Northwest Missouri State University recalls 100 memorable moments in its sports history

100 Most Memorable Athletic Moments in Northwest History
Year Date Event
1906 19-Jul Northwest, then called the Fifth District Normal School, entered competitive sports by way of baseball.
1908 Football team (nicknamed the Normal's) played and won its first game in red and white uniforms on an athletic field located behind the Administration Building.
1909 Women's basketball traveled to face Missouri Wesleyan College in first basketball game away from Maryville.
1910 7-Mar Work began on Northwest's first track, north of the administration building.
1912 Men's basketball's completed its first season, finishing 11-7.
1912 Northwest joined the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association (now called the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association). One of three schools to join that year who still remain in the conference.
1913 Football stadium moved to current location and called University Athletic Field until 1917. Today's Bearcat Stadium is located at the longest standing site for a football stadium in NCAA Division II.
1916 January Northwest athletic teams given the nickname of "Bearcats" by a Drury basketball coach. Before that, Northwest was referred to as the Normals.
1917 Football Stadium (University Athletic Field) named Memorial Stadium.
1919 Northwest awards women's basketball players first varsity letters.
1924 Football team wins share of MIAA Championship, first title for any program in school history.
1926 Men's basketball wins first regular season MIAA championship.
1927 1926-1927 Men's basketball wins first back-to-back regular season MIAA titles.
1930 1929-1930 Henry Iba leads Men's basketball team to an undefeated 31-0 record in his first year, most wins in school history.
1931 The Bearcat football team goes through the season with a 9-0-0 record, its first undefeated season.
1931 The Hickory Stick traveling trophy is established for football - it is the oldest traditional trophy game in Division II. (Northwest Alumni) Northwest President Lamkin found the hickory stick on a farm in Northwest Missouri where Truman President Eugene Fair was born.
1931 Football was one of five undefeated/untied teams in the country, only allowing six points, which came in the first game of the year.
1932 Men's basketball team finishes second in the nation, led by coach Henry Iba
1936 Herschel Neil won the NCAA triple jump title and in his career won 17 individual MIAA titles and set eight school records. Neil participated in the Olympic trials and narrowly missed a spot to the Olympics to legendary Jesse Owens in the triple jump. Northwest's track is now named after Neil.
1939 Northwest's football team wins 21 straight over a two-year period.
1940 1939-1940 Men's basketball wins first 22 games of the year, to end the season with a record of 22-1.
1940 First electronic scoreboard was placed in the gym.
1942 1938-1942 Football wins MIAA championships four out of the last five years.
1942 Men's basketball wins third of back-to-back-to-back conference championships.
1949 Men's track wins first indoor MIAA championship.
1949 Men's track wins first outdoor MIAA championship.
1959 Men's tennis wins first MIAA title - this is the first of three consecutive MIAA championships.
1961 Football's Memorial Stadium renamed Rickenbrode Stadium to honor long-time Northwest employee and supporter William Rickenbrode.
1965 Wrestling finishes undefeated for a second consecutive year.
1969 Paul Stehman wins the NCAA National Wrestling Championships at 137-pounds.
1970 Stan Zeamer wins the NCAA National Wrestling Championships at 134-pounds.
1971 September First Northwest women's intercollegiate sport offered.
1971 Men's tennis makes first NCAA appearance.
1971 Women's basketball wins first MAIAW title in their inaugural season of intercollegiate competition.
1972 Men's cross country wins first MIAA title.
1973 Baseball wins first MIAA title.
1975 May Bearcat baseball team finishes fifth at the NCAA Division II College World Series.
1975 Softball wins MAIAW conference title in inaugural season.
1975 Softball appears in College World Series for the first time.
1976 Men's tennis wins fifth conference title in last seven years.
1976 Athletic Booster Club is formed with first President W.R. O'Riley.
1976 May NCAA Division II Tennis Nationals held at Northwest for the first time. Northwest men finish fourth in the nation that year.
1976 Women's cross country wins its third consecutive MAIAW title, led by Ann Kimm, who won her second conference championship in as many years.
1979 1978-1979 Men's basketball goes 15-0 at home but 0-11 on the road, while defeating five nationally ranked teams.
1979 After going 0-11 in 1978 and 0-3 to begin the season, football team wins conference championship. Northwest defeated a much larger Southwest Missouri State (Missouri State) at Springfield, first time an opponent won at Springfield in the past 20 years.
1979 Vernon Darling, an All-American Cross Country runner, finished second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the NCAA Division II meet.
1980 October M-Club Athletic Hall of Fame established - Henry Iba and Jack McCracken first inductees.
1980 Volleyball wins 52 matches, a school record, en route to a MAIAW title, its first and only conference championship.
1982 Chip Gregory becomes first NCAA Post-Graduate Scholar.
1982 Men's basketball team qualifies for the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time.
1983 1982-1983 Baseball wins first back-to-back MIAA titles.
1983 Men's Track 4x400-meter relay team set school record with third-place time of 3:06 at NCAA National Championships - it still ranks as the fourth best all-time mark in NCAA Division II.
1984 November Football appears in the NCAA Division II national playoffs for the first time, which ends with a 28-15 loss to Nebraska-Omaha.
1984 January Men's and women's basketball teams win overtime thrillers against Central Missouri State squads in Lamkin Gym. All four teams are ranked in the top five in NCAA Division II. Bearkitten (women's nickname) basketball team is ranked #1 later that season. Both Central teams won the national championship that year. Northwest was the only team to defeat the Central men or women.
1984 1983-1984 Women's basketball wins 25 games, most in school history en route to a MIAA championship and second-place finish in the Great Lakes Regional.
1984 Softball wins first MIAA championship.
1984 Women's basketball makes first NCAA tournament appearance.
mid-1980s Men's Track athlete Brad Ortmeier loses by .10 of a second in 10,000-meters at NCAA Division II National Championships - there were five lead changes in the final two laps.
1986 Softball wins 34 games, most in school history.
1987 Women's tennis wins first MIAA championship.
1987 Men's and Women's Tennis win MIAA titles, first time in conference history that a school has won men and women conference titles together.
1989 Ken Onuaguluchi wins the Division II National Championship in the discus.
1989 Bob Sundell wins the Division II National Championship in the high jump and sets the school record, soaring 7'5".
1993 Fall Womens' athletic teams become known as the Bearcats, changed from the Bearkittens.
1993 1993-1994 A renovated Lamkin Gym becomes Lamkin Activity Center/Bearcat Arena and the Student Recreation Center Opens.
1994 Opening day of the new softball field on campus.
1995 Women's cross country wins first of three consecutive MIAA titles.
1995 Men's tennis finishes 11th in the nation, highest in school history.
1995 Women's tennis makes first NCAA appearance. Start of 11 straight appearances, which is still active.
1996 November Football defeated Nebraska-Omaha for first playoff victory in Northwest history.
1996 Football wins conference championship after going 0-11 just two years before.
1997 Men's Tennis partners Osborn & Kutlova win Intercollegiate Tennis Association (national tournament) doubles title.
1997 Women's track wins first indoor MIAA championship.
1997 Women's track wins first outdoor MIAA championship.
1997 Women's Tennis finishes 13th in the nation, highest in school history.
1997-98 1997&1998 Women's track wins six consecutive conference running titles (in two seasons) in Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track.
1998 December Football team defeats Texas-A&M Kingsville at Rickenbrode Stadium to earn a spot in their first NCAA Division II National Championship game as 'Sweet Home Alabama' plays over the speakers.
1998 December Football team wins first national championship in any sport in Northwest history becoming the first and only 15-0 team in NCAA Division II history - it is only one of three 15-0 college football teams at any college level in history.
1998 21-Apr Softball is victorious in a 19-inning marathon against Missouri Western, longest MIAA softball game in history.
1998 Men's cross country wins NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championship.
1999 December Football wins second of back-to-back national titles in a 4-overtime thriller 58-52 versus Carson-Newman.
1999 Women's soccer begins varsity competition.
2000 Men's basketball defeats No. 1 ranked Florida Southern to snap the longest home winning streak in NCAA.
2001-02 Tucker Woolsey is recipient of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
2002 21-Oct Football team defeats Pittsburg State in the first Fall Classic at Arrowhead Stadium, in front of a Division II record breaking crowd of 26,695 in attendance.
2002 Men's basketball makes first Elite 8 appearance.
2002 Men's basketball wins first MIAA postseason tournament title after earning the regular season championship.
2002 Conrad Woolsey wins the 2002 Indoor National Championship in the shot put.
2002 Clint Prange of men's track wins first of three NCAA outdoor national titles in the discus.
2003 2003-2004 Men's basketball ranked No. 1 in the country.
2003 Baseball wins 36 games, most in school history.
2003 Football's Rickenbrode Stadium unveiled with state-of-the-art video scoreboard.
2004 John Edmonds becomes first and only recipient of National Football Foundation Post-Graduate Scholarship.
2004 #2 Northwest faces #1 Pittsburg State in the Fall Classic III at Arrowhead, the first time that the top two ranked teams in the nation faced each other in the regular season finale.
2004 Men and Women's basketball teams sweep the MIAA Conference Tournament - for the women, it is their first.
2004 Jesse Shaw hits a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Men's basketball to its second NCAA Elite 8 appearance.
2004 Men's sprint medley team wins the gold at the Drake Relays.
2004 Gina Lindsay wins ITA singles title and along with Erica Ramirez wins doubles title and advance to top eight in the nation.
2004-05 Clint Prange earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
2005 Spring Clint Prange wins two NCAA Outdoor Track Titles in the Discus and Shot Put - the shot was a NCAA record (66'1").