Five
former Indiana State athletes have competed in past Olympics including Bruce
Baumgartner, Larry Bird, Benita Edds, and Bryan Leturgez, and current throws coach
Erin Gilreath. Kurt Thomas was on the 1980 United States Olympic gymnastics
team but was unable to compete as the United States boycotted the games.
BRUCE BAUMGARTNER
Bruce
Baumgartner is one of the most heralded Indiana State University graduates in
national and international competition. He won the NCAA championship in the
heavyweight division as a senior at Indiana State, completing a perfect season
with a 44-0 record. He was the NCAA runner up in the heavyweight division as a
sophomore and junior and finished his Sycamore career with a 134-12 record with
73 falls.
Baumgartner
is one of the most decorated American wrestlers of all-time and just one of
eight athletes to medal in four different Olympiads. He became America’s first
gold medalist in 60 years of super heavyweight wrestling when he won gold at
the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. He also won gold at the 1992 Games in
Barcelona, a silver at the 1988 Games in Seoul, and a bronze at the 1996 Games
at Atlanta. He was also chosen captain of the USA Olympic Team in 1996 and
carried the U.S. Flag during the opening ceremonies in front of more than 600
United States athletes.
He
won the World Championship three times (1986 in Budapest, 1993 in Toronto, and
1995 in Atlanta) while also earning three silver medals and three bronze .
Baumgartner also won three gold medals at the Pan American Games (1987
Indianapolis, 1991 Havana, and 1995 Mar de Plata) after earning a silver medal
at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas. He also has four Olympic Festival
titles, two AAU National titles, and a Junior National title.
Baumgartner
was presented the James E. Sullivan Award in 1995 as the top amateur athlete in
the United States and was a top 10 finalist in 1986, 1992, 1993, 1994, and
1995. He received the NCAA Top Five Award in 1983 for his athletic leadership
and academic success. He was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of
Fame in 1998, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2003, and the
United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008. He is also a distinguished member
of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and a charter member of the
International Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame (FILA).
LARRY BIRD
Larry
Bird was a three-time All-American at Indiana State and led the 1978-79
Sycamores to the finals of the NCAA Championships during his senior campaign
after which he received the USBWA College Player of the Year award along with
the Naismith and Wooden Awards which are given to the top male college
basketball player.
He
won gold in four international competitions, most famously with the “Dream
Team” during the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona which was the first time that
the United States sent professional players to compete. He also earned gold as
a member of Team USA at the 1992 Tournament of America’s, as a member of Team
USA at the 1977 World University Games and at the 1978 World Invitational
Tournament.
Bird
was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999 as an
individual and as a member of the 1978-79 team. He had a stellar career with
the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association with three NBA
championships, three NBA Most Valuable Player awards, two NBA Finals MVP
awards, and was named a member of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
BENITA EDDS
Benita
Edds competed in archery at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. She was named
an All-American in 1980 and 1981 while competing for Indiana State and won the
1984 National Women’s Indoor Championship. A three-time member of the All-Midwest
Archery team, Edds was an alternate to the U.S. World team in 1981 and 1983 and
competed in three United States Sports Festivals. She was inducted into the
Indiana States Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
BRYAN LETURGEZ
Bryan
Leturgez’s legacy at Indiana State was in track & field but it was in
another sport, and a different season, that he made his mark in Olympic
history. Leturgez competed in the
decathlon, 400 meter hurdles and high jump for Indiana State, setting a then
school record with a 7-foot-1.75” leap in high jump. He still has the third
best time in the 400 meter hurdles in school history with a 50.86 accomplished
in 1986. He competed in the 1986 NCAA Track & Field Championships and the
1988 Olympic Trials in the 400 meter hurdles.
His athletic career took another turn after the Olympic
Trials. Fellow Terre Haute native Bruce Rosselli, who was putting together a
bobsled team, asked Leturgez to try out in the fall of 1988 and he made the
World Cup team. He competed in the bobsled for the next 10 years.
He earned three gold medals, one silver and one
bronze during the 1992-93 World Cup season and was part of the four-man team
that won the overall World Cup championship that season. Leturgez was on the
U.S. Olympic team at the 1992 games in Albertville, France, the 1994 games in
Lillehammer, Norway, and the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. He was team captain
for the 1992 Olympic Bobsled, posting his best Olympic finish of 11th in the four-man
event.
The former Sycamore also set world records in the
1994 World Push Championships two and four-man events and won six World Push
Championships overall.
He
was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
KURT THOMAS
A
13-time NCAA All-American, Kurt Thomas led the Sycamores to the 1979 NCAA team
championship by being the NCAA All-Around, parallel bars, and horizontal bar
individual champion. He also won the NCAA All-Around and parallel bars title in
1977.
He
won a gold medal, two silvers and two bronze at the 1975 Pan American Games
which earned him a place on the U.S. Olympic team and competed at the 1976
Summer Games in Montreal. Thomas became the first American male gymnast to win
a gold medal in floor exercise at the World Championships which he accomplished
in 1978.
Thomas
won two gold medals and three silver medals in international competition during
1979 and became the first gymnast to receive the James E. Sullivan Award for
the best amateur athlete in the United States. He was expected to be the top
gymnast at the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow but the games were boycotted by the
U.S. government.
He
was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame as both an
individual and as a member of the 1977 national championship team on Jan. 22,
1999. Thomas was also inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
in 2003 and was inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in
2011.
ERIN GILREATH
Erin
Gilreath has made a tremendous impact upon the fortunes of the throws group at
Indiana State in the year that she has been a Sycamore assistant coach.
Gilreath won the hammer throw at the 2004 Olympic Trials in Sacramento with a
then Olympic Trials record throw of 231-feet-0-inches. She went on to finish
20th at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
She
finished eighth at the 2004 World Athletics Final in Szombathely, Hungary, 10th
at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, eighth at the 2006 World
Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany, and sixth at the 2006 World Cup in
Athens. She competed in her second Olympic Trials at Eugene in 2008 and finished
12th in the finals. Gilreath also finished 25th at the 2009 World Championships
in Berlin, Germany.
Other
individuals with ties to Indiana State have competed in international
competition.
SYCAMORE TRACK &
FIELD
Several
former members of the Indiana State track & field team have competed in
international competition including Steve Smith, Aubrey Herring, Christy
Barrett (Sherman), Omegia Keeys, Kylie Hutson, and Erica Moore.
Moore
competed at the 2012 World Indoor Championships and took third place in the
women’s 800 meters with a personal best time of 1:59.97. Hutson won the 2011
USA Outdoor title in the women’s pole vault and finished tied for seventh at
the 2011 World Outdoor Championships. Keeys finished third in the 200 meters at
the 1995 Pan American Games while Barrett competed in the shot put at the 1993
World Outdoor Championships.
Smith
was second in the men’s high jump at the 1995 Pan American Games after a
seventh place finish at the 1995 World Indoor Championships. Herring won the
110 meter hurdles at the North America Central American Caribbean Championships
in 2000. Swift finished third in the 110 meter hurdles at the 2012 North America
Central America Caribbean Championships, placed third at the 2011 Central
America Caribbean Championships, and ninth in the event at the 2011 World University
Games.
1949-1950 BASKETBALL
TEAM
The
Indiana State Teachers College 1949-50 men's basketball team, coached by John
Longfellow, compiled a 27-8 overall record and defeated East Central Oklahoma
by the score of 61-57 to capture the 1950 NAIB (National Association of
Intercollegiate Basketball) National Championship. In doing so, they became
Indiana State's first and only National Championship basketball team.
As
a result of that championship victory, seven Sycamores were selected for the
1951 Pan American Games basketball team. However, due to the expiration
of collegiate eligibility, only one member of the 1949-50 team competed in
South America - Bob Gilbert. The remaining six Indiana State players
named to the 1951 Pan American team were members of the 1950-51 Sycamore squad
including Roger Akins, Dick Atha, Thomas Kern, Eugene Lambdin, Ed Longfellow,
and Cliff Murray. John Longfellow served as co-head coach of the team that won
gold with a 6-0 record.
The
1949-50 basketball team was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of
Fame in 2000. John Longfellow and Dick Atha were inducted as individuals in
1984.
SYCAMORE BASEBALL
Two
members of the Sycamore baseball team competed internationally with Team USA
including Boi Rodriguez and Greg Baker. Rodriquez was on Team USA for the 1986
Baseball World Cup where the team finished with a 7-4 record. Baker was on the
1979 Pan American team that finished fourth with a 5-3 record in San Juan.
Several
other former Indiana State baseball players have played for Team USA including
Bill Hayes in 1976, Tom Gilles in 1984, Bob Zeihen in 1986, Casey Whitten in
1990 and 1992, Stoney Burke in 1992, and Dan Olson in 1994. Several others have
competed for Team Canada including Doug McPhail (1976 and 1979), Pat Dumochelle
(1979 and 1980), Perry Lychak (1979, 1980 and 1981), Tom Nelson (1981, 1982,
1983 and 1984), Mike Gardiner (1984), and Scott Mann (1982, 1983 and 1984).
Gardiner, Mann and Nelson were on Team Canada’s 1984 Olympic team.
SYCAMORE BASKETBALL
Former
Indiana State basketball player Carl Nicks also has international experience as
he played on the USA Select Team during their China Tour in 1979 where the team
finished 3-2.
