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Six individuals will be inducted into the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Hall of Fame Sunday.
The 11th class of women inductees into the Hall of Fame includes swimmer Janice Buron-Osmek, volleyball player Kristi (Griggs) Walston and track athlete Michelle (Kiefer) Campbell.
The men's inductees are football-track athlete Dave Bielmeier, diver Doug Brown and swimmer Steve Forrer.
The Blugold Hall of Fame was established in 1973 to pay tribute, to give deserved recognition and to enhance school tradition by honoring former athletic letterwinners or coaches who showed distinctive, unique or exceptional ability while on the campus at Eau Claire and have distinguished themselves in their profession since leaving the institution.
For women athletes, there must be a lapse of five years before they can be considered and for the men 15 years. Since 1973, a total of 73 men and 35 women have been honored prior to this year's class which brings the current number of inductees to 114.
Group Picture from Presentation
DAVE BIELMEIER
A three-year football letterman and four-year track letterman, Bielmeier was the team captain and most valuable player in both sports during the 1975-76 school year. He started 31 straight games as a defensive lineman and was accorded All-Conference honorable mention twice. In track, he won the conference indoor and outdoor shot put titles in 1976 and set school records in both the shot put and discus. He qualified for the NAIA nationals in both events and placed eighth in the shot put at the national meet.
A former state prep champ in the shot put and discus at Wautoma High School, Bielmeier served as a student assistant coach when his participation ended at UWEC.
He then faced what may have been the most formidable challenge of his life when he battled testicular cancer during 1978 and 1979. Although the disease nearly killed him, he was able to complete his degree during his recovery and graduated in 1980 with a physical education major.
Bielmeier has been a coach at Edgar High School, where he did his student teaching, since 1980 and has been an elementary and middle school teacher at St. John's Catholic School in Edgar since 1983.
As an assistant football coach, Bielmeier has helped Edgar win 14 conference championships and three state titles with two state runner-up finishes. In 1998, he was voted the District 1 Assistant Coach of the Year and he has received his 20-year service award from the Wisconsin Coaches Association. As the head co-ed track coach, his girls' teams have won six conference championships with one state runner-up finish. His boys team is the two-time defending Marawood Conference champion. He was the District 1 Coach of the Year in 1993 and has been the Marawood Coach of the Year in each of the past two seasons.
Bielmeier and his wife Janice, an Edgar elementary school teacher for 26 years, are the parents of two boys: Paul, age 13, and Luke, age 10.
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DOUG BROWN
Brown was a three-year letterman and three-time NAIA All-American in diving during the 1979-82 seasons. His best conference performance was a third on three-meter board and a fifth on the one-meter board as a senior. During his junior year, he was seventh on three-meter and sixth on one-meter at the NAIA Nationals. He also had a 12th on one-meter as a sophomore and a sixth on three-meter as a senior at the national championships.
During his career, the Blugolds won three conference titles, had a 23-1 dual meet record and placed fourth twice and sixth once at the NAIA Nationals. Brown earned the team Most Improved Award in 1980.
After graduating in 1982 with a degree in chemistry and business, Brown returned to his alma mater, Hartland Arrowhead High School, and coached boys and girls diving for two years. He then entered the University of Wisconsin Medical School and received his degree in 1988. He interned at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan during 1988-89, then entered the United States Air Force. He served two years as a flight surgeon, five years as a surgical resident and two years as a general surgeon, leaving the Air Force in July, 1998.
He entered civilian practice in Mankato and has been a general surgeon at the Mankato Clinic the past two years. He is an American College of Surgeons Fellow this month and was an American Board of Surgery Diplomat.
He and his wife Tarisa are the parents of a six-month-old son Benjamin.
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STEVE FORRER
Steve Forrer was one of the premier freestyle sprinters as the Blugolds developed their swimming dynasty under head coach Tom Prior in the early 1970s. He was a member of four conference championship teams, contributing an individual gold in the 50-yard freestyle in 1976 and six relay golds. During his career the Blugolds placed seventh, fifth, 10th and fourth in the NAIA Nationals as a team. His senior year the Blugolds went 9-0 in dual meets including wins over Big Ten opponents Minnesota and Northwestern. He earned All-American honors six times as he achieved three top 10 individual finishes and was a member of three top-placing relay squads including the 400-yard freestyle relay which was fourth in 1975 and third in 1976.
A Mequon Homestead prep standout in football, swimming and track, Forrer served as a Blugold captain his senior year.
After graduating in 1976 with a business marketing degree, Forrer began his career with Heil Company where he handled inside sales. He moved to Wacker Corporation after three years and handled both inside and outside sales for several years.
In June, 1982, Forrer started his own business, Forrer Supply Co., a construction pipe and hose distributing business. Twice his business has been named to the Metro Milwaukee Future Fifty Fastest Growing Small Businesses. A 1991 article that appeared in the Washington County Business calls Forrer a self-proclaimed hustler. He readily admits to being a Type A personality with energy reserves to spare.
Despite being president of his own successful business, Forrer has found time to remain competitive in athletic endeavors. In 1982 and 1984, he was the Wisconsin State Barefoot Waterskiing Champion and placed fourth nationally in barefoot jumping. In 1999, he took second place in the Eagle River World Snowmobiling Championships after garnering thirds in 1994 annd 1995.
Forrer grabbed a first place in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championships in Lexington, Ohio in 1996 and 1997 in the Formula Atlantic classification. This past year, he captured four first places in the YMCA Swimming Nationals in Augusta, Georgia.
He has also served as a soccer coach for his children in the Mequon youth leagues. He and his wife Connie, a 1976 UWEC grad, have three children: Patrick, 16; Sarah, 15; and Christie, 12.
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JANICE BURON-OSMEK
Janice Buron-Osmek was a major contributor to UW-Eau Claire's back-to-back NAIA National swimming championships in 1987 and 1988 and second-place finish in 1989. Not surprisely, the Blugolds won the conference championship in each of her three seasons. She won the team Hardest Worker Award in each of her three seasons in addition to earning Most Valuable honors her final two seasons. She was the team captain and also the team's Most Inspirational Award winner in 1989 and received the Blugold Super Six Salute Award that same year.
She was a member of the 800-yard freestyle relay team that set an NAIA record in the 1987 national meet. During her career, she set seven school and five conference records and won 13 conference championship events including seven at the 1987 conference meet. She earned All-American honors by placing among the top six finishers in 19 NAIA events during her career including a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly at the 1989 nationals. She also was named a College Swim Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete and an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
After graduating magna cum laude in elementary education in 1990, she became assistant store manager of a Blains Farm and Fleet in Davenport, Iowa. She worked at Midwest Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Eagan, Minnesota for five years with four promotions. She has been with Land O'Lakes in Arden Hills, Minnesota since February, 1998, starting as a customer service rep and now serving as a customer service specialist, supervising four employees.
Buron-Osmek, who prepped at Hinsdale Central in Illinois, has completed three triathlons and has run numerous 5K and 10K races. She and husband Larry, a 1990 UWEC grad, have a daughter Ashley who is three and a half.
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KRISTI GRIGGS WALSTON
Kristi Walston was the Blugolds' first volleyball All-American, making the American Volleyball Coaches Association second team in 1987 and the first team in 1988. She was All-Conference three consecutive years and a member of the Blugolds' only conference championship team in volleyball, that occurring during the 1987 season when the Blugolds fashioned a 52-3 record, the best in school history. Overall, the Blugolds were 165-44 during Walston's career. She led the conference in kills and was second in blocks in 1987. She still holds school records for blocks in a match and blocks for a career. She also ranks second in career kills and third in career hitting percentage.
Walston, who prepped at West Allis Central, has lived in North Carolina since doing her internship for her corporate exercise management degree which she received in 1989. She has had a successful career in fitness, physical therapy, exercise management and health education. She received an Excellence Award from Burroughs Wellcome Co. in 1994. She is certified in CPR and as a First Aid Instructor. She also is an American College of Sports Medicine certified Health/Fitness Instructor and Exercise Test Technologist. Her areas of interest and expertise include ergonomics, sport injury care and prevention and mechanical diagnosis and therapy of the spine.
After leaving Eau Claire, she stayed involved in volleyball, earning MVP honors during seven years as a USVBA player. She also coached a parochial high school team for two years.
Now a stay at home mother, Walston and husband Bobby who works for the North Carolina Department of Transportation in Aviation, have a 19-month-old son Andrew and are expecting their second child.
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MICHELLE KIEFER CAMPBELL
Michelle Campbell, who prepped at nearby Augusta High School, set a conference outdoor 200-meter dash record as a Blugold freshman. She was a conference placewinner in eight individual indoor and outdoor sprint events during her career and set school records in all dashes from 50 yards to 300 meters plus all sprint relays during her career which spanned the 1980-84 seasons.
Campbell earned AIAW outdoor All-American honors in 1982 with a fifth in the 200 dash nationals and NAIA outdoor All-American honors in 1983 with fifths in the 200 dash, the 800 sprint medley relay and the 400-meter relay. She was hampered by a broken foot during her senior season.
A UWEC graduate with an English major, Campbell edited and produced college textbooks for William C. Brown Publishers for nine years. In 1994, she started her own freelance editorial business. Her husband Kevin joined her in the business in 1996, forming Greenleaf Editorial LLC. She divides her time between homemaking and working in the family business.
Campbell is involved in community volunteer work as a member of the Friends of the Mt. Horeb Public Library board. She coordinates the nursery ministry of Hidden Valley Community Church, Dodgeville. She has three children: Ian, 17; Geoffrey 15; and Audrey, 4.
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