Courtesy: UNI Athletics
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame class will include six individuals and a team.
The 2018 class includes Terry Allen (Football), Alex Cook Oakland (Women’s Basketball), Kim McCaffrey Davis (Volleyball), Randy Omvig (Wrestling), Adam Koch (Merlin Taylor Academic Hall of Fame Award), Gary Kelley (Dr. Jitu D. Kothari Meritorious Service Award) and the 1999 UNI volleyball team.
“This is another exemplary group of UNI Hall of Famers,” UNI Director of Athletics David Harris said. “Each year we honor excellence in the Hall of Fame and this year’s class continues with that tradition. We are looking forward to their return to UNI and honoring them properly with a memorable weekend this September.”
The 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony will take place Sat., Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. in the McLeod Center. The UNI football team will open its 2018 season later that day at 4 p.m. against the Hampton Pirates in the UNI-Dome. The Hall of Fame class will also be presented at halftime of the football game.
This year marks the 34th group of hall of fame inductions for the Panther athletic department.
Terry Allen – Football
Terry Allen served as the UNI head football coach from 1989-1996 and accumulated a record of 75-26. Allen guided the Panthers to seven consecutive Gateway Football Conference championships and seven straight trips to the I-AA Playoffs. Allen was a five-time Gateway Coach of the Year, a two-time regional coach of the year and a 1996 finalist for National Coach of the Year. Allen also played quarterback at UNI from 1975-1978 and scored 32 rushing touchdowns to go along with 25 passing touchdowns.
Alex (Cook) Oakland – Women’s Basketball
Alex (Cook) Oakland is the all-time leading rebounder in UNI women’s basketball history. Cook played for the Panthers and head coach Tony DiCecco from 2001-2005. Cook became the first player in UNI history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She is one of six MVC players to have achieved the feat with 1,180 points and 1,049 rebounds. Cook recorded a program-best 44 double-doubles in her Panther career. She was a three-time first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection (2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05). She also earned a spot on the MVC’s all-defensive squad in three straight seasons (2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05). She still ranks No. 4 in MVC history with 1,049 rebounds.
Kim (McCaffrey) Davis – Volleyball
Kim (McCaffrey) Davis was a three-time all-Missouri Valley Conference honoree for the Panther volleyball squad. McCaffrey played for UNI in 1997-2001, that included a redshirt season in 1998. She was a member of two Sweet 16 squads in 1999 and 2001. In her five seasons as a student-athlete, McCaffrey helped UNI to a 132-20 (.868 winning percentage) record. She led UNI to a 54-1 all-time in the West Gym. She was a two-time first-team MVC Scholar-Athlete selection in 2000 and 2001. She earned AVCA all-district honors was named team captain as a senior. She finished her career with 1,272 kills and 1,015 digs. She became the fourth UNI Panther to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs – a list that now features eight Panthers. McCaffrey served as co-president of UNI’s SAAC while playing for the Panthers. She has served as an assistant volleyball coach at UNI for the past 17 years.
Randy Omvig – Wrestling
Randy Omvig captured four North Central Conference titles and was a four-time All-American at UNI from 1970-1975. He came to UNI after earning a state championship at Eagle Grove High School. He became the first individual to win four NCC title in the history of the league. He won the 190-pound NCC title as a freshman in 1970-71. After redshirting, he came back in 1972-73 and moved to heavyweight where he won his second NCC title, while placing fifth at the NCAA championship. He went 35-7 as a junior and placed fourth again at the NCAA meet. He capped his collegiate wrestling career with an individual national championship and team national championship in 1974-75. Omvig posted a career record of 116-29-1.
Merlin Taylor Academic Hall of Fame Award
Adam Koch – Men’s Basketball
Adam Koch capped his Panther men’s basketball career by being named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while leading UNI to its first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16. Koch helped lead the Panthers to NCAA Tournament victories over UNLV and No. 1-ranked Kansas in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 2009-2010 campaign saw the Panthers ranked in the top-25 and finished with regular season and MVC tournament titles. As a junior, he guided the Panthers to the program’s first regular season MVC crown and an MVC Tournament championship that put UNI into the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Koch was a three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete team member and a two-time first-team all-NABC district selection. In 2015, Koch was awarded the NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. He ranks No. 21 on UNI’s all-time scoring chart with 1,186 points. He ranks No. 4 on UNI’s all-time free throws made list with 446 from 2006-2010. Koch earned first-team Lowe’s Senior CLASS All-America honors in 2010.
Dr. Jitu Kothari Meritorious Service Award
Gary Kelley
Gary Kelley is a renowned artist and illustrator who received his bachelor of arts degree from UNI. He created the book covers for “Tutors to Panthers – A Brief History of UNI Athletics” and “Hardwood Journey – A History of UNI Basketball” and a number of UNI football posters and program covers over the years. He has received 37 gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York as well as Best-In-Show awards from the New York and Los Angeles Societies of Illustrators. He was elected to the NY Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2007. His client list has included Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Playboy, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated and others. He created the theme art for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game and was the official artist for the 2002 Kentucky Derby. On a larger scale, he created the author murals for Barnes and Noble Bookstores nationwide, the Google Data Center in Council Bluffs, and at UNI, the mural connecting the UNI-Dome and the McLeod Center.
1999 Volleyball Team
They had fans buzzing all season, from start to finish, and they still had plenty to talk about even when the season was over. For the UNI Panthers and their fans, the 1999 volleyball season will surely go down as one of the most memorable years in school history. UNI tasted defeat only once after beginning the season with 30 consecutive wins and the program’s first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16. UNI advanced to the Sweet 16 with NCAA Tournament victories over Ball State and Indiana. UNI entered the Sweet 16 as the only undefeated team in the country. UNI had cruised through the MVC season with a perfect 18-0 record which included in the middle a non-conference win over nationally-ranked Minnesota. UNI climbed as high as No. 15 in the AVCA Top-25 poll, which at the time was the highest ranking for an MVC team in league history. The squad featured four first-team all-MVC picks in Shannon Perry, Holly VanHofwegen, Alexandra Auker and Kim McCaffrey. Perry was named the MVC Player of the Year and tallied second-team AVCA All-America honors. Auker earned MVP status in the 1999 MVC Tournament, and Kim Kester was named the MVC Freshman of the Year. Iradge Ahrabi-Fard was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year.
1999 Team Members:
Jill Arganbright
Alexandra Auker
Andrea Carlson
Jodi DeVries
Maya Hirsch
Kim Kester
Kim McCaffrey
Shannon Perry
Jeni Schneckloth
Holly VanHofwegen
Miranda Weber
Head Coach: Iradge Ahrabi-Fard
Assistant Coaches: Bobbi Petersen, Annie Dailey
Managers: Chris Kaiser, Deann Woodin, Jared Penning
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