Augustana College Athletics

A four-year letter winner in both track and cross country at Augustana, Mark Schafer was a nine-time College Conference of Illinois track champion and set four conference and seven school records. The Viking All-American, whose career spanned from 1963 to 1967, overlapped the tenure of two of the school’s most legendary coaches, Leroy Brissman and Paul Olsen.
 
Schafer left J.D. Darnall High School in Geneseo, Illinois with the second best times in school history in the 100, 220 and 440-yard dashes. He enrolled at Augustana in the fall of 1963 and, despite a sprinting background, put together an outstanding freshman season for Brissman in cross country. He placed in the top ten in all seven Viking dual meets and capped the season with an 18th-place finish at the CCI Championship.
 
During the spring of 1964, Schafer helped Brissman’s squad capture Augustana’s first CCI track & field championship. He ran on the Vikings’ winning 440 (:43.3) and mile (3:24.2) relays, which each set a conference record. Schafer’s freshman track season also included a school record of 1:28.1 in the 880 relay.
 
As a sophomore, Schafer again competed on winning 440 and mile relays as the Vikings captured another conference title in Brissman’s final season as head coach.
 
Schafer claimed his first individual CCI title as a junior in 1965, running a :50.2 in the 440. He was also a member of the conference champion mile relay for the third consecutive season. Running for new Head Coach Armin Pipho, he helped set a school record of 3:33.0 in the sprint medley relay and capped his junior season by finishing fourth in both the 220 and 440 at the NCAA College Division Mideast Regional at Augustana.
 
A spectacular senior year for Schafer began with a 10th-place finish at the 1966 CCI Cross County Championship. Competing for new Head Coach Olsen, he covered the Petrifying Springs course in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 22:41.
 
Schafer was selected as a team captain for his senior year of track and by the end of the season, was also the team’s MVP. He helped set a school record of 10:36.2 in the distance medley relay. At the CCI Championships, he won the 220 in a school-record :21.8 and the 440 in a conference-record :49.0. For the fourth straight year, he was a member of the CCI champion mile relay, which set a conference record of 3:21.3. The Vikings claimed their third CCIW title in Schafer’s four seasons.
 
His career didn’t end at the conference meet. Competing at the NCAA College Division Championships at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, Schafer recorded three more school record performances. He ran a :48.6 in the 440 and anchored Augustana’s 440 and mile relays, which both set school standards as well. The 440 relay finished in :41.6, taking fourth place and earning Schafer All-America honors. The mile relay finished sixth in 3:19.4.
 
After graduating from Augustana in 1967 with a degree in sociology, Mark received his master’s in teaching from the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California. He also earned teaching credentials from the state of California and went on to a career as a mathematics teacher. In addition, he worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and as a chaplain’s assistant in the United States Army.
 
Schafer is retired today and living in his hometown of Geneseo, Illinois, where he sings with the Parise Team at First Lutheran Church. He has three children—daughters Sarah Schafer Pittenger and Paula K. Schafer, both of whom graduated from Augustana, and son Michael Schafer—as well as grandsons Henry and William Pittenger.
 
Of his time at Augustana, Schafer says, “It was a great period of personal growth. My track coaches were extraordinary.” He singled out Olsen, who he affectionately refers to as “Coachie.”