ISU's Pollard headlines Sertoma banquet
Three GSAA Hall of Fame inductees to be honored
By Terry Hersom Journal sports editor | Posted: Thursday, April 05, 2007
Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard will be the featured speaker Tuesday, April 17, for the annual Sertoma Sports Banquet at the Sioux City Convention Center.
Tickets are on sale now for an event which also includes induction ceremonies for the Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Among this year's three new hall of famers is former Iowa State football and track star John Arnaud, a North High graduate, who played on the United States Football League's inaugural championship team, the Michigan Panthers, in 1983.
Other new inductees are Amy (Wilhelm) Lefler, former North High and Morningside College basketball standout, and Steve Wilkinson, whose tennis career has included numerous achievements as both a player and coach.
Pollard became the Iowa State athletic director on Sept. 19, 2005, and has wasted no time having a significant impact with record ticket sales in football and basketball, record fund-raising efforts and several key head coaching hires.
Iowa State's 30,728 season ticket sales for last season were an all-time high and helped create the two largest home crowds in school history. Likewise, the 9,955 season tickets sold for men's basketball this winter were also a record total.
Meanwhile, ISU's athletic fund-raising for the first six months of 2006-07 soared to $13.9-million, exceeding the department's previous record for a full calendar year.
Pollard also announced an ambitious $135-million facility plan that includes major renovations and improvements to Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum. And, he installed three new head coaches in high-profile sports, landing Cael Sanderson in wrestling, Greg McDermott in men's basketball and Gene Chizik in football.
Arnaud was a three-year starter on Iowa State football teams coached by Donnie Duncan. A hard-hitting safety, he was nicknamed "The Land Shark'' and was hailed by Duncan as "the best athlete on the team.''
Passed over by the NFL, Arnaud left Iowa State just in time to catch on in the USFL, a spring/summer professional league that survived for three seasons. He started for the Panthers' championship team in the league's first season and later played for the Chicago Blitz and the Memphis Showboats before the league folded after its 1985 campaign.
Overshadowed by his football achievements, Arnaud was also a state champion high jumper and his prep best of 6-10 as a senior in 1979 is still the metro record. High jumping on a part-time basis while at ISU, he eventually reached a personal best of 7 feet, 2.75 inches.
Arnaud's son, Austen, a former all-state quarterback at Ames High School, was a football scholarship recruit at ISU last year and redshirted last fall.
Wilhelm-Lefler, playing the six-player game, set metro girls high school basketball records that may never be broken, scoring 66 points in a game and averaging 40.8 points per contest for her senior season in 1982-83.
At the same time, though, she was a first-team all-stater on North's 1982 state championship volleyball team, the city's first state title in that sport, and played shortstop on back-to-back state tournament teams in softball.
At Morningside, concentrating on basketball, she piled up 2,332 career points in 114 games for an average of 20.4 a game throughout four seasons as an all-conference performer. Still the all-time scoring leader at Morningside, she graduated as the No. 3 all-time leading scorer in NAIA women's basketball.
The high-scoring guard was named to the 10-member Kodak All-American team as a junior in 1986 and again after her senior campaign in 1987.
Wilkinson, representing old Central High, reached the state singles final as a junior and senior in 1958 and 1959, even though Sioux City high schools did not yet have sanctioned teams in the sport.
He moved on to the University of Iowa, where he played No. 1 singles and doubles for his final three seasons, reaching the Big Ten Conference finals.
Since 1970, Wilkinson has coached the men's tennis team at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., directing five NCAA Division III national championship teams and amassing a national record of nearly 900 wins.
In the meantime, he has continued to play at a high level throughout his life, winning a whopping 50 national titles in USTA, USPTA and National Public Parks tournaments. The USPTA's national 45-over singles champ for seven years running from 1986-92, he has achieved USTA No. 1 national rankings in four different age divisions.
Sertoma/GSAA
Sports Banquet
WHEN: Tuesday, April 17
WHERE: Sioux City Convention Center
SOCIAL: 5:30-7 p.m.
DINNER/PROGRAM: 7 p.m.
SPEAKER: Jamie Pollard, Iowa State University athletic director
PROGRAM: Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame inductions for John Arnaud, Amy (Wilhelm) Lefler and Steve Wilkinson.
TICKETS: $40 advance ($50 at the door) available by calling Jason Anderson (712-202-1264) or from any Sertoma member.
PROCEEDS: To fund various projects supported by the Sioux City Noon Sertoma Club, including:
—Assisting people with speech and hearing problems (Sertoma International’s national campaign)
—Distributing copies of the Declaration of Independence to fifth-graders in Sioux City and South Sioux City
—Distributing goodie bags to over 5,000 children who attend the Goodwill Shoe Party during the holiday season
—Developing Sertoma Park just south of The Southern Hills Mall
Tickets are on sale now for an event which also includes induction ceremonies for the Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Among this year's three new hall of famers is former Iowa State football and track star John Arnaud, a North High graduate, who played on the United States Football League's inaugural championship team, the Michigan Panthers, in 1983.
Other new inductees are Amy (Wilhelm) Lefler, former North High and Morningside College basketball standout, and Steve Wilkinson, whose tennis career has included numerous achievements as both a player and coach.
Pollard became the Iowa State athletic director on Sept. 19, 2005, and has wasted no time having a significant impact with record ticket sales in football and basketball, record fund-raising efforts and several key head coaching hires.
Iowa State's 30,728 season ticket sales for last season were an all-time high and helped create the two largest home crowds in school history. Likewise, the 9,955 season tickets sold for men's basketball this winter were also a record total.
Meanwhile, ISU's athletic fund-raising for the first six months of 2006-07 soared to $13.9-million, exceeding the department's previous record for a full calendar year.
Pollard also announced an ambitious $135-million facility plan that includes major renovations and improvements to Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum. And, he installed three new head coaches in high-profile sports, landing Cael Sanderson in wrestling, Greg McDermott in men's basketball and Gene Chizik in football.
Arnaud was a three-year starter on Iowa State football teams coached by Donnie Duncan. A hard-hitting safety, he was nicknamed "The Land Shark'' and was hailed by Duncan as "the best athlete on the team.''
Passed over by the NFL, Arnaud left Iowa State just in time to catch on in the USFL, a spring/summer professional league that survived for three seasons. He started for the Panthers' championship team in the league's first season and later played for the Chicago Blitz and the Memphis Showboats before the league folded after its 1985 campaign.
Overshadowed by his football achievements, Arnaud was also a state champion high jumper and his prep best of 6-10 as a senior in 1979 is still the metro record. High jumping on a part-time basis while at ISU, he eventually reached a personal best of 7 feet, 2.75 inches.
Arnaud's son, Austen, a former all-state quarterback at Ames High School, was a football scholarship recruit at ISU last year and redshirted last fall.
Wilhelm-Lefler, playing the six-player game, set metro girls high school basketball records that may never be broken, scoring 66 points in a game and averaging 40.8 points per contest for her senior season in 1982-83.
At the same time, though, she was a first-team all-stater on North's 1982 state championship volleyball team, the city's first state title in that sport, and played shortstop on back-to-back state tournament teams in softball.
At Morningside, concentrating on basketball, she piled up 2,332 career points in 114 games for an average of 20.4 a game throughout four seasons as an all-conference performer. Still the all-time scoring leader at Morningside, she graduated as the No. 3 all-time leading scorer in NAIA women's basketball.
The high-scoring guard was named to the 10-member Kodak All-American team as a junior in 1986 and again after her senior campaign in 1987.
Wilkinson, representing old Central High, reached the state singles final as a junior and senior in 1958 and 1959, even though Sioux City high schools did not yet have sanctioned teams in the sport.
He moved on to the University of Iowa, where he played No. 1 singles and doubles for his final three seasons, reaching the Big Ten Conference finals.
Since 1970, Wilkinson has coached the men's tennis team at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., directing five NCAA Division III national championship teams and amassing a national record of nearly 900 wins.
In the meantime, he has continued to play at a high level throughout his life, winning a whopping 50 national titles in USTA, USPTA and National Public Parks tournaments. The USPTA's national 45-over singles champ for seven years running from 1986-92, he has achieved USTA No. 1 national rankings in four different age divisions.
Sertoma/GSAA
Sports Banquet
WHEN: Tuesday, April 17
WHERE: Sioux City Convention Center
SOCIAL: 5:30-7 p.m.
DINNER/PROGRAM: 7 p.m.
SPEAKER: Jamie Pollard, Iowa State University athletic director
PROGRAM: Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame inductions for John Arnaud, Amy (Wilhelm) Lefler and Steve Wilkinson.
TICKETS: $40 advance ($50 at the door) available by calling Jason Anderson (712-202-1264) or from any Sertoma member.
PROCEEDS: To fund various projects supported by the Sioux City Noon Sertoma Club, including:
—Assisting people with speech and hearing problems (Sertoma International’s national campaign)
—Distributing copies of the Declaration of Independence to fifth-graders in Sioux City and South Sioux City
—Distributing goodie bags to over 5,000 children who attend the Goodwill Shoe Party during the holiday season
—Developing Sertoma Park just south of The Southern Hills Mall
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