Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
First recruited by football coach Vince Lundeen in 1955, during his senior year at United Township High School in East Moline, Illinois, Arvid Herstedt decided to wait to begin his college experience. However, due largely to the encouragement of teammate Jan Jamison, Herstedt enrolled at Augustana in 1957 and—after a tremendous two-sport career—tonight joins Lundeen as a member of this year’s Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame class. He also joins Jamison, who was inducted in 1982.
Although recruited for football, Herstedt’s contributions in track & field were just as impressive. A 6’ 2”, 210-pound two-way tackle for Lundeen on the gridiron, he competed in the shot, discus and javelin for Coach Lee Brissman’s Viking thinclads. He made an immediate impact and eventually earned four varsity letters in each sport. He also dabbled in wrestling as a senior and won all three of his matches, although time conflicts with the track season prevented him from lettering.
Arv moved into the football lineup right away as a freshman. From his spot on the line he helped the Viking ground game average 213.8 yards per game and 4.8 per carry and limit the opposition to just 2.7 yards per rushing attempt. The highlight of his first season was a 39-yard return of a blocked punt for a touchdown against Illinois Wesleyan that helped provide the margin of victory in a 27-20 Viking win.
As a junior, Herstedt was a second team All-College Conference of Illinois selection at defensive tackle. As a senior, he was a Viking captain and MVP and was again a second team All-CCI pick. In addition, he was selected to the NAIA All-District team covering the state of Illinois and earned Little All-America honorable mention from the Associated Press.
In track & field, Herstedt was Augustana’s second-leading scorer as a freshman with 60 points in 10 meets. He broke an 11-year old school record in the shot put with a 45’ 3¼” heave at the Elmhurst Invitational. He would go on to set a new school standard in the event in each of his four years as a Viking.
Herstedt was Augustana’s top point-producer (68) as a sophomore and claimed his first of three CCI titles with a discus toss of 133’ 10½”. He also pushed his shot put record to 46’ 9½”.
The 1960 season yielded a team-high 96 points and a conference championship (48’ 6½”), a Viking Olympics title and another school record (49’ 7½”) in the shot put for Herstedt. In a dual meet with Knox, he also took down the previous Augustana discus record with a throw of 138’ 3”. For good measure, he recorded a best of 145’ 6½” in the javelin.
A highlight of Herstedt’s senior season came at the Viking Olympics, where he set a meet and school record of 50’ 8¾” in the shot. The previous meet mark had been set by future Green Bay Packer great Fuzzy Thurston of Valparaiso in 1955. Arv also won the weightman’s 100-yard dash and tied the meet record with a time of 10.5 seconds in the prelims. The team co-captain and co-MVP again led Augustana in scoring with 89 points in 12 meets and defended his CCI and Elmhurst Invitational shot put titles.
After graduating from Augustana in 1961, Herstedt received his master’s degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois and embarked on a 28-year career as a teacher, coach and vocational coordinator at Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois. He served as the Pirates’ head football coach from 1963-77 and assisted with wrestling and track. He was also co-owner of K&H Builders for 30 years.
Now retired, Arv and his wife Karen reside in Surprise, Arizona. The couple has three children—Laurie, Lyn and Dan—as well as grandchildren Chelsea, Samuel, Caroline and Joseph Roseri.
Of his Augustana years, Herstedt recalls “excellent faculty and education,” adding it was “a privilege to play for the Vikings.” He said “It’s a great honor knowing I have been a part of the history of Augustana College and I was very proud to wear the Blue & Gold.”
A first-generation college graduate, Herstedt expressed thanks to his parents, Arvid and Mary, and to Augustana “for instilling a strong work ethic which has carried me my entire life.” More thanks were directed to Lundeen “for giving me the opportunity to come to Augustana” and to Jamison, who passed away in 2014 and who Arv calls “my great friend.”
