RMAC Celebrates Centennial

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- July 13, 2009 -- A standing-room only crowd of more than 500 attended the RMAC Centennial Celebration on Saturday, July 11 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs.

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference was founded in March of 1909. It is the fourth oldest conference in the country, (trailing only the Big 10, Missouri Valley and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). The RMAC is also the most historic current member of NCAA Division II, and the longest standing league in the western U.S.

More than 200 of the best student-athletes and coaches who have participated in the conference during the past century were honored on Saturday night.

In attendance at the dinner were Olympic runners Pat Porter of Adams State and Elva Dryer and Michael Aish of Western State. Former Metro State men's basketball coach Mike Dunlap, now associate head coach at the University of Oregon accepted at the all-time men's basketball coach in RMAC history. Former NFL players Don Cockroft (Adams State) and Herman Heard (Southern Colorado, now CSU-Pueblo) were also on hand to accept their awards.

Some of the honorees who were celebrated posthumously, included former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White from the University of Colorado (All-RMAC in 1936 and 1937), gold medal winner Glenn Morris from Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State) who was All-RMAC in 1932, 1933 and 1934 and Earl "Dutch" Clark of Colorado College, who is a member of both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame.

Regis University head men's basketball coach Lonnie Porter was the Master of Ceremonies. His association with the RMAC goes back to 1961, when he was an All-American basketball player at Adams State.

RMAC All-Time Teams were selected during the past year. Committees with representatives from each RMAC school currently sponsoring that sport selected the teams.

During the ceremony, presenters for each sport introduced the all-time teams. Adams State had the most honorees with 43, followed by Western State with 31.

 SPORT PRESENTER

Women's Track & Field- Damon Martin, Adams State
Men's Track & Field- Duane Vandenbusche, Western State
Baseball- Butch Miller, Mesa State
Softball- Kelly Adams, Mesa State
Men's & Women's Golf- Dick Beechner, Nebraska-Kearney
Men's & Women's Tennis- Beck Meares, Metro State
Wrestling- Greg Waggoner, Western State
Women's Basketball- Debra Gilbert, Adams State
Men's Basketball- Joe Folda, CSU-Pueblo
Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving- Joan Mancini Todd, Western State
Men's Cross Country- Joe Vigil, Adams State
Women's Cross Country- Elva Martinez-Dryer, Western State
Men's Soccer- Frank Kohlenstein, Colorado Mines
Women's Soccer- Adrianne Almaraz, Metro State
Volleyball- Rick Squiers, Nebraska-Kearney
Football- Marv Kay, Colorado Mines