Northwestern University Athletics
Five Former Wildcats Elected to Athletic Hall of Fame
1/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
Jan. 7, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill.-Northwestern will induct five athletes into its Athletic Hall of Fame Friday, Feb. 13, 2004. The Hall of Fame's 20th class also will be honored at halftime of the Northwestern-Penn State men's basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 14. The induction ceremony and dinner take place at 6 p.m. at the Allen Center on Northwestern's Evanston campus.
The Athletic Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 1984 to honor former athletes, coaches and administrators who have helped establish a proud tradition in intercollegiate competition at Northwestern. Individuals are eligible for Hall of Fame recognition beginning five years after their final competition at NU.
The Hall of Fame is divided into two categories:
* The Pioneer Era, which honors individuals who would have graduated prior to 1952.
* The Contemporary Era spans the years since 1952. This era is divided into two groups: Group I, which includes individuals from the 20 most recent years, excluding the five-year probationary period. Group II encompasses the remaining student-athletes since 1952.
This year's five inductees increase Northwestern's Hall of Fame membership to 112. Following are brief summaries of the inductees' careers.
* Julie Calahan Bauer, Women's Basketball (1977-81) -- Calahan was Northwestern's first women's basketball player to earn All-America honors. She was named a third-team All-American by the American Women's Sports Federation her senior year when she averaged 20.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Calahan ranks sixth on Northwestern's all-time scoring list with 1,648 points. She was the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer until Anucha Brown eclipsed her mark in the 1984-85 season. Calahan was Northwestern's leading scorer her final three seasons -- 12.3 ppg as a sophomore, 14.6 ppg as a junior and then her 701-point season (20.6 ppg) as a senior. She is only the second player in NU history (the other is Browne) to score more than 700 points in a single campaign.
She shot 51.9 percent for her career and ranks in NU's top 10 for free throws made (337) and rebounds (778). Her 261 field goals in 1980-81 still ranks second on NU's all-time single-season list. Calahan still holds NU's single-game rebound record with 26 in a 1981 contest vs. Indiana.
In her final three seasons, Northwestern notched records of 25-4, 24-5 and 22-12. The Wildcats advanced to postseason play all three seasons.
* Joel Collier, Football (1951-54) -- Collier, who would later go on to a long NFL coaching career, including a three-year stint as the Buffalo Bills' head coach (1966-68), earned All-America honors as an end for the Wildcats in 1952 as well as All-Big Ten first-team honors.
During the '52 season, Collier smashed Big Ten records for receiving yards (650) and touchdown receptions (seven). The previous records were 394 yards and four receiving TDs. He also caught 34 passes in seven Big Ten games. Following his senior season in 1953, Collier earned postseason all-star berths in the East-West Shrine Classic as well as the Senior Bowl. He was drafted professionally by the New York Giants, however, Collier opted to forego a professional football career in order to accept a graduate assistantship at Western Illinois University -- much to the dismay of the Giants. The start of Collier's coaching career was delayed, however, by a call to the service. He served in the U.S. Army during the years 1954-1956.
Collier then began his coaching career at Western Illinois (with Lou Saban) before moving on to the Bills, as an assistant coach and head coach, and then a 20-year stint as an assistant with the Denver Broncos.
* Ken Kraft, Wrestling/Coach/Administrator (1953-2004) -- It would be hard to match the dedication and service that Ken Kraft has given to Northwestern University. After compiling a 38-7-2 record on the wrestling mat -- the fifth-best winning percentage in school history -- Kraft became Northwestern's head wrestling coach in 1957, a position he held until 1979. Following the conclusion of his coaching career, he was named an associate athletic director and he has served in an administrative capacity the past 24 years. As an athlete, he won the 167-pound Big Ten championship his senior year.
Perhaps his most significant contribution to the wrestling program was the founding of The Midlands Championships, the nation's top amateur wrestling event, which has been held the past 41 years between Christmas and New Year's Day at NU's Welsh-Ryan Arena. For his contributions to Northwestern, and specifically the wrestling program, a new wrestling facility is currently being built, which will bear his name, the "Ken Kraft Wrestling Complex."
Kraft has a wealth of television experience, having served as an ABC commentator during the 1972 and '76 Olympics and for NBC during the 1980 Olympics, among others. He is also a founding member of the United States Wrestling Federation and served as its president from 1972-76.
In 1997, Kraft was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
* Mark Loretta, Baseball (1990-93) -- Following four years as the starting Wildcat shortstop and occasional appearances as a relief pitcher, Loretta was named an All-America his senior year (1993). He also was named third-team All-Big Ten in 1991 and 1992. Loretta is ranked second on NU's career hits list with 239 and fifth in total bases with 336. In his stellar 1993 season, be batted .408 (third best all-time at NU) with 75 hits (fourth best) and six triples (second best).
Loretta also led the team to two 15-win Big Ten seasons when the Wildcats finished third at 15-12-1 in 1991 and fifth with a 15-13 record in 1993.
Since then, Loretta has played professionally, first for the Milwaukee Brewers (1995-2002) and then the Houston Astros (2002) and San Diego Padres (2003). His career batting average stands at .297 and his fielding percentage at .986. He has 964 career hits and 167 career doubles. In 1998, he hit a career-best .316 in 434 at-bats. In 2003, he batted .314 with 13 home runs and 72 RBI for the Padres.
* Dan Zehr, Men's Swimming (1936-38) -- One of Northwestern's all-time greats, Zehr earned All-America honors in 1936 and was a part of the famed Wildcat teams who were coached by Tom Robinson, a 1984 charter member of NU's Athletic Hall of Fame. Robinson guided the Wildcat men's swimming and diving teams from their inception 1910 until 1943. Four times during that era, Northwestern captured national championships (1924, 1929, 1930, 1933). (This was prior to the formation of the NCAA.)
Zehr earned All-America honors in the 150 backstroke. His greatest national honor, however, came at the 1932 U.S. Olympic Games in Los Angeles where Zehr placed fourth in the 100-meter backstroke. Zehr was one of 13 All-Americas that Robinson coached. Zehr is being honored posthumously.
For reservations to the 2003-04 Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, please call Jean Yale at 847-491-3694.
