UW-Stevens Point announces 2014 Athletic Hall of Fame class

STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has announced the 2014 inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame. This year's honorees are Noah Eschenbauch, Josh Iserloth, Cody Koenig, Sheila Miech, Jenna Mitchler, Karen (Guckenberger) Mulligan, Paul Schmitt and Dennis Tierney.

The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place in conjunction with Homecoming weekend Sept. 27-28. Honorees will be introduced at halftime of the football game versus North Central on Saturday, Sept. 27 and will be honored with a ceremony that evening at the Dreyfus University Center on the UW-Stevens Point campus.

For more information on the event, please contact the athletics department at 715-346-3888.

Noah Eschenbauch (Major: English, 2001-2003) Men's Track & Field: During his time at UW-Stevens Point, Eschenbauch was a track & field standout, finishing his career as a four-time All-American. In the 35-pound indoor weight throw, he finished fourth at nationals in 2001 and second in 2002, before becoming a national champion in 2003. Eschenbauch was also an All-American in the hammer throw, placing second at nationals in 2003 after winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship in the event. In 2003, he was also named the WIAC Men's Indoor Track & Field Performer of the Meet in the field and is one of just four UW-Stevens Point student-athletes to earn the honor.

Josh Iserloth (1999-2003), Men's Basketball: In four years playing basketball at UW-Stevens Point, Iserloth was a key component of four WIAC Championships and two NCAA Tournament teams from 2000-2003. He ranks second in program history in career scoring average at 17.6 points per game and is the school's sixth-leading scorer of all-time with 1,552 points. Iserloth was a First Team All-WIAC selection for three years in row from 2001-2003. In 2002, he was named a First Team All-Region performer by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and a Second Team All-Region choice by D3hoops.com. The following year, he was recognized as a Third Team All-Region by D3hoops.com. Iserloth is one of only two players in program history to score at least 40 points in a game, doing so twice in 2002.

Cody Koenig (Major: General Studies, 2002-2005), Wrestling: A 2005 UW-Stevens Point graduate, Koenig's name still features prominently in the wrestling record book. He remains the only wrestler in program history to achieve an undefeated season, going 36-0 in 2002-03. His .867 career winning percentage is the third-best in program history. Koenig is one of only five wrestlers to be a three-time WIAC champion and one of just four to be a three-time NCAA All-American, including a national championship at 174 pounds in 2003. He is also a four-time NCAA qualifier. In 2002, Koenig was named the UWSP Male Individual Sport Freshman Athlete of the Year and he went on to be named the 2003 UWSP Male Individual Sport Athlete of the Year.

Sheila Miech, Women's Soccer Coach, 1987-2011: During 25 years as head women's soccer coach at UW-Stevens Point, Miech helped establish the program as a national power. She ranks 15th on the all-time list of coaching wins for any division of the NCAA and is sixth all-time in Division III history with a career record of 365-117-31 (.742). Miech was named the WIAC Coach of the Year nine times, the Division III Central Region Coach of the Year three times and the WIAC's Women's Soccer All-Time Centennial Coach. Her teams won 70 straight conference games from 1997-2003, which remains a national record. During her tenure, Miech's teams also won 14 conference championships and 15 conference tournament titles out of a possible 19 and achieved an unprecedented 133-12-7 WIAC record over a 20-year span. She led her teams to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and one Final Four in 2000. In 2011, Miech was inducted into the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association (WSCA) Hall of Fame.

Jenna Mitchler (Major: English, 2004-2006), Women's Cross Country and Track & Field: Mitchler was a standout cross country and track & field performer during her career at UW-Stevens Point. She was a 12-time All-American, including an individual national championship in the indoor 800-meter run in 2005. That same year, she posted the fastest time in the nation in the event (2:12.97). Mitchler's 2007 time of 9:43 in the 3,000-meter run still stands as the facility record at the Multi-Activity Center. She was honored as an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) and ESPN the Magazine in 2005-06. In cross country, she recorded UWSP's fastest 6,000-meter time by a freshman. Mitchler was twice named the UWSP Female Athlete of the Year, earning the award in 2005 and 2006. She also won numerous conference awards, including the WIAC Indoor Track & Field Performer of the Meet in 2005, four WIAC Athlete of the Week awards for indoor track & field and one WIAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week award in 2005-06.

Karen (Guckenberger) Mulligan (Major: Physical Education , 2000-2003), Softball: Mulligan was a four-time First Team All-WIAC choice in softball during her four-year career at UW-Stevens Point and was part of the 2001 WIAC Championship team. She was also named as an All-Region selection all four years, including first team honors in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, Mulligan was named the WIAC Pitcher of the Year and went on to win the UWSP Female Team Athlete of the Year award the following year. She still holds school record in innings pitched (573.1), complete games (69), victories (58), saves (16), appearances in a career (115) and in a season (32), as well as career strikeouts (504). Her 16 career saves are tied for the fifth-most in NCAA history. Mulligan's career ERA of 1.05 is second in the UWSP record book. She holds two of the six lowest single-season ERA's in conference history (.73 in 2002, .78 in 2001) and threw two no-hitters and was part of a third. Her .682 winning percentage (58-27) is tied for fifth at UW-Stevens Point. The 33.1 scoreless innings Mulligan tossed to start her collegiate career in 2000 is the third-longest stretch in WIAC history and she later went 32.0 innings without surrendering a run in 2002.

Paul Schmitt (1996, 1999-2001), Football: Schmitt was a three-time All-American during his time as a defensive end with UW-Stevens Point football. He was an All-WIAC selection in 2000 and 2001 and was also named a First Team All-Region performer and the WIAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2001. Schmitt played 32 games in his four-year career and tallied 117 unassisted tackles, 62 assisted tackles, 179 total tackles, 49 tackles for a loss and 15 pass breakups. His 20.5 career sacks ranks third on the UWSP all-time list and his 15 sacks in 2001 still stand as the single-season program record. Schmitt went on to play two seasons for the Sioux Falls Storm of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) and made the playoffs in both seasons.

Dennis Tierney, Administration, Friend of Athletics: Prior to retiring in 2002, Tierney served a variety of roles in his 33-year career at UW-Stevens Point, including Deputy Assistant Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Executive Director of Student Services, the Director of Career Services and the Fundraising Liaison to Student Affairs. In addition to serving in these capacities, Tierney also made extensive contributions to the athletics program by recruiting, advising, mentoring, and advocating and raising funds for countless UWSP student-athletes. During his career, Tierney received awards from the music department, former athletic director Frank O'Brien, basketball program and over 35 certificates of appreciation. Among other efforts, Tierney was instrumental in brokering an agreement to bring the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars to train at UW-Stevens Point in 1995, which raised tens of thousands of dollars for the community and led to substantial improvements in the university's athletic facilities and general infrastructure.

Print Friendly Version