University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2024
Six decades after capturing a conference championship and recording the program's best finish at the NCAA Championships, the 13 athletes of the 1964 State College of Iowa (SCI) men's cross country team will be recognized and inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame.
Led by Hall of Fame head coach Jack Jennett, the 1964 Panthers were a force on the course in the North Central Conference, capturing the conference team title with 36 points and all seven runners finishing in the top-20, including top-ten finishes by Bill Bergan, Mark Messersmith, Al Kniep and Ron Brinkent.
Weeks later at the NCAA College Division (now NCAA Division II) Championships, SCI saw all seven varsity athletes finish the four-mile race in under 23 minutes to take third-place with 164 points behind champion Kentucky State and runner-up Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State). Five Panthers finished individually in the top-80, led by Kniep in 25th place, Bill Taylor in 33rd and Rich Engel in 44th. The highest national championship team finish in program history, 1964 was the second of 17 consecutive seasons that the Panthers would run at the NCAA College Division Championships before making the jump to Division I in 1980.
Two members of the 1964 squad were previously inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame, including Bergan in 1997 and Coach Jennett in 1998. Meanwhile, UNI's outdoor track and field facility is named in honor of Messersmith, who also recorded a breakout track career with the Panthers.
ROSTER: Ron Brinkert, Rich Engel, Bill Bergan, Bill Taylor, Wayne Silka, Mark Messersmith, Lynn Jenison, John Sonka, Wes Barnett, Al Kneip, Head Coach Jack Jennett, Assistant Coach Don Hart.
