The Illinois State Department of Athletics honored a group of six outstanding individuals with induction into its Athletics Hall of Fame during Homecoming Weekend, and one who received the Campbell “Stretch” Miller award.
The 2008 class of the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame includes former student-athletes Bruce Ewen (men’s track and field), Dan Freed (baseball), Andy Isaacson (men’s gymnastics), Cindy Kaufmann (women’s basketball) and Angie Taylor (women’s track and field) and former staff member Kathy Schiedwind (athletic training). Long-time bench crew volunteer and former Redbird Club president Jeff Fritzen received the Campbell “Stretch” Miller award.
The class is the 35th in the history of the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame, which began with the charter class in 1972.
Illinois State Athletics Hall of Fame – Class of 2008
Bruce Ewen
Track and Field (1982-85)
Bruce Ewen competed in track and field from 1982 to 1985, and was Illinois State’s first All-American thrower. He was a finalist in the 35-pound weight throw at the 1985 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and a seven-time Missouri Valley Conference champion. In 1983 and ’85, Ewin won the conference title in both the indoor and outdoor shot put. He claimed a league title in the 35-pound weight throw in 1985 and the discus in 1983 and 1985 and eventually was elected to the MVC all-centennial team. Ewen was a participant in the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials and a finalist in the hammer throw. He holds the school record for the indoor shot put with a toss of 60-0 ½ and in the outdoor shot put with a throw of 59-6 ½.
Dan Freed
Baseball (1985-88)
Dan Freed pitched for the Redbirds from 1985 to 1988. As a senior, he led the team in innings pitched (82), strikeouts (67), wins (5) and ERA (2.52), and was named the team’s most valuable player. He also was a Missouri Valley Conference First-Team selection that year. Freed ended his ISU career with a 3.91 career ERA, a 20-13 record and 205 strikeouts. He played in the Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds minor league systems.
Andy Isaacson
Men’s Gymnastics (1977-80)
Gymnast Andy Isaacson (1977-80) was a three-time All-American on the pommel horse and a four-year letterwinner, who served as team captain for three years. He placed sixth on the pommel horse at the NCAA Championships three straight years and, in 1977, finished 13th on the pommel horse at the 1977 NCAA Championships. He has placed third at the Eastern Regional that year and placed fourth a year later at the Midwest Regional. Isaacson’s personal best on the pommel horse was a 9.8. He was the team’s most valuable gymnast in 1979 and 1980, and was the Redbirds’ only event winner in the exhibition meet versus South Korea in 1979.
Cindy Kaufmann
Women’s Basketball (1988-91)
Three-time All-Gateway first team player Cindy Kaufmann, who played basketball from 1988 to 1991, was elected to the Valley All-Centennial Women’s Basketball Team. She played on Illinois State’s 1989 NCAA Tournament team as well as the 1988 and 1990 WNIT teams. Kaufmann was the first Redbird to be named all-conference as a sophomore. She is one of five ISU players with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists in a career and ranks No. 2 at Illinois State in career scoring (1,684), career field goals made (662) and career three-point field goal percentage (.422). She also ranks fifth in career three-point field goals made with 129. Twice Kaufmann was Gateway Player of the Week and after graduating played professionally in Finland.
Kathy Schniedwind
Athletic Training
Kathy Schniedwind served three decades as an athletic trainer at Illinois State, including working as the head athletic trainer for the final 17 years. She became ISU’s first head women’s athletic trainer in 1976, before the departments merged in 1982. She gained national recognition working on the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports and four years ago was inducted into the National Athletic Training Association (NATA) Hall of Fame. Schniedwind was elected to the Illinois Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame and is a former chair of the NATA College and University Athletic Training Student Committee. Throughout her career, she was involved with the United States Olympic Committee and was chosen as one of the athletic trainers for the United States for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Angie Taylor
Women’s Track & Field (1984-87)
Angie Taylor competed in Redbird women’s track and field from 1984 to 1987. She was a nine-time Gateway Conference champion, a member of the Valley All-Centennial Track and Field team and was named to the Gateway All-Decade Team in 1992. Her accomplishments include being three-time conference champion in the outdoor long jump, three-time conference champion in the indoor long jump, 1987 conference champion in the indoor 55-meter high hurdles and 1987 conference champion in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles and the outdoor 100-meter dash. Taylor qualified for the 1987 NCAA Championships in the 55-meter indoor hurdles, the 55-meter outdoor hurdles and the 100-meter outdoor hurdles and, in her first year on the team, qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 55-meter indoor hurdles. She holds the school record for the outdoor long jump (20-5 ¾) and outdoor 100-meter hurdles (13.61) and ranks second in school history in the indoor long jump with a jump of 19-10 ¼.
2008 Campbell “Stretch” Miller Award Recipient
Jeff Fritzen
Campbell “Stretch” Miller Award recipient Jeff Fritzen is a 1974 alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in communications. He has served as a member of The Redbird Club’s Board of Directors since 1999 and was a member of the TRC Executive Committee from 2001-05, including his term as the TRC President in 2003-04. Since 1990, Fritzen has worked as a bench official for Redbird men’s basketball and football. Currently the executive vice president at Bloomington Offset Process, Inc. (BOPI), he is also currently serving his sixth four-year term as a councilman for the Town of Normal. Fritzen has served on four Illinois State search committees, including the director of athletics search in 2005, and has been heavily involved with the Illinois State Alumni Association since 1987. He served as the president from 1994 to 1996. In 2004, he was inducted into the University High School Alumni Hall of Fame and in 2002 received the E. Burton Mercier Alumni Service Award from Illinois State. Named the Town of Normal’s Citizen of the Year in 1999, he was honored by Illinois State in 1998 with the Outstanding Graduate in Speech Communication Award. Fritzen is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and served as the chairperson of the North Central Illinois Region Area Representative’s Advisory Council from 2001-04.
