Midwest Conference

An exciting punt return play by Beloit College football player, Mike Brechler earned recognition by ESPN as the play of the year and the nationally acclaimed ESPY Award in 1993.

St. Norbert shortstop Tony Jandron won the 2010 Division-III batting title with a .511 average.

Michael Jordan did the opening coin toss for a Beloit College home football game during the 1985 season. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls used the athletic facilities for their preseason training before the 1985 season. The Bulls showcased their talents in Beloit’s Marvin Fieldhouse in 1985 and again in 1986.

QB Mitch Tanney set NCAA Division III national record in 2005 completing 73.6 percent of his passes.

USA Olympic gold is an honor that Ron Bontemps earned as a 1952 captain of the Olympic basketball team. Bontemps, a 1951 graduate of BeloitCollege has been inducted into the BC Athletic Hall of Honor held the all-time leading scoring record for 55 years.

Josh Hinz, Class of 2005, was featured on ESPN’s Cold Pizza for his record breaking performance of 36 rebounds in a single game. Hinz also scored 50 points to go along with his rebounding performance.

Monmouth’s football team helped the University of Iowa christen the Hawkeyes’ Kinnick Stadium, playing the first game at the newly opened Iowa City site in 1929.

The 2008 Monmouth College football team led the nation in Division III scoring with a 46.75 points-per-game average.

Stacy Schmidt-May led the nation in free throw percentage at 91.7% in her senior season at Beloit College.

In 1975 RB Ron Baker led the nation in NCAA Division III with 1,116 rushing yards.

Monmouth men’s basketball team defeated current coach Mark Vershaw’s alma mater (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) during the 1968-69 season.
 

The late Bernard (Boob) Darling, Class of 1928 and Athletic Hall of Honor member at Beloit, played on three Green Bay Packer Championship teams (1929, 30 & 31) before becoming a Big Ten official.

Current Monmouth College women’s basketball coach Melissa Bittner was a Top 10 finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award in 2003.

Ted Serafini, Class of 2005, placed his name and the name of Beloit College in the NCAA record book when he tied a NCAA record with four blocked kicks. Ted blocked 3 extra points, and one blocked punt against St. Norbert. This record places Ted amongst all football players at the Division I, IA, Division II, and Division III level.

After lettering in football for three years at Monmouth, Bobby Dunlap went on to win the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroics during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

Monmouth’s football rivalry with Knox College is the 4^th oldest in Division III, dating back to 1888.

Softball’s Melinda Mendez set the NCAA Division III single game record for stolen bases with seven in a game during the 1994 season for Monmouth.