General

UW-Stout Announces Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2022

**Release courtesy of UW-Stout Sports Information

MENOMONIE, Wis.--The winningest coach in UW-Stout basketball history, a national women's basketball player of the year, two football teammates who each recorded a pick-6 in the same game, a four-time All-WIAC softball pick, a 12-time gymnastics All-American, a conference hockey player of the year and UW-Stout's first soccer All-American will be inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame this fall.
 
Long-time women's basketball coach Mark Thomas, women's basketball player Julia Hirssig, football player Marcus Ball, football player and track and field standout Kendall Wade, softball player Kaela Wold, gymnast Meghan Hargens, hockey forward Joel Gaulrapp and soccer defender Courtney Tideman will be inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame, Saturday, Oct. 8. Anne Steiner will receive the UW-Stout Distinguished Service Athletic Award.
 
The UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony will be in conjunction with UW-Stout's Homecoming festivities for the first time when the university will induct eight members into the Hall, Saturday, Oct. 8, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Student Center. 

Inductees will be introduced at halftime of the UW-Stout/UW-La Crosse football, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at Don and Nona Williams Stadium. 

The induction ceremony will be held in the Memorial Student Center with a reception to begin at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. The induction ceremony will begin at approximately 6:45 p.m.

Additional information can be obtained by calling the UW-Stout athletic office, 715-232-2224. Tickets are available to order on-line.

The purpose of the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame, which was established in 1978, is to pay tribute and to give deserved recognition to former athletic letter winners, coaches/athletic personnel who have demonstrated outstanding contributions while on campus or since graduation and thereby to enhance school tradition.
  
Mark Thomas (Women' Basketball Coach – 1987-2018)
The longest serving head coach of any sport in UW-Stout athletics history, Mark Thomas led the Blue Devil women's basketball team over 31 seasons from 1987-2018, compiling an overall record of 472-346, the most wins of any UW-Stout basketball coach. Thomas took over a women's basketball program in 1987 that had won only two games over the previous two seasons and turned the Blue Devils into a national power. During Thomas' tenure, the Blue Devils won five conference regular season championships and four tournament titles. Thomas received NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year recognition in 2005 and 2006 and was named the conference Coach of the Year six times. In 2005, the Blue Devils posted a 24-7 record – the most wins in program history – and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Championship. Thomas coached 10 different teams into the national tournament. Throughout his career, Thomas coached 47 players that earned all-conference recognition. Thomas was an assistant baseball coach for 21 seasons and was an assistant softball coach for one season. Thomas will begin his 30th season as a Blue Devil assistant football coach this fall.
 
Julia Hirssig (Women's Basketball – 2006-10)
Athletically and academically, Julia Hirssig is one of the most decorated student-athletes in UW-Stout athletics history. Hirssig, who played from 2006-10, was a three-time first team All-WIAC pick, a two-time All-America recipient, a two-time first team academic All-American and a three-time team MVP. Hirssig holds the school record for most points in a career with 1738 and single season at 579. As a senior, Hirssig led the WIAC in scoring and was second in rebounds. Twice, Hirssig led the NCAA Division III in field goal percentage and holds the Stout career field goal percentage record, shooting 61.9 percent. Hirssig was the 2010 WIAC player of the year, the WIAC Scholar-Athlete, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year and the recipient of the Josten Trophy, which recognizes excellence in the classroom, on the playing court and in the community. Over her career, Hirssig played in 110 games, starting 81, averaging 15.8 points, 9.1 rebounds (997 total), had 87 assists, 53 blocked shots and 157 steals. She was a three-time member of the WIAC All-Defensive team and was selected to the WIAC All-Time Women's Basketball Team. Her No. 3 was retired Feb. 2, 2013.
 
Kaela Wold (Softball – 2002-05)
One of only two UW-Stout athletes to earn four consecutive All-WIAC softball first team selections, Kaela Wold is one of only four Blue Devils to hit above .400 for her career and appears on the Blue Devils' career Top 10 list in batting average (.401, 4th), at-bats (464, 6th), RBI (115, 1st tie), runs scored (97, 4th tie), hits (186, 3rd), doubles (52, 1st), home runs (22, 3rd), stolen bases (26, 10th) and slugging percentage (.681, 1st). Wold played outfield her first two seasons, 2002 and 2003, and moved to shortstop for her 2004 and 2005 seasons, playing in 150 of 151 possible games throughout her career. Wold was a two-time All-Great Lakes Region pick, second team in 2003 and first team in 2004, the same season she was a finalist for the WIAC player of the year and was picked to play in an exhibition game against the US Olympic Softball team. During Wold's senior season in 2005, the Blue Devils won the program's first WIAC tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
 
Marcus Ball (Football – 2008-09)
Marcus Ball played football for UW-Stout for only two years, but the community college transfer's impact was immediate. In his first year with the Blue Devils in 2008, Ball led the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in sacks with 13 and in tackles-for-loss with 24.5. Despite missing two games in 2009 due to an injury and being double teamed, Ball, a defensive end, still managed 9.5 sacks, and recorded a pick-six. Ball earned D3football.com All-America first team honors in both 2008 and 2009; was a second team AP Little All-American in 2009; was the 2009 West Region Defensive Player of the Year; was a two-time All-West Region pick; and was a two-time first team All-WIAC selection. Ball played on the 2009 D3 Bowl of the Stars in Mexico and was selected as a team captain for the American all-stars. Ball, who was an assistant coach for Stout in 2010, was one of three Blue Devil alumni players selected to the D3football.com All-Decade team.
 
Joel Gaulrapp (Hockey – 2007-10)
After transferring to UW-Stout, Joel Gaulrapp solidified one of the most prolific scoring lines in Stout hockey history and went on to earn all-conference honors all three years at Stout, which culminated in his selection as the 2009-10 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) player of the year. Gaulrapp was a first team all-conference selection in 2007-08 by both the NCHA and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), the NCHA in 2008-09 and again by both conferences in 2009-10, the same year he earned USCHO.com All-America and All-Region honors and first team All-America honors by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Teamed with Derek Hanson and Scott Motz for most of his three-years at Stout, Gaulrapp finished his career with 51 goals and 54 assists for 105 points, putting him fifth on the all-time points list. Gaulrapp is fifth in goals and tied for fourth in assists. Playing in 88 games over his career, Gaulrapp scored 22 power play goals and had 10 game-winning goals.
 
Kendall Wade (Football/Track & Field – 2005-10)
An outstanding two-sport athlete, Kendall Wade earned All-America designation in football and track and field. A defensive back for the Blue Devil football team from 2005-09, Wade earned honorable mention All-America honors by D3football.com in 2009 and a was a first team All-West Region selection after recording 57 tackles, 41 solo. Wade led the WIAC in interceptions his senior year, picking off six passes, including a 36-yard pick-six against UW-Platteville. On the track, the all-around performer set a school record 2010 in the indoor pentathlon with 3395, receiving WIAC athlete of the week honors, and earned individual All-America marks in the outdoor 100 (7th) and 200 (6th). During his junior season, Wade earned All-America status as a member of the school-record setting 4x100-relay team, a team that was the WIAC champion. More than 10 years after graduating, Wade's name still appears in the Top 10 of the Blue Devil record books. Indoor, Wade is ninth in the 60m (7.04-seconds), sixth in the 200m (22.39) and fourth in the 60-hurdles (8.31). Outdoors, Wade is fourth in the 100m (10.64), fourth in the 200 (21.44), third in the 110-hurdles (14.74) and first in the 4x100-relay (41.15).
 
Meghan Hargens (Gymnastics – 2007-10)
One of the most decorated gymnasts in school history, Meghan Hargens was the 2010 uneven bars national champion and earned nine first team All-America awards, earning first team All-America in all five events (uneven bars, vault, balance beam, floor exercise and all-around) in 2010, a year she was selected as the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) outstanding senior gymnast of the year. Hargens was a three-time first team All-America in 2009 (all-around, uneven bars and floor exercise); and first team All-America all-around in 2007. Hargens was a three-time second team All-America (balance beam, all-around, 2008; floor exercise, 2007); a three-time WIAC champion (all-around 2010 and 2009; uneven bars, 2009); and12-time first team all-WIAC. A two-time National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) Division III West Region gymnast of the year in 2009 and 2010, Hargens was also selected as the WIAC Scholar-Athlete. Over her final two seasons, where she also qualified to the NCAA Division I regional both years, Hargens executed 102 total routines without a fall.
 
Courtney Tideman (Soccer – 2008-11)
Courtney Tideman was UW-Stout's first soccer player to earn All-America honors and she did it in a position that does not receive a lot of media attention – as a defender. Tideman was a two-time All-WIAC selection, earning conference honors as a freshman in 2008 and again as a senior in 2011. In between the selections, Tideman continued to make a name for herself and during her junior and senior seasons was a vital part of the Blue Devil offense, scoring five goals, with two game-winners, and an assist in 2010 and seven goals, with two more game-winners, and two assists in 2011. Tideman tied for the team lead in goals in 2011 and for her career finished with 13 goals, 14th all-time. In her final year, the Blue Devil defense notched eight shutouts and Tideman was selected as the WIAC defensive player of the year, named to the All-North Region Team and received third team All-National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) honors.
 
Anne Steiner (UW-Stout Distinguished Service Athletic Award)
Anne Steiner came to UW-Stout as a student in 1995, worked in the Sports Information Office throughout her time at Stout as a writer and statistician and graduated from Stout in December, 1999 with a degree in Applied Math.  But Steiner kept coming back. After graduation, Steiner returned every fall to lead the stat crew for football. With the exception of the 2003 season when she served in the Marine Reserves at Camp Lejuene in North Carolina, Steiner missed only a handful of games. "The more than 25 years that Anne served this University, and the athletic program in particular, I never had to worry about the statistics part of the football games," said current sports information director Layne Pitt. "On game day, I would see her coming down the hall and knew that I could concentrate on a different part of the day, whether it was photography, or covering another sport that was happening that day." Steiner also had an interest in the Blue Devil hockey program and was a member of the Blue Devil Women's Hockey Club. Steiner is currently the CEO of Cprime, a tech consulting company that employs about 500 people and serves thousands of clients world-wide.
 
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