University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Tyler Mulder, Lisa Bluder named to MVC Hall of Fame induction class of 2025
12/18/2024 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Track and Field
Former NCAA track champion and women’s basketball player turned coach among six named to this year’s class.
ST. LOUIS --- The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) on Wednesday afternoon announced that former Panther track and field legend Tyler Mulder, as well as former UNI women's basketball player and later St. Ambrose, Drake and Iowa coach Lisa Bluder as members of the league's 2025 Hall of Fame induction class.
Both Mulder and Bluder will be honored during the league's Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 7 during the State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Tournament in St. Louis. Tickets to the 2025 Hall of Fame event, which will be held at Stifel Theatre adjacent to Enterprise Center can be obtained by contacting the league office. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
"One of the great rewards that comes with representing a conference with the tremendous history of the Missouri Valley is the opportunity to engage with some of the finest practitioners and best leaders in our industry," said MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson of this year's honorees. "This class represents the reach of The Valley in and away from the athletic arena. We are all truly inspired by their achievements and touched by their grace."
TYLER MULDER - Track & Field
The current head track & field coach at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Tyler Mulder was a standout performer on the track for the Panthers from 2005 to 2009. He was an eight-time All-American and won the 800-meter national title at the 2008 NCAA Indoor National Championships. Mulder holds Panther school records in the 800m, 1000m, 4x400m relay, sprint medley relay and distance medley relay.
Mulder, who was the fourth UNI track and field competitor to win an individual national title in school history, concluded his collegiate career in 2009 as an eight-time NCAA qualifier, seven-time NCAA regional qualifier and a 16-time MVC champion. He was named the MVC's Most Outstanding Track Athlete at the 2008 and 2009 MVC Indoor Championships.
Following his collegiate career, Mulder joined the Oregon Track Club, where he reached the 800m final at the 2009 USA Track & Field Championships. In 2010, he placed third at the USA Indoors and fourth at the USA Outdoors. In 2011, Mulder placed fourth at the USA Championships and just missed qualifying for the World Championships. He took fourth-place honors at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Mulder placed fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012. He set his personal best in the 800 with a time of 1:44.34 in Monaco in 2013. He's the fastest ever Iowan in the 800 and in the mile (3:57.37).
Mulder was named the St. Ambrose head track & field coach prior to the 2022-23 season. He also assists the Fighting Bee cross country teams. In his first year with the Bees, Mulder coached four All-Americans as his student-athletes set numerous school records. In the record breaking 2023-24 season, Mulder coached two dual All-American athletes (indoor and outdoor). He coached a former Bee who ran at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Mulder joined St. Ambrose after spending five seasons as the head coach of the track & field and cross country teams at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo. He coached seven cross country All-Americans and 59 track & field All-Americans, including an indoor men's national championship 4x800m relay team, at Hawkeye. Multiple Redtail athletes moved to NCAA and NAIA programs under his watch.
A native of Orange City, Iowa, Mulder is a graduate of Unity Christian High School. He was inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014, as well as the Iowa High School Hall of Fame.
LISA BLUDER - Women's Basketball
While best known for her time as the head women's basketball coach at St. Ambrose, Drake and Iowa, UNI alum Lisa Bluder got her roots in college basketball playing her career in Cedar Falls with the Panthers from 1979 to 1983.
Bluder served as the Drake women's basketball head coach from 1990-2000. She began her coaching career at St. Ambrose, where she compiled a 169-36 mark in six seasons, leading St. Ambrose to the NAIA Fab Four in 1989 and 1990.
While at Drake, she earned four MVC tournament titles (1995, 1997, 1998, 2000), three MVC regular season crowns (1997, 1998, 2000) and won 20+ games in five of her last six seasons on the Drake bench. A three-time MVC Coach of the Year, Bluder led her teams to a top-four finish in the league standings eight of her ten seasons in the conference.
With a cumulative record of 188-105 (.642), she owns the second-most wins in Drake school history. After her successful run at Drake, Bluder became the all-time winningest coach at the University of Iowa, with a record of 528-254. Her 528 wins are the most in Iowa history, surpassing Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer.
As head coach of the Hawkeyes, she led her teams to 22 postseason appearances (18 NCAA and four WNIT). Bluder was a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2001, 2008, 2010), and she was the WBCA Regional Coach of the Year four times (2001, 2008, 2018, 2019). Under Bluder, Iowa won the Big Ten Tournament championship five times (2001, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and was twice a Big Ten regular season champion (2008, 2022).
The Hawkeyes made back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances in 2023 and 2024 as Iowa was national runner-up in each of those seasons. The 2019 Naismith College Coach of the Year, Bluder retired from Iowa following the 2023-24 season with the tenth-most wins in NCAA history, with an overall record of 884-396.
Bluder also served as head coach of the United States national women's basketball team at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, earning a silver medal in the event.
Bluder was inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000, and is also a member of the Des Moines Register Hall of Fame, the Quad City Times Hall of Fame and Linn-Mar High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Mulder and Bluder are two of the six individuals being inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame this coming March:
- Lisa Bluder (Drake) [Women's Basketball]
- Tyler Mulder (UNI) [Track & Field]
- Marcellus Sommerville (Bradley) [Men's Basketball]
- Bob Warn (Indiana State) [Baseball]
- Bruce Weber (Southern Illinois) [Men's Basketball]
- Betty Wiseman (Belmont) [Morrison Award For Contribution]
Mulder and Bluder will become the sixth and seventh UNI honorees to be join the MVC Hall of Fame:
- 2011 - Iradge Ahrabi-Fard (Volleyball)
- 2012 - Joey Woody (Track & Field)
- 2013 - Molly O'Brien (Volleyball)
- 2014 - Chris Bucknam (Track & Field)
- 2024 - Bob Bowlsby (Athletic Director; Lifetime Achievement)
- 2025 - Tyler Mulder (Track & Field)
- 2025 - Lisa Bluder (Women's Basketball)
UNI Athletics action can be followed all year long on social media on Facebook (UNI Athletics), X (@UNIAthletics) and on Instagram (@uniathletics). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
