Communication Associate: Public Relations | Lori Melton | lmelton@d.umn.edu | (218) 726-8830
September 18, 2013 Robert Nygaard | Communication Director | University of Minnesota Duluth Athletics | 218-726-8191 |
bnygaard@d.umn.edu
Lori Melton | Communication Associate | External Affairs | 218 726-8830 | lmelton@d.umn.edu
UMD Athletic Hall of Fame Induct Six
Six Bulldog luminaries -- Amory Bodin (football), Guy "Goose"
Gosselin (men's hockey), Tom Maas (golf), Jenny (Warrick) Reierson (soccer),
Maria Rooth (women's hockey), and Chris Swiatkiewicz (baseball) -- will be paid
a lasting tribute for their contributions to University of Minnesota Duluth athletics
this Friday night (Sept. 20) when they become the newest additions to the UMD
Athletic Hall of Fame. Both Reierson and Rooth are the first individuals from their
respective sports to be enshrined while Maas is the first full-time golfer.
The 16th UMD Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, which is open to the public,
will be held at the Holiday Inn and Suite's Lake Superior Ballroom in downtown
Duluth. The event kicks off with a 5:30 p.m. social, followed by a 6:15 p.m. dinner,
and a 7 p.m. program. Steve LePage, the former long-time sports anchor at WDIO-TV
in Duluth and television voice of Bulldog hockey and football, is scheduled to serve
as the Master of Ceremonies.
The six inductees will also be recognized at halftime of UMD's football clash with
defending Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion Minnesota State
University-Mankato the following evening.
Amory Bodin, a Duluth Central High School alumnus, rocketed to prominence as
both a prolific ball carrier and punter with the Bulldogs from 1976 to 1980. As a
senior, he captained UMD to its first-ever unbeaten, untied season (10-0) and a No.
9 ranking in the final NCAA Division II poll while landing Associated Press Little All-American honorable mention recognition for a second straight year. A two-time All-Northern Intercollegiate Conference pick, Bodin finished as the Bulldogs' leading
rusher all three of his years in a starting role (1977-78 and 1980) and averaged a
NCAA II-leading 11.6 points per game during his final collegiate go-around. Bodin,
who sat out the entire 1979 season with a knee injury, exited the UMD program with the second most lifetime ground yards (2,662 on 498 carries) in team history
and currently ranks sixth in that department. He still holds Bulldog records for
punting average in a career (39.6 yards per punt) and a season (43.0 in 1977).
Guy "Goose" Gosselin patrolled the blueline on UMD's first two NCAA Final Four
entries and its first two Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season and
playoff championship clubs (1983-84 and 1984-85). He capped off his five-year
playing career (he was injured four games into his freshman season and was
subsequently granted an extra year of eligibility) in 1986-87 with an All-WCHA first
team citation while serving as the Bulldogs' captain. Voted by his fellow alumni to
the 21-player All-DECC Team in 2010, Gosselin went on to skate for Team USA at
both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games (he was an assistant team captain that year)
and played in five National Hockey League outings with the Winnipeg Jets during
the 1987-88 season. A member of the U.S. entry at three International Ice Hockey
Federation World Championships (1986, 1990 and 1991), he also spent four
professional seasons with Moncton (American Hockey League), Kansas City (AHL)
and Skelleftea (Sweden). Gosselin, who grew up in Rochester, Minn., currently is a
regional manager of USA Hockey's American Development Model and has been an
assistant coach with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team the past two years and will
handle that role again in 2013-14.
Duluth-raised and a 1959 graduate of Denfeld High School, Tom Maas helped lead
UMD to four consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team titles
(1960-63) and a third-place finish at the 1962 NAIA National Championships -- its
best national showing in program history. Individually, he placed second at that
event en route to becoming the Bulldogs' first All-American first team honoree in
any sport. (Maas shared that distinction with teammate and 2009 UMD Athletic Hall
of Fame inductee Ron Johnson, who finished fourth). Upon graduation, Maas, who
captured runner-up honors at the 1960 MIAC meet and qualified individually for the
NAIA Championships that same year, continued to make his mark on the amateur
golfing circuit. At one time or another, he held or equaled six course records: Enger
Park Golf Course (Duluth, Minn.); Mesaba Country Club (Hibbing, Minn.); Port Byron
Golf Course (Port Byron, Ill.); Oakwood Country Club (Coal Valley, Ill.); Valley Oaks
Golf Club, (Clinton, Iowa); and Peoria Country Club (Peoria, Ill.). In addition, Maas
claimed titles at more than two dozen events as an amateur including the Rock
Island Arsenal Golf Tournament (seven times), the Oakwood Country Club
Invitational President's Cup (1971 and 1973) and the 1972 Midwest Pro-Am
tournament. He was also the individual champion of the 1969 Velie Cup Greater
Illinois and the Iowa Country Clubs Tournament Series and was low amateur in the
1975 PGA Tour Quad Cities Open Pro-Am event (now named the John Deere
Classic), firing a 66. Maas retired from competitive golf in 1975.
Jenny (Warrick) Reierson closed the books on a record-breaking career in
2001, amassing more goals (52) and points (125 – 20 more than the next closest
Bulldog) than anyone to ever wear a UMD uniform. The Lino Lakes, Minn., product
was a three-time NSCAA All-Central Region second team selection (1998-2000) and secured a spot on the All-NSIC team four times (first team in 1998-2000 and
second team in 2001) -- a UMD soccer first. Voted the NSIC's Player of the Year as
a sophomore and the NSIC Tournament's Most Valuable Player two years later,
Reierson served as a team captain in 2001 when UMD claimed its third NSIC title in
four seasons. She paced the Bulldogs in scoring as a rookie, sophomore and senior
(racking up a school-record 15 goals in both 1998 and 1999) and continues to hold
a share of the UMD single-game mark for points with eight against Bemidji State
University on Oct., 18, 1998. A standout in the classroom as well, Warrick was a twotime NSCAA Scholar All-America recipient (third team in both 2000 and 2001).
Maria Rooth, a winger from Angelholm, Sweden, holds the distinction of being
the only Bulldog female student-athlete to have her jersey (No. 27) retired. UMD's
all-time leading goal producer (119) and its second top scorer (232 points in
124 games), she played an integral part in the Bulldogs' conquest of three NCAA
championships (2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03), two WCHA regular season
titles (the inaugural one in 1999-2000 and in 2002-03) and three WCHA playoff
crowns (2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03). During her farewell season, Rooth made
the top 10 list for the Patty Kazmaier Award as the most outstanding player in
women's college hockey for a fourth straight year in addition to earning her third
All-American citation (first team in 2000-02 and second team in 2002-03). A
three-time All-WCHA selection, she was chosen the 2001 NCAA Frozen Four Most
Valuable Player, the 2001 WCHA Tournament Most Valuable Player and the 1999-2000 WCHA Rookie of the Year. Rooth's other collegiate accomplishments include
earning WCHA All-Academic Team acclaim on three occasions, receiving UMD's Top
Scholar-Athlete Award in 2002-03 and joining three other Bulldogs on the WCHA's
All-Decade team, which was unveiled in 2009. In 2010-11, she returned to her
alma mater to assume an assistant coaching position under her former bench boss,
Shannon Miller. Rooth has been a well-known international hockey entity for over
15 years, having skated for Sweden at the 1998, 2002 (bronze medal), 2006 (silver)
and 2010 Winter Olympics and accruing 265 overall games for her native country at
numerous world competitions.
Chris Swiatkiewicz (SWAN-kave-itch) was the ace of the Bulldog mound staff in
the closing years of the 20th century and twice received the NSIC Pitcher of the Year
Award (1998 and 1999) -- a UMD program first. The Fridley, Minn., product and
1999 NCAA Division II All-Central Region first team honoree still occupies the No.
1 spot on UMD's career charts for strikeouts (247), wins (20), appearances (51),
shutouts (6) and complete games (19). As a junior, Swiatkiewicz threw nearly 25
percent of the Bulldogs' total innings and, in the process, established team records
for strikeouts (120), victories (he went 11-1), shutouts (4), innings (82 1/3) and
complete games (11). He then helped lead the Bulldogs to their first NSIC regular
season championship in six season one year later while posting a career-best 1.37
earned run average. After a brief, but successful, three-week stint with the Northern
League's Duluth-Superior Dukes immediately following his senior collegiate season,
Swiatkiewicz signed a professional contract with the New York Yankees and spent the rest of the summer with Staten Island and Tampa in the Gulf Coast League (A).
The ensuing summer, Swiatkiewicz returned to the Duluth where he and the Dukes
battled their way to the Northern League title. He finished his professional career
in the Northern League, doing stints with the St. Paul Saints (2001 and 2002), the
Joliet Jackhammers (2002) and the Sioux City Explorers (2002-06). During that
stretch he participated in a pair of league All-Star Games, and in 2007 was voted to
the Explorers' 15th Anniversary All-Star Team as a right-handed pitcher.
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