| Group Picture from Presentation
Two repeaters will be among the six recipients of the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Super Six Awards which will be presented at the Hall of Fame banquet Sunday.
Volleyball player Kim Arndt, now Kim Wudi, and wrestler Jarod Benrud both are receiving the Super Six award for a second time.
The Blugold Super Six Salute award, in its 14th year of existence, is the highest honor UWEC can bestow upon a student-athlete. Its purpose is to recognize and honor outstanding athletes who have also demonstrated a high level of proficiency in the classroom. Each year the award honors three female and three male student-athletes. These individuals epitomize the ideals of intercollegiate athletics as an educational experience at UWEC.
To be nominated for the award, the student-athletes must have completed their junior or senior year of eligibility, must have attended UWEC for two years, must have a cumulative resident grade point average of 3.00 or better, must have a declared major, must be recommended by the head coach and must demonstrate above average performance in their sport.
Joining Wudi and Benrud as this year's recipients, representing the 1999-00 academic year, are basketball players Eric Gardow and Ben Schneeberger, volleyball player Jenny Stack and softball player Heidi Bergstrom.
"The six athletes who are to be honored represent the elite of the student-athletes from our 19 intercollegiate athletic teams last season," said Sports Information Director Tim Petermann who will present the awards. With more than 600 athletes participating in the Blugold athletics program each year, these six were selected from a ballot that included 30 outstanding candidates.
"Intercollegiate athletics at UW-Eau Claire has been and will continue to be a classroom outside of the classroom," said Petermann. "All of our athletes, like these six, come to UWEC as students first and use athletics as a physical and recreational activity in which to broaden their horizons and learn things that may not be offered in specific academic areas," he pointed out. "Any career choice students make academically, can be enhanced through participation in athletics, from learning teamwork to time management to interpersonal communication skills, self-discipline, assertiveness, overcoming adversity and motivation among many," Petermann continued. "Our athletes continue to accept the challenges that athletics offer, achieving success in that arena as well as maintaining the high quality of classroom excellence for which this institution is known. Last year, 235 of our 482 competing athletes, or 49 percent, achieved a 3.00 or better grade point average for the two semesters of the academic year," said Petermann.
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Jarod Benrud
Benrud graduated this summer with a degree in exercise management and is currently a personal trainer in Dallas, Texas. The former Onalaska Luther High School prep earned four letters in wrestling and three in football as a Blugold. Last year in wrestling, he finished with a 28-11 record at 197 pounds and earned team MVP honors. He was also named an NCAA Wrestling Scholar Athlete. In four conference championship tournaments, he placed third twice and fourth once. He was a team captain three years and posted an 86-42 career record with 28 pins.
As a football player, Benrud was a member of the Blugolds' 1998 conference championship and national semifinalist team as a linebacker.
Benrud, a recent winner of the Stuffy Culver Memorial Scholarship, was a Super Six Salute Award winner last year. He also served as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee during the 1998-99 academic year.
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Eric Gardow
Gardow will graduate this December in special education with a minor in coaching. He is currently student teaching at Chippewa Falls High School. He was recently hired by UW-Stout as an assistant men's basketball coach and will continue as a volunteer for the girl's basketball team in Osseo where his wife Brooke is the head coach.
Gardow had what was probably the longest career, time-wise, in school history. The former Eau Claire North prep standout lettered in basketball in 1988-89 after transferring from UW-Stevens Point. But he was forced out of school and spent many years battling testicular cancer. When he returned to school, he completed his final two seasons of eligibility and helped the Blugolds to an NCAA Division III runner-up finish last March. During the past two seasons he received the team Fireman Award for his performance off the bench and also the team Inspiration Award. He was on the floor for what has become one of the most memorable plays in Blugold history as he took a three-quarter court pass from Dave Mellenthin and passed the ball to Sherm Carstensen for the winning three-point basket in the final seconds of the sectional final.
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Ben Schneeberger
Schneeberger graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. He is currently working as a research specialist for the UW Hospital in Madison. He is studying thyroid cancer and eventually plans on attending medical school.
Schneeberger came to the Blugold basketball program as a walk-on. After redshirting his freshman season, he eventually won a starting position and last year contributed to the team's national runner-up finish. An honorary co-captain, he was a two-time team Hustle Award winner. He scored 210 career points with 287 rebounds in 76 games of which he started 28.
He was active outside of athletics as a member of Mortar Board, the Golden Key National Honor Society, the Pre-Med Club and Omicron Kappa Delta. He also served as secretary of Molecular Movement and was a Luther Hospital volunteer.
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Kim Arndt Wudi
Kim Arndt Wudi, who was just married last month, will graduate in December with a degree in biology education. She is currently completing a teaching internship at Altoona High School in 9th and 10th grade science.
Last fall, Wudi became only the ninth athlete in school history to be named a GTE First Team Academic All-American when she was selected to the College Division Volleyball First Team. She had earned a Second Team berth in 1998.
Although hampered by knee problems throughout her career, Wudi left the volleyball program ranked fourth on the all-time assist list with 4,058. She set the school record for assists per game and during her career received the team Rookie of the Year, Most Dedicated and Hustle awards.
A three-year All-Conference selection, she was named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region team in 1997. She was the UWEC nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year last year.
Wudi spent two years on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, serving as vice-president one year and president her senior year. She was also a three-year member of the Athletic Committee which serves as an advisory group to the Chancellor. A 3.97 student, Wudi was a member of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Golden Key National Honor Society, the Biology Club and Phi Kappa Phi. During her career, she received three biology scholarships and two other academic scholarships.
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Jenny Stack
A two-year varsity performer for the Blugolds after transferring from Northland College, Stack will graduate in December as a kinesiology major with an athletic training emphasis.
Stack earned team MVP honors as a senior when the Blugolds finished 26-9 and twice won the team's Best Defensive Player award. She was named to four All-Tournament teams last year in addition to earning a spot on the All-Conference team.
During her 231-game Blugold career, she averaged 3.25 kills and 4.31 digs per game.
She was named to the six-member GTE Academic All-District V First Team, earning the spot along with teammate Kim Arndt Wudi from more than 75 nominees on the ballot.
Stack is a member of the Student Athletic Training Association and a recipient of a Dean's Transfer Scholarship. She also has been a volunteer for Special Olympics.
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Heidi Bergstrom
Bergstrom will graduate this December with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. She leaves the institution as the school's all-time winningest softball pitcher with 74 career wins against just 20 losses.
She helped the Blugolds to three conference championships and two fourth-place finishes in the NCAA Division III national championships. Last spring, she was named to the NFCA All-America Second Team after landing a Third Team berth as a junior.
A four-year All-Conference selection, Bergstrom was also named to the NCAA National Championship All-Tournament and the Great Lakes Region All-Tournament teams.
Last year, she earned the NFCA national player of the week honor once.
She holds most of the UWEC school single season and career pitching records including 27 career shutouts, 628 innings pitched and 343 strikeouts with a 1.34 earned run average.
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