Macalester Hall of Fame to induct six new members on October 10

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester College Athletics and the M Club has introduced the addition of six new members to the Macalester Hall of Fame. The inductees are Jim Mitchell ’74 (basketball), Mike Vidmar ’89 (soccer/tennis), Sarah Smith Cauthorn ’92 (swimming & diving), Eric Klinker ’01 (observe & subject), and Renee Jordan Ward ’14 (swimming & diving).

The forty fourth annual Hall of Fame Banquet and induction ceremony will probably be held on Friday, October 10 at 6:00 p.m. within the Alexander G. Hill Ballroom in Kagin Commons. For extra data, contact the Macalester College Alumni Engagement Office at alumnioffice@macalester.edu or 651-696-6295.

Jim Mitchell was a dominant submit participant for a few of Macalester’s finest males’s basketball groups within the early Nineteen Seventies. A two-time All-MIAC middle, he led the Scots in rebounding in every of his 4 years on the group, most notably as a sophomore when he grabbed 12.0 boards per sport en path to his first All-MIAC award. That 12 months Mitchell helped Macalester end 17-9 and advance to the semifinals of the NAIA District 13 Tournament. Although he ended his profession because the Scots’ fifth-leading scorer all-time with 1,019 factors, his energy was rebounding, registering 965 rebounds in 103 video games, a mean of 9.4 per contest. Mitchell additionally was an intimidating rim protector throughout a time when blocked photographs weren’t recorded as a stat, utilizing his lengthy arms to dam or alter opponents’ photographs within the paint.

Mike Vidmar excelled on the gridiron and the tennis court docket, an uncommon mixture that underscored his athletic versatility. A linebacker for the soccer group, he made an affect instantly, incomes the Scots’ particular groups Player of the Year award and returning an interception 77 yards for a landing his first season on the group. Vidmar went on to be a three-year starter and garner All-MIAC honorable point out and second group accolades his remaining two years. The Scots’ lone captain as a senior, he ended up with 246 profession tackles to rank among the many program’s finest. In tennis, Vidmar performed at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Scots for almost all of his 4 years on the group and had success towards the MIAC’s high gamers. A two-year captain, Vidmar was awarded the 1989 MIAC Arthur Ashe Award, given to the tennis student-athlete for excellence in tennis, sportsmanship and neighborhood service. Not surprisingly, Vidmar was named Macalester’s M Club Male Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1989, the primary 12 months the distinction was awarded.

Sarah Smith Cauthorn was one in every of Macalester’s first ladies’s swimming stars. As a primary 12 months, she was All-MIAC within the 400 particular person medley and the five hundred freestyle, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in each occasions. That 12 months Smith Cauthorn broke three faculty information in her first collegiate meet and one other in her second meet. As a sophomore she was All-MIAC within the 1650 freestyle, the five hundred freestyle and the 400 IM, qualifying for nationals within the 1650 free. Smith Cauthorn set eight faculty information as a sophomore. A two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree, she closed out her profession by scoring in three particular person occasions on the MIAC Championships as a senior. At one level in her profession at Macalester, Smith Cauthorn held 10 particular person faculty information.

Eric Klinker nonetheless holds three Macalester faculty information within the hurdle occasions over 24 years after he broke them. Over his first three years, he earned All-MIAC honors in each the 110-meter excessive hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles annually. As a junior in 2000, Klinker gained each occasions on the MIAC Outdoor Championships and certified for the NCAA Championships in each occasions. His seventh-place end within the 400 hurdles at nationals garnered him All-American standing that 12 months, and he posted a school-record time of 52.25 earlier that spring. As a senior, Klinker set the college document within the 55-meter hurdles indoors. Outdoors, he smashed the college normal within the 110 hurdles with an computerized NCAA-qualifying time of 14.36, which additionally was the MIAC Outdoor Championships document on the time. Klinker additionally positioned second within the lengthy soar outside, giving him seven All-MIAC performances in his excellent profession.

Renee Jordan Ward achieved what no different Macalester swimmer or diver had achieved within the faculty’s NCAA period: She gained a Division III nationwide championship. Jordan Ward clinched first place on the 2014 NCAA Division III Championships on the 1-meter diving board along with her final dive, successful the nationwide title by 5 factors. Two days later she positioned fourth on the 3-meter board to earn her third All-America quotation. As a junior, Jordan Ward was an All-American on the 1-meter board after ending eighth on the NCAA Championships, and she or he additionally took ninth on the 3-meter board that 12 months. A five-time All-MIAC honoree, Jordan Ward gained convention titles on the 3-meter board in 2013 and 2014. She was named the MIAC Diver of the Year in 2013, and was the M Club Female Athlete of the Year in 2013 and 2014.