TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Indiana State athletic department will be welcoming the 1976-77 NCAA National Championship men's gymnastics team back to campus for a special presentation on Saturday, December 4, during the men's basketball game against Miami (Ohio).
 
The Sycamores will welcome back members of the 1976-77 national championship squad over the December 3-4 weekend. The team will be recognized on the court at halftime of the men's basketball game on December 4 in Hulman Center.
 
ISU Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales looks forward to a weekend full of stories and reminiscing as the Sycamores welcome back the lone NCAA national championship team in Indiana State history.
 
"We're looking forward to the opportunity to welcome back the ISU national champion men's gymnastics program back to campus," Clinkscales said. "It will be a great weekend to recognize their accomplishments and to present them with their well-deserved championship rings commemorating their national title."
 
ISU President Dr. Deborah J. Curtis is also looking forward to the opportunity to welcome back and recognize the championship team over the weekend.
 
"We're so happy to have Indiana State University's 1977 national champion men's gymnastics team back on campus," Curtis commented. "We cherish the memory of the late Kurt Thomas and celebrate all of the extraordinary members from this championship team. We are looking forward to memorializing their achievements as part of the proud history of ISU athletics."  
 
The 1976-77 gymnastics team was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. The group composing of Richard Apolinar, Dave Bartholomai, Gary Bernloehr, Ron Brienes, Mike Booth, Larry Brown, Steve Buchelt, Rick Danley, Chris Dolson, Dick Dyke, Jack Fischer, John Goldbeck, Monte Green, Rob Hamilton, Greg Irwin, Al Kwiatkoski, Jeff Nasby, Don Osborne, Ed Paul, Bruce Spikeman, Kurt Thomas, Barry Woodward captured the first NCAA team title in school history at the meet held at the University of Arizona.
 
ISU tied with Oklahoma for the championship at the event as the Sycamores rallied on the final day of the competition. Needing a late boost, Spikerman recorded a 9.475 on the vault to give ISU a share of their first team NCAA title in program history.
 
Kurt Thomas earned both the all-around and parallel bars individual national titles at the event to highlight a decade of success for the ISU gymnastics program that featured two additional finishes in the top-three at the NCAA Championships (1973, 1979). Over his collegiate career, Thomas would go on to record five individual NCAA championships, 13 All-American honors. He was also named the nation's top amateur athlete by winning the James E. Sullivan award while wearing the Sycamore Blue & White.
 
Post-Indiana State, Thomas become the first U.S. men's gymnast to win a world championship gold medal.
 
The university will honor the team with an invitation-only reception the evening before the men's basketball game. Dr. Deborah Curtis, ISU president, and Sherard Clinkscales, Director of Athletics, will present the team with their championship rings during the reception to commemorate their national championship.
 
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