The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome 11 former Badgers this fall. Among the 2017 inductees’ accolades are an NHL All-Star and a former WNBA player, to name a few.

The Hall of Fame was established in 1991 and has since welcomed classes adding to over 220 members.

Take a look at this year’s honorees and a brief athletic history:

Band

Mike Leckrone

Leckrone has been the UW Marching Band director since 1969 and is to thank for many beloved athletic traditions such as the Fifth Quarter and the Bud Song. Leckrone has over 200 compositions published and is an author of two texts.

Leckrone’s past recognitions include Outstanding Educator of America in 1970, Outstanding Bandmaster Award from the Wisconsin Chapter (Phi Beta) in 1973. Leckrone has also received multiple awards from UW booster clubs and has already been inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Football Hall of Fame.

Baseball

Guy Lowman

Lowman coached Wisconsin’s baseball team in 1918 and coached the football team the following year before moving to basketball the following year, leading the basketball team to a 1917-18 Big Ten championship victory.

Lowman earned another Big Ten championship title with the baseball team in the 1930 season, finishing his career in 1932 with a 140-105 overall record.

Basketball

Tamara Moore

Moore led the Badgers to the 1999 WNIT championship and earning herself MVP. In her following seasons she earned the 2001 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, 2002 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year and the 2002 Senior CLASS awards.

Moore sets UW’s career record for assists and steals and was a finalist for the U.S. team in the 2001 World University Games. Selected 15th overall, Moore was selected by the Miami Sol in the 2002 WNBA Draft and played in the league for six seasons.

Tracy Webster

Webster helped bring his 1993-94 team to the University’s first Big Ten tournament in over 40 years. Webster sets UW’s record for career assists (501). Webster was the Badgers’ MVP in 1992 and was a three-time team captain.

Webster has been coaching for more than 15 years as an assistant coach for Division I basketball teams including Illinois, Kentucky, DePaul and Purdue.

Football

Darrell Bevell

Bevell helped lead the Badgers to their 1993 Big Ten championship title, their first trip to the Rose Bowl in over 30 years and ending the season with a 10-1-1 record.

Bevell has been named first-team All-Big Ten, holds the record for single-season passing yards (2,390) and helped earn the Badgers’ first win in Pasadena with his 21-yard touchdown run.

Bevell has been an assistant coach for both the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings since 2000, later becoming the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator in 2011 and winning Super Bowl XLVIII two seasons later.

Brooks Bollinger

Bollinger was a four-year starting quarterback for the Badgers that helped lead his team to the 1999 Big Ten championship and 2000 Rose Bowl title.

Bollinger was selected in the 2003 NFL Draft, playing seven seasons with the New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys. Before retiring in 2011, Bollinger earned MVP in 2009 while playing in the United Football League.

Hockey

Sara Bauer

Bauer led the Badgers to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007, earning USCHO.com and WCHA Player of the Year. In 2006 Bauer was the Badgers’ first Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner, being the nation’s top player.

Bauer finished as Wisconsin’s all-time scoring leader and two-time UW female athlete of the year before returning to school to earn a master’s in education. Bauer skated with the Canadian National Team from 2004-08 and later opened the Sara Bauer Academy which offers professional training and nutritional guidance.

Brian Elliott

Elliott earned first-team All-American honors as the Badgers’ starting goaltender for the 2006 NCAA championship team. Elliott set the school records for career goals-against average (1.78) and his save percentage (.931) while also being a three-time Academic All-Big Ten athlete and the 2005-06 UW Athletic Board Scholar.

Since being drafted in 2003, Elliott has spent 10 seasons in the NHL earning two NHL All-Star honors and tending the net for the Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and the Calgary Flames.

Bob Suter

A member of the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. team that won against Russia in the 1980 Olympics, Suter started as a member of the Badgers’ 1977 NCAA Championship team. Suter earned second-team All-WCHA honors while also being named the Fenton Kelsey Jr. Most Competitive Player Award.

In 1977 Suter was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings but didn’t see any ice time in the NHL.

Track

Arlie Schardt

Schardt was a track and cross country athlete that served as the 1915 cross country captain, leading his team to the Big Ten and National Intercollegiate championships. In 1917 Schardt earned the Big Ten indoor mile title.

Schardt served as a second lieutenant for the U.S. Army in World War I. Severely injured, Schardt later recovered and continued to compete in athletics after the war’s end, earning second place in the 1919 American Expeditionary Forces Championships and later becoming the first Badger to earn a gold medal in the 1920 Olympics in the 2,000-meter team race for team USA.

Schardt is a Heritage member of the 2017 Hall of Fame class.

Chris Solinsky

Solinsky earned the Badgers five NCAA track titles in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter events. His individual win in the 5000 meters in the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships pushed the Badgers to earn the team title, making Wisconsin the first school in the Big Ten to win an indoor track national championship.

Solinsky has earned the most All-America honors for the Badgers, three times in cross country and 11 times in track.

Solinsky later set the American record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 26:59.60.

His personal-best time of 12:55.53 in the 5000 meters puts Solinsky third in U.S. history, while his 10,000 meters’ time ranks third.

Solinsky currently coaches men’s cross country and is the assistant track and field coach at the College of William & Mary.

Director of Athletics at UW-Madison, Barry Alvarez, told Wisconsin Athletics, “Most importantly, these are all people who have represented the university in the right way and will be Badgers forever.”

The former Badgers will be inducted on Sept. 29 at Union South.

Advertisement