For more information regarding MSU Athletics, please choose an item listed on the leftside of this page.
When A.B. Morris was added to the faculty in 1919, it signaled the true beginning of varsity athletics at Mankato State Teachers College. Concerned about the lack of male students on campus, Morris, a former coach back in Kansas, convinced President Cooper to hire C.P. Blakeslee to coach the basketball team. Blakeslee was a physical educator and coach at Mankato High School prior to coming to MSU (we were known as Mankato State Teachers College then). Blakeslee coached the first year (1921) and then left to take a job at a junior college in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. Hugh Jamison, the physical education director at the Mankato YMCA, took his place as coach/AD. Blakeslee was rehired two years later and the rest, as they say, is history.
Only the Green Bay Packers, with 45 straight seasons in DePere, Wis., have a longer summer NFL training camp tenure than the Minnesota Vikings' 40 seasons at MSU.
When MSU quarterback Jamie Pass was a finalist for the 1993 NCAA Division II Player of the Year Award (aka. The Harlon Hill Trophy), ironically enough, one of the other finalists was a running back from North Alabama named Tyrone Rush. Alas, Pass finished third, Rush was second and the award went to the third finalist, the more commonly-named Roger Graham, a running back from the University of New Haven.
Currently serving as Director of Security for the U.S. Olympic Committee is former MSU basketball guard Larry Beundorf (MSU '59). Formerly a member of the United States Secret Service, Beundorf was the agent credited with the capture of "Squeeky" Fromme during the Gerald Ford assassination attempt.
MSU's oldest varsity sport is men's basketball (1921). MSU's newest sport is women's bowling (2004-05).
MSU's Forrest "Butch" Meyeraan made 20 of 20 free throws in a game against Wisconsin-River Falls, Feb. 21, 1961 to establish a NCAA Division II record for free throw percentage in a game.
Football began at MSU in 1922, was put on hold for three seasons (1943, 1944, 1945) during World War II, was discontinued for one season (1976), but brought back a year later (1977).
Former MSU hockey forward Mike Ciolli (MSU 1989-93) was a member of the USA Inline Hockey National Team that competed at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The St. Louis, Mo., native totalled 125 points in 135 games during his MSU career.
MSU's first conference affiliation began in 1923 with the Little 10, which consisted of Mankato State Teachers College, Winona, St. Cloud, Duluth, Bemidji and five JUCOs. In 1932 the Minnesota Northern Teachers College Conference was formed with MSTC, Duluth, Winona, St. Cloud, Bemidji and Moorhead joining. This lasted until the mid 1950's when MSTC, Winona, St. Cloud, Bemidji and Moorhead formed the Minnesota State College Conference. In 1957 the Northern State Conference included Mankato, Winona, St. Cloud, Bemidji, Moorhead and Michigan Tech. The named was changed in the 1960's to the Northern Intercollegiate Conference. MSU left the NIC following the 1968-69 season to join the North Central Conference. MSU was readmitted into the NIC for the 1978-79, 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons before rejoining the NCC in 1981-82.
Since becoming members of the North Central Conference in 1969 (MSU left the NCC for three years in the late '70s, early '80s) 75 team titles have come MSU's way. The MSU baseball team has won 19 titles during that span, the men's golf team ten championships, the men's cross country team has won nine and the women's golf team six.
The MSU Department of Athletics finished 10th in the 2004-05 Directors' Cup national standings. Our men's basketball team ranked 12th in the country in Division II attendance and our men's hockey team ranked 22nd in Division I. MSU's 23 teams totalled 20All-Americans, had 97 student-athletes earn all-conference and/or academic all-conference honors, had two student-athletes featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd, won three North Central Conference team titles, captured the 2004-05 NCC Men's All-Sports Trophy and claimed the 2005 NCC Cup - emblematic of the top athletic department in the league.
Widely-regarded as MSU's all-time best women's basketball player, Lisa (Walters) Sukalski was a two-time All-American and was named the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in 1988. The North Central Conference's recipient of the Stan Marshall Award as the league's senior female Athlete of the year in 1988, Walters was a three-time All-NCC pick and upon the conclusion of her career, owned school and conference career records for points, rebounds, field goals and free throws.
Since 1977 MSU athletic teams have been called the Mavericks. Prior to that our teams were called the Indians beginning in 1935, but before that the teams were known, variously, as the Peds (short for pedagogue "meaning school teacher or educator"), the Orangemen" and the "Purples."
An all-conference performer in three different sports during his MSU career, Bob Will was MSU's Athlete of the Year in 1954. He was the conference batting champ with a .600 average, led the football team in total yards and touchdowns and was captain of the basketball team. Will went on to play in 410 big league games as an outfielder with the Chicago Cubs from 1957-63.
The most dominant pitcher in MSU softball history, Carri Tschida-Petronack led the nation in wins twice during her career - 1987 and 1989 with 35 both seasons. Tschida led MSU to two NCC titles and two trips to the NCAA post-season tournament. Named the NCC's Pitcher of the Year in 1987 and 1989, she led the Mavericks to a third-place finish at the national tourney in 1987.
In 1952 MSTC held membership in the NAIA and was an associate member in the NCAA. The latter membership allowed our wrestlers to compete in a postseason tourney. When the NAIA added wrestling Mankato State was asked to host the first tourney and did so in 1958. MSU won the national title, but lost money in the process. MSU participated in both tourneys again the following year since the NAIA tourney was held in nearby Dekalb, Ill. However in 1960 both tourneys were held in eastern states on consecutive weeks. Since this would require the wrestlers to miss two weeks of classes, the Athletic Committee would not approve travel to both tournaments and the team chose to go to the more prestigeous NCAA meet. The NAIA board was quite upset, expecting the champion from the two previous tournies to defend its crown. Though Mankato argued that the missed classes and heavy expense had to be considered, the NAIA placed the college on probation for one year. Mankato felt that it must not make a choice and the NCAA was chosen.
After serving stints in athletic administration at Wake Forest and Colorado College, former MSU punter Joel Nielsen was named Director of Athletics at the University of South Dakota in 2003. Nielsen, a Latimer, Iowa native, led the North Central Conference in punting in 1984 with a 42.7 mark and his 41.5 overall average ranked 8th in NCAA Division II. Up until the 1999 season, Nielsen's 73-yard punt in a game against the University of North Dakota in 1984 was a school record.
Originally our school colors were purple and gold, just as they are now. But in a homecoming game in 1936, MSU lost a coin toss to Winona State, who had the same colors. Our teams then wore orange and black or orange and dark blue until 1956 when purple (PMS 269) and gold (PMS 108) was officially reinstated as the official colors for our teams.
MSU alum Jerilyn Britz (MSU 1961-65) joined the LPGA in 1974 and in 1979 became the oldest first-time winner on the tour. A two-time winner on the tour, Britz captured the 1979 Women's U.S. Open and the 1980 Mary Kay Classic. Britz placed second at the LPGA Chapionship in 1979 and in 1981. The Luverne, Minn., native was named Golf Digest's Most Improved Golfer of the Year in 1979 and won nearly $600,000 in 25 years as a pro. And how 'bout this one...she finished fifth at the 1980 Women's Superstars Competition!
Former MSU football standout Alex Smetka was an all-conference guard before graduating in 1932. A 1964 MSU Hall of Fame inductee, Smetka went on to become the mayor of Rochester, Minn.
On Sept. 18, 1998, citing a goal of making MSU "the other great public University in Minnesota," then-president, Dr. Richard Rush announced that Mankato State University would become known as Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Changing the name of the institution is not unprecedented at MSU with several tweaks taking place during the course of time. Here's a quick look at the evolution:
| 1868 | Mankato Normal School |
| 1921 | Mankato State Teachers College |
| 1957 | Mankato State College |
| 1975 | Mankato State University |
| 1998 | Minnesota State University, Mankato |
According to official University guidelines, there are only three acceptable usages of the school name. The first is "Minnesota State University, Mankato" and this is only to be used in the first reference of the school. Following that, the only other acceptable usages of the school name are "Minnesota State" or "MSU" and no others. Minnesota State Athletic Communications sincerely appreciates all cooperation in this matter.
