St. Cloud, Minn. – Six former athletes, one former coach and one Distinguished Service Award winner will be inducted into the St. Cloud State Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 10:00 a.m. in Halenbeck Hall.
The day will begin with a 10:00 a.m. Hall of Fame brunch followed by a 1:00 p.m. Huskies football game against the University of Minnesota Crookston. Emmett Keenan will emcee the ceremony. The public is invited to attend the brunch and induction ceremony. The cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children. To register for the brunch and order tickets for the football game go to www.scsutickets.com. RSVP's are due September 18th. For further information, contact Cheryl Boesche in the athletics office at 320-308-3101.
This will mark the 29th induction ceremony since the Hall of Fame was formed in 1982. This class will bring the total Hall of Fame membership to 187 individuals and three teams.
The 2015 inductees are: John Fjellanger, Gymnastics, 1975-79 Stacy Jameson, Football, 1985-89 Mike Lambrecht, Football, 1981-85 Marie Meyer, Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, 1968-72 Mary Ahlin Ralston, Swimming and Diving, 1997-2001 Bob Tracy, Men's Track and Field/Cross Country Coach, 1964-68 Matt Vardas, Track and Field, Football, 1989-1993 Distinguished Service honoree: Anne Abicht, St. Cloud State Athletics Media Relations Director
John FjellangerJohn Fjellanger, Gymnastics, 1975-79 John Fjellanger had a storied career as a member of the St. Cloud State men's gymnastics team from 1975 to 1979. Fjellanger was a three-time national champion on the horizontal bar, gaining the national title twice in NCAA Division II competition in back to back seasons and once in NAIA competition. He was a four-time All-American gaining the NCAA honor three times and the NAIA award once. In 1979 he set the school record in the high bar with a score of 9.55. Fjellanger was voted co-captain of the Huskies for the 1978-79 season and was voted the Most Valuable Gymnast by his teammates. The Huskies 1978-79 team posted its highest national finish ever for any St. Cloud State sport at the time placing second at the NAIA National Championships. He graduated in the fall of 1979 with a bachelor's in engineering technology and served as an assistant gymnastics coach during the fall quarter. During his SCSU career he coached Pee Wee gymnastics. Following his graduation, he went on to work for IBM for 30 years and is currently the owner, designer and craftsman of JF Woodcraft, USA. Fjellanger was inducted into the Pipestone (Minn.) High School Hall of Fame in 2002. Over the years, he has served on the board of several community organizations.
Stacy JamesonStacy Jameson, Football, 1985-89 Stacy Jameson was a four-year member of the football team and a two-year starter at quarterback. In his two seasons as the starting quarterback in 1988 and 1989, the Huskies posted a combined 17-6 overall record and in 1989 went 10-2 overall and 8-1 in the North Central Conference (NCC), capturing the first league championship. The ten wins were a school record for wins in a single season until the 2013 Huskies posted a 12-2 record. . The 1989 season was the winningest in school history and was packed with a number of firsts including the first NCC title, first NCAA Division II playoff berth and the first wins ever against the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University. Once the season had ended, the Huskies had set or tied ten school records, were rated fifth in the final NCAA Division II football poll and had six players named first team All-Conference. In addition the Huskies won eight straight games including back to back wins over North Dakota State in front of 6,000 fans at Selke Field and on the road at North Dakota in front of 7,500 fans. In 1988 the Huskies were ranked 16th in the final national poll and set or tied 19 individual and team records. He earned first team All-Conference honors in 1989 Jameson rushed for over 500 yards and passed for over 1,000 yards in each of the 1988 and 1989 seasons. He played 35 games and finished his career with 1,387 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns. He completed 259 passes for 3,822 yards and 17 touchdowns. He was a first team All-Conference pick in 1989 and second team in 1988. Jameson currently ranks 21st on the Huskies all-time rushing chart, 11th on the passing chart and 12th on the all-purpose yardage chart. Jameson went on to play in the Italian National Football League for two seasons. An Eagan High School Assistant Administrator, Jameson officiated NSIC basketball and football games. He was inducted into Minneapolis Patrick Henry High School Hall of Fame in 2001.
Mary Ahlin RalstonMary Ahlin Ralston, Swimming and Diving, 1997-2001 The most decorated diver in the history of SCSU athletics, Mary Ahlin Ralston completed her career that spanned from 1997 to 2001, as a four-time NCAA Division II National Champion and eight-time All-American. She won the one and three-meter NCAA Division II individual diving national championships in 1998 and 1999. She qualified for nationals on both boards in each of her four seasons. Ahlin Ralston won four straight North Central Conference titles on the three-meter diving board and was a two-time champion on the one-meter board. She was a three-time NCC Female Diver of the Year and a two-time NCAA Division II Diver of the Year. She held school and NCC records in one and three-meter diving and currently holds the one meter record for six dives and the three-meter records for six and 11 dives. She was named the 2001 St. Cloud State Female Senior Athlete of the Year and was featured in the Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd on April 6, 1998. Ahlin Ralston graduated from St. Cloud State in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in elective studies. She has coached diving at Andover High School and was a special needs substitute teacher. In 2010 she received an RN degree in nursing from Anoka Hennepin Community College.
Mike LambrechtMike Lambrecht, Football, 1981-85 Mike Lambrecht joined the Huskies football team in the fall of 1981 and played four seasons for St. Cloud State. He currently ranks in the top 15 career lists in total tackles with 235 (15th) tackles for loss with 28.5 (8th) and quarterback sacks with 14 (8th). He was a two-time All-North Central Conference player in 1984 and 1985 and was the NCC's Most Valuable Defensive Lineman in 1985. In 1985 he was named a Kodak All-American and the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press MVP. He was an Omaha World Herald Certificate of Merit honoree in 1984 and 1985. Lambrecht was named the Huskies Outstanding Defensive Lineman in 1984 and 1985 and the SCSU Lifter of the Year in those same seasons. In 1987, Lambrecht signed with the Miami Dolphins and played in the NFL for three seasons before a car accident ended his playing career. He returned to St. Cloud State to finish his degree and works in the Department of Corrections at the St. Cloud facility as an educator.
Marie MeyerMarie Meyer, Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, 1968-72 Marie "Mick" Meyer knows what women's athletics looked and felt like when it took its first steps to becoming an intercollegiate program in the late 60s. One of the pioneers of women's athletics at St. Cloud State, Meyer arrived on campus just as the women's athletics program came into being. She was a member of the first women's basketball team, first softball team and first volleyball team at St. Cloud State. She played four seasons in all three sports and was named the MVP of the softball team in 1971. In 1972, she did a coaching practicum and served as the assistant softball coach that season. She graduated in the spring of 1972 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and minor in vocal music. She also received certifications in coaching and driver education. Meyer went on to serve as a teacher, mentor and role model for girls participating in athletics in her 30-plus year tenure at Braham High School, where she taught physical education and coached volleyball, basketball and track, and served as athletic director for 24 years. Meyer is credited with bringing new sports opportunities for girls at Braham High School. In 1992 she was selected as the first female in Minnesota to receive the Class Athletic Director of the Year award. In 2002 she was inducted into the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame and in 2005 the Braham Athletic Hall of Fame. She also received the Minnesota National Girls and Women in Sports Day Breaking Barriers and Boundaries Award and the Marie Berg NGWSD Award. For over 54 years, she has spent her summer month as a member of the Meire Grove Community Band, the longest continuous playing band in the state of Minnesota, established in 1883.
Bob TracyBob Tracy, Men's Track and Field/Cross Country Coach, 1963-68 The late Bob Tracy started the men's cross country program at St. Cloud State in 1964 and was head coach of the harriers from 1964 to 1967. From 1963 to 1968 he was the Huskies head track and field coach and in 1963 served as an assistant football coach. His cross country teams progressed from a sixth place NAIA National finish in 1966 to a second place NAIA finish in 1967. In addition he coached the 1967 and 1968 cross country teams to the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC) team titles as well as the track and field conference championship titles those same years. He coached six NAIA All-Americans in cross country and eight in track and field during his tenure with the Huskies. Tracy also had success as the head USA track coach leading the team on a tour of Mexico and South America in 1967, winning all the meets on the tour. He was an assistant at the 1968 Track Olympic Training Camp for the Mexico City Games and coached three Huskies athletes, Jeff Renneberg, Jerry Dirkes and Van Nelson, at the 1968 Olympic Trials. Van Nelson, a member of the Huskies Athletic Hall of Fame, went on to compete in the 10,000 meters at the 1968 Olympics, set a world record in the 30,000 meters and won two gold medals at the 1967 Pan American games. From 1968 to 1971, Tracy was a consultant in track and field at the University of Minnesota while working on his doctorate degree. He finished his coaching career at the University of Hawaii where he was the head men's track and field coach from 1971 until his retirement in 1985.
Matt VardasMatt Vardas, Track and Field, Football, 1989-1993 Matt Vardas was a two-sport standout in track and field and football from 1989 to 1993. He won the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championship in the shot put in 1993. Vardas threw the shot a personal best 58' 8-3/4" on his final throw to become the fourth track and field national champion in school history. In 1991 he was the NCAA Indoor runner-up in the shot put at the national championships. He was a four-time All-American in track and field and the two-time North Central Conference (NCC) shot put champion. He was the Huskies Kimbrough Award Winner, given to the team MVP. Vardas was a member of the 1989 NCC Championship football team and a four-year football letter winner. A nose tackle, he was a 1992 football team captain.
Anne AbichtDistinguished Service Honoree Anne Abicht, St. Cloud State Athletics Media Relations Director Anne Abicht was just the fifth individual and first woman in school history to be named the Director of Athletic Media Relations at St. Cloud State in January of 1985. After 30 years of service to the university and Huskies athletics, Abicht retired in July of 2015. Since her arrival on the SCSU campus, the athletic department moved its hockey program to NCAA Division I status and added three women's sports in ice hockey, soccer and Nordic skiing. She has served as a media host at countless conference championships and NCAA regional tournaments, as well as hundreds of events hosted by St. Cloud State throughout her career. Abicht served as a press officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, where she covered the men's hockey team and St. Cloud State alumnus and Olympian, Bret Hedican. A female pioneer in the world of sports information, Abicht was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame and received the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award in June of 2015. She served a three-year term on the CoSIDA Board of Directors from 2008-11 and was a long-time member of the NCAA Division II-SIDA Board of Directors. In July of 2006 she received CoSIDA's 25-Year Award and one year later she earned CoSIDA's Trailblazer Award presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA.
