The 2020 enshrinement ceremony, which was to take place during Homecoming Sept. 26, has been postponed.
21
The now-Class of 2021, like its predecessor in 2019, includes a wide range of national champions, All-Americans and other leading lights – each of whom played huge roles in establishing the successful athletic tradition that exists at SJU today. “We’re really lucky to have so many decades of Johnnie athletes waiting to be enshrined in the Hall of Honor,” said current J-Club President Tom Freeman ’08. The latest inductees are as follows:
athletics in the decades since his graduation, including serving on the SJU Alumni Association board and as J-Club President the past five years. GARY SVENDSEN ’72, a multiple-time MIAC and National Catholic Invitational champion wrestler who also won the 1972 NAIA national title at 134 pounds.
As a result of concerns and restrictions still in place due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, what had been intended to be the Hall of Honor’s 2020 class of inductees will now become the Class of 2021.
GEORGE DURENBERGER ’28, a three-time All-MIAC football selection and four-time letterwinner in basketball who went on to a long tenure as a coach and administrator at SJU. He served as athletic director from 1931-72 and presided over the addition of a number of new sports and the construction of several new facilities.
VEDIE HIMSL ’38, who led the SJU baseball team to back-to-back MIAC titles in 1936 and ’37, once striking out 20 batters in a single game (still a school record). He went on to a long professional career as a player, coach and scout for the Chicago Cubs. JIM LEHMAN ’56, a star on John Gagliardi’s early teams who earned AllAmerica honors twice as a halfback. CHUCK FROEHLE ’57, SJU’s first four-time All-MIAC and three-time All-American who was another key component in Gagliardi’s early teams at SJU.
THE 1965 SJU FOOTBALL TEAM, which won the second of the program’s four national titles, defeating Linfield (Oregon) 33-0 in that year’s NAIA national championship game. The Johnnies allowed a total of 20 points in nine regular-season games, including six shutouts, and surrendered 112.1 yards per game. JOE MUCHA ’66, a standout center on the SJU basketball team who earned National Catholic All-American honors during the 1965-66 season and was also a member of the 1963 and ’65 NAIA national champion football teams. He currently serves as a member of the SJU Board of Trustees. VIC MOORE ’72 (J-Club Distinguished Service Award), a three-sport SJU athlete (football, basketball, baseball) who has remained deeply involved with Johnnie
JEFF NORMAN ’78, an AllAmerican who started three years at quarterback and handled kicking duties for the Johnnies. He helped his team to the 1976 NCAA Division III national championship, kicking the game-winning field goal as time expired, while also earning All-MIAC honors in baseball.
TERRY LEIENDECKER ’84, an All-American keeper who allowed only 28 goals in nearly 6,000 minutes of play during his standout career with the Johnnie soccer team. He went on to represent the U.S. in the World University Games in 1984 and play with the Minnesota Strikers of the North American Soccer League. JIM GATHJE ’86, who earned AllAmerican honors seven times in cross country and track and field and won back-to-back NCAA Division III titles in the steeplechase in 1985 and ’86. He still holds the Division III and Division III national meet record in the event. JOHN DETERS ’92, a seven-time AllAmerican diver who won the 1991 NCAA Division III national championship in the 1-meter event. JOE SCHOOLMEESTERS ’09, a two-time All-American golfer and three-time MIAC player of the year who helped lead the Johnnies to back-to-back NCAA Division III national titles in 2007 and ’08.
33