included three Division I programs and 11 games against team's currently competing in Division I, the Rangers made their first ever postseason appearance, qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., after winning the NAIA District 14 Championship. At the National Tournament, the Rangers dispatched Morningside College (Iowa) 57-54 in the opening round before slipping past Marymount College (Kan.) in the Sweet 16. UW-Parkside's tournament run came to a close in the Elite Eight, falling 70-54 to eventual national champion Grand Canyon University (Ariz.).
The 1974-1975 team finished with a 24-9 record and kicked off a golden era for Parkside hoops, the first of four straight national tournament appearances while the Rangers routinely played in front of capacity crowds inside DeSimone Gymnasium. Junior forward Abdul Jeelani led the team in scoring with 23.2 points per game, before going on to play in the NBA for both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks.
1986 Women's Cross Country Team
The 1986 women's cross country team captured the University's second and to-date last team national championship, winning the 1986 NAIA Championship Meet held at the Dannehl National Cross Country Course.
Coached by sixth year head coach Mike De Witt, the Rangers defeated over 86% of the teams they ran against during the 1986 campaign, finishing behind only six non-Division I team's all season. At the NAIA Championships, three Rangers claimed All-American honors as UW-Parkside scored 121 points to outdistance second-place Emporia State University (Kan.) by 30-points.
Michelle Marter led the way, placing seventh at the Championships while Sarah Viett was 18th and Jackie Melotik placed 24th, securing the program's second national crown in seven years and claiming the second of six straight Top 10 finishes at the NAIA National Meet.
2004 Men's Soccer Team
The 2004 men's soccer team finished the season with a 13-4-3 record, advancing to the NCAA Division II Regional Finals for the first time in program history. The Rangers posted their 25th winning campaign in 2004 while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in 11 years.
Coached by 2012 UW-Parkside Hall of Fame Inductee Rick Kilps and featuring Second Team All-American Riley Mewes and All-Region selections Dustin Wagner, Victor Perez and Ben Tommerup, the Rangers knocked off four nationally ranked squads during the season, climbing as high as fifth in the national polls.
The Rangers netted the program's 400th win on Oct. 15 in a 10-0 whitewash of Kentucky Wesleyan College before making their 10th consecutive trip to the GLVC Tournament.
UW-Parkside advanced past GLVC rival Lewis University in penalty kicks in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to eventual national runner-up Southern Illinois University-Evansville 3-1 after playing a majority of the game down a man due to a red card in the 37th minute.
The stout Ranger defense ended the year ranked third nationally in shutout percentage (0.60) with 12 clean sheets on the season while finishing fifth nationally in goals allowed, yielding just 13 on the season. Perez, the GLVC Freshman of the Year, finished the season ranked fourth in goals against average (0.54) while the Rangers offense led the league in scoring, averaging 2.5 goals per game.
Class of 2016
1973-1974 Wrestling Team
Under the guidance of Hall of Fame coach Jim Koch, UW-Parkside's 1973-1974 wrestling squad tallied the highest ever finish by a Ranger men's team in school history, finishing third at the NAIA Championships for the university's first trophy from a national competition. The 1973-1974 Rangers featured two national champions with Bill West ripping through the season with a 27-0 record to claim the 134-pound title while Randy Skarda capped the season with a 28-1 record and a national title at 150-pounds. Ken Martin, a national champion the prior season, moved up from 134-pounds to 142-pounds and placed runner-up at the national meet, boasting an impressive 25-2 record. Also on the star-studded 1973-1974 squad was Joe Landers who would go on to win a national title at 134-pounds in 1976.
A statistically dominant team, West, Martin, and Skarda all ranked in the top four all-time in career winning percentage while seven members of the squad rank among the top 12 all-time in takedowns allowed per match.
In dual competition, the Rangers posted a 7-4-1 record with three setbacks coming at the hands of Division I opponents. The 1973-1974 squad laid the foundation for a juggernaut program that recorded seven top 10 finishes and four top five finishes during the decade and became the preeminent small college program in the state and the upper Midwest.
2005 Baseball Team
Under the direction of 2004 GLVC Coach of the Year Tracy Archuleta the 2005 UW-Parkside baseball team captured its first and to-date only GLVC Tournament Championship while advancing to the regional finals of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The 2005 squad had big shoes to fill after the previous season's team tallied a school record for wins, capturing the GLVC regular season title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
For an encore, the 2005 Rangers accumulated a program record 45 wins, including a program-record 30 coming in GLVC play, tying Saint Joseph's College for the regular season title. At the conference tournament the Green and White bested the Pumas 7-3 and 11-2 to hoist the league title and advance to the NCAAs for the second straight season. UW-Parkside dropped its opening game at the North Central Regional before battling back to the finals, winning three straight before succumbing 10-3 to Grand Valley State University in the regional championship game.
2014 Hall of Fame inductee Adam Brechtl led the Rangers (45-18, 30-8 GLVC) at the plate, securing GLVC Player of the Year honors while six other UW-Parkside players earned All-GLVC distinction. The 2015 club set single season records for runs batted in, hits, runs scored, walks, home runs, doubles, triples while on the mound smashed single season marks for strikeouts, shutouts, saves, and appearances.
Class of 2018
1994-95 Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
The 1994 women's cross country team took fourth at the NAIA National Championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. The team was paced by a pair of Parkside Hall of Famers in Amy Haines and Tracey Pope. In track & field, the indoor team had three national champions while the outdoor team crowned one national champion.
2000 Men's Soccer
The 2000 men's soccer team is the first and only men's soccer team to win a conference championship. The team was ranked No. 1 in the central region, No. 7 nationally and made a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. Thom Peer went on to win the GLVC Player of the Year and Matt Hundt and Andrew Nijoka were named NCAA All-Region.
Class of 2022
2008 Women's Soccer Team
Coached by Parkside legend and current University of Kentucky head coach Troy Fabiano, the 2008 Rangers posted an 18-1-2 overall record and a 9-0-2 mark in conference play. The team won the GLVC regular season and tournament championships, defeating Northern Kentucky in the opening round. Advancing to the NCAA Tournament, the Rangers defeated both Northern Kentucky and Grand Valley State with shutout victories to win the NCAA Midwest Regional. Meredith Novak and Lauk'i Cheng were both named All-Americans while Novak, Cheng, Cassie Glodowski, Shannon Becker, and Becky Zirlin were All-Region. Cheng was selected as the GLVC Defensive Player of the Year.
