ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The best of the best will once again be honored at Augustana when the Tribe of Vikings inducts its 22nd class into the Hall of Fame. This year a total of eight inductees will be honored at the Vikings Homecoming on Saturday, October 14. These eight have earned their place to be listed among the best to ever wear the Blue and Gold and they add to the school's tradition-rich heritage in athletics.
 
The induction will take place in the Gavle Room of the Gerber Center. There will be a social hour beginning at 6:00 p.m. and the dinner will start at 6:45 p.m. Tickets for the event are $35.00 apiece and can be obtained by calling Dave Wrath, Associate Director of Athletics/Media & Alumni Relations at (309) 794-7265 or davewrath@augustana.edu.
 
The induction is part of Augustana's homecoming activities and it will be the 22nd class inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. The class will also be presented at halftime of the football game between Augustana and Millikin on Saturday, October 14. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
 
Honored this year will be two former College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin "Players of the Year" in their respective sports, three NCAA All-Americans, an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner, a CoSIDA Academic All-American and multiple school record holders, conference champions, all-conference performers and the man who founded the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame. Clearly this is a group that excelled during its undergraduate years and the reward is that they will take their rightful place among the elite in Augustana history.  The athletes being inducted are: Arvid Herstedt (1961 – football/track & field), Paul Carlstedt (1968 – track & field), Steve Miller (1982 – tennis), Allison Wolak Quadhamer (1998 – track & field), Craig Lyon (2000 – track & field), Julie Constien Diem (2002 – volleyball) and Hayley Hallstrom Voorhees (2003 – softball). Vince Lundeen, who was the originator of the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame back in 1977, is being inducted as an honorary member.
 
As has been the case with the Hall of Fame induction classes since it was reinstated in 2002, the accolades of the individual recipients are many. Herstedt was a three-time CCIW champion as a thrower. Carlstedt earned All-America honors as a sprinter when the Vikings were still in the College Division and before NCAA Division III. Miller was a six-time CCIW champion who was CCIW "Player of the Year" as a junior in 1981. Wolak finished second in the nation in the high jump and was an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar.
 
Lyon won the NCAA title in the indoor high jump in 1998 and that year he also had the best high jump in the world when he cleared 7' 3" during the early portion of the indoor season. Constien held five school records at one time and she helped lead Augustana to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in volleyball. Hallstrom was the CCIW "Player of the Year" in softball in 2003.
 
Lundeen had a career at Augustana that started in 1941, was interrupted by World War II, and ended in 1982. During that time he served two stints as the school's director of athletics that totaled 17 years. He was the driving force behind the inception of the Hall of Honor (now known as the Hall of Fame) and he was also instrumental in Augustana hosting five straight NCAA Division III Final Four Basketball Tournaments (1977-81) and two consecutive NCAA Cross Country Championships.
 
Not surprisingly, this group stacks up nicely with any of the previous induction classes. This group has honors both on the field of competition and in the classroom and their stories are part of the rich tradition that is Augustana athletics at its very best.
 
The "Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame" has an interesting history at Augustana. It was the brainchild of former Augustana Director of Athletics Vince Lundeen and the first class was inducted on February 19, 1977. That charter class consisted of Dr. Emil Lofgren (class of 1897), Dr. Felix Hanson (1900), Dr. E.F. Bergren (1907), Flavius Sten (1914), Knut Erickson (1916), Art Swedberg (1917), Reverend Paul Randolph (1918) and Reverend David Ekstrom (1918).
 
There were six inductions from 1977 through 1982. In Lundeen's wisdom, he drew up a charter that broke the individual classes into decades so as to better compare athletes within workable time frames. The "Hall of Honor", as it was formerly known, inducted classes by decades until 1982 when it came time to move into the 1960's. At that time, the selection committee decided to cut the 1960's in half, inducting seven athletes who graduated between 1960 and 1965.
 
For 20 years, from 1982 until homecoming weekend of 2002, the number of members in the "Tribe of Vikings Hall of Honor" stayed the same. An induction on February 20, 1982 of a class that included Jan Jamison, Tom Tingle, Terry Shockley, Lloyd "Chief" Powless, Bob Karlblom, Curt Cook and George Strombom brought the number of inductees to 49. At the time, nobody could foresee that it would be 20 years until the elite of Augustana athletics would swell past 50.
 
Lundeen retired following the 1981-82 school year and with his retirement the "Hall of Honor" went into a dormant period that lasted over two decades. It was reinstated in 2002 and with it came a name change as well, as the honorees would now be inducted into the "Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame".
 
Upon reinstatement in 2002, six athletes from 1966-69 and one honorary member (Jane Brissman) were brought on board. Brissman was joined by the Reverend Bill Lee (1966), Fred Johnson (1967), Steve Snow (1969), Jim Braet (1969), Jim Ogan (1969) and Paul Ander (1969) to make up the seventh class of inductees.
 
The "Hall of Fame" now inducts a class each year at homecoming and there have been 127 total inductees since the process was resurrected in 2002. Of the 176 total members, 162 were student-athletes, eight are honorary individual inductees, and six are honorary teams. The seven individual honorary members are Dr. C.W. Sorensen in 1978, Jane Brissman in 2002, Bob Reade and Jim Borcherding in 2004, and John Farwell and Paul Olsen in 2005, Tom Schmulbach in 2012 and Lundeen this year.
 
Last year the class included six individuals who spanned five different decades of excellence in the Augustana athletic department. The 2016 inductees were: Dave Lingner (1982 – track & field), Joe Wheeler (1985 – football), Patti Wenig Miller (1991- track & field), Corey Christenson (1997 – football, wrestling, track & field), Sarah Ainsworth Fulscher (1998 – tennis), Joe Schmulbach (2000 – football).
 
There are 10 members of the Hall of Fame committee, nine voting and one administrative. Plans are already under way for the next class. Next year's class will once again be an "open" period, meaning that any athlete in Augustana history is eligible.