Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
A three-time All-CCIW performer, three-time Academic All-American and the 1997 NCAA Division III Baseball Academic All-American of the Year, Bryan Welder brings with him an impressive list of accolades from his Augustana years as he enters the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame. He held six school records at the time of his graduation—four single-season marks and two career records.
A 1993 graduate of Crystal Lake South High School in Crystal Lake, Illinois, the 5’ 9”, 165-pound Welder was an all-conference and all-area performer for the Gators as an infielder and pitcher in baseball and as a wide receiver football.
After seeing action in just four varsity games as an Augustana freshman in 1994, Welder cracked Coach Barry Bilkey’s starting lineup for the 1995 season opener against Alma in Panama City, Florida. Playing second base and hitting leadoff, he went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two driven in and never missed a game during the rest of his Viking career.
Welder finished his sophomore season as Augustana’s third-leading hitter with a .336 average. He hit two homers, was second on the team with 23 RBI and tied for the team lead with seven doubles. He slugged .459, had an on-base percentage of .404 and was named to the All-CCIW second team. He earned his initial Academic All-America recognition as well, when GTE and the College Sports Information Directors of America made him a third team selection.
As a junior, Welder set school records for at-bats (130) and hits (50) in helping Bilkey’s club set a school record for wins with a 25-11 record. The Vikings won the CCIW’s South Division with a mark of 14-4. Welder finished fifth in the league in hitting (.426) and led the conference with 12 stolen bases on his way to second team All-CCIW honors for the second year in a row. He finished the season with team highs in doubles (12) and on-base percentage (.450) and ranked second in batting average (.385), total bases (67) and stolen bases (17 in 20 attempts attempts). He was named a first team Academic All-American.
Welder was Augustana’s MVP as a senior in 1997 after setting school records for doubles (16) and total bases (77) and also leading the Vikings in runs (32) and hits (48). He batted .410—the eighth-best single-season mark in school history at the time—slugged .658 and had an on-base percentage of .493 (then also eighth-best in program history). He hit three homers and tied a career-high with 23 runs knocked in. His performance earned him first team All-CCIW honors.
This time, when GTE/CoSIDA released the Academic All-America team, Welder not only repeated as a first team selection, but was named Academic All-American of the Year—one of just two Augustana athletes ever to win the award within their respective sports.
When Welder's career ended, he was the Vikings’ all-time leader in hits (140) and doubles (35). In addition, he ranked in Augustana’s career top ten in total bases (201—2nd), batting average (.374—3rd), on-base percentage (.447—4th), runs scored (92—4th), assists (225—4th), at-bats (374—5th), defensive chances (478—6th), stolen bases (27—6th) and slugging percentage (.537—9th).
A pre-physical therapy major, Welder graduated from Augustana in 1997, first in his class with a 4.00 grade point average. That also earned him the school’s Knut Erickson Award as the male blanket award winner with the highest GPA. He went on to earn his master’s in physical therapy from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
For the past three years, Bryan has been Regional Director of ATI Physical Therapy, managing 10 outpatient clinics in the Chicagoland area. Prior to that, he spent 16 years as Vice President of Sports Physical Therapy.
Bryan and his wife, Angela, live in Crystal Lake, Illinois with sons Will, Quinn and Andrew.
Welder called his time at Augustana “the most impactful on the person that I am today. It gave me the opportunity to be the best student athlete I could be,” adding “Augustana was the perfect fit for me to prepare for graduate school and beyond.”
