Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES 2015 HALL OF FAME CLASS

Five iconic names in MAC history—Casey Cunningham, Bob Parks, Ben Roethlisberger, Gary Pinkel, George Dales—will be inducted into the MAC Hall of Fame on May 27, 2015.

Photo Clockwise: Ben Roethlisberger; Casey Cunningham; Gary Pinkel; Bob Parks; George Dales

Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today the 2015 MAC Hall of Fame Induction Class as five new members will be inducted in the MAC Hall of Fame on Wednesday, May 27 during the MAC Honor’s Dinner at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel. 

The five inductees are Casey Cunningham (Central Michigan, wrestling), Bob Parks (Eastern Michigan, men’s cross country, men’s track and field), Ben Roethlisberger (Miami, football), Gary Pinkel (Toledo/Kent State, football) and George Dales (Western Michigan, men’s cross country, men’s track and field).

“It is only appropriate for our Conference to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of our former student-athletes, coaches and administrators, specifically these five individuals, and their achievements during their time competing in the Mid-American Conference,” said Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, MAC Commissioner.  “We are honored to welcome them to the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame.”

“The Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame is a testament to the achievements of those that have competed and served in this great Conference,” added Steinbrecher.

The MAC Hall of Fame was approved by the MAC Council of Presidents in 1987.  The charter class was inducted in 1988 and subsequent classes were added in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994.  After six induction classes, the MAC Hall of Fame maintained 52 members until it was reinstated in May of 2012.  This year’s class brings the number of MAC Hall of Fame inductees to 77 individuals from 10 classes.

Tickets are available for the MAC Honor's Dinner on Wednesday, May 27 at 6:00 pm ET at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel. Contact the Mid-American Conference office at 216-566-4622.

2015 MAC Hall of Fame Class:

Casey Cunningham- Central Michigan (wrestling):
Casey Cunningham helped build the Central Michigan wrestling program into one of the top programs in MAC history.  His achievements on the mat are unmatched in Central Michigan history and his impact on the program continued as an assistant coach with the Chippewas.

Cunningham competed in Mount Pleasant from 1996-99 and was Central Michigan’s first three-time Academic All-MAC selection and earned first-team NWCA Academic All-American honors twice and was an honorable mention selection on two other occasions.

He was the 1999 NCAA National Champion at 157 pounds and was Central Michigan’s first Division I National Champion.  Cunningham was also a 1998 National runner-up.  He was a two-time All-America and a three-time MAC champion and was twice named MAC Wrestler of the Year (1998, 1999).  Cunningham was the MAC Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler in 1999 and was the MAC Freshman of the Year in 1996.

His championship resume includes three Penn State Open titles and two Midlands Championships, where he was named Champion of Champions during his senior year.  A four-time team MVP, Cunningham set school records for career winning percentage (.876, 134-19), career victories (134) and season winning percentage (.971, 34-1 in 1999).

Cunningham ranked among the top 10 wrestlers in school history in career pins (31), season winning percentage (.906, 29-3 in 1998) and single-season victories (37).  He twice competed in the NWCA All-Star Classic and led Central Michigan to the 1999 MAC Team Championship and two MAC Tournament Titles (1998-99).

Cunningham helped the Chippewas finish fifth at the 1998 NCAA National Championships and seventh at Nationals in 1999.  He has a successful post-collegiate career placing at the 2004 and 2008 USA Olympic Trials.  Cunningham also placed at the World Team Trials, National Championships, U.S. Nationals and U.S. Senior Nationals.  He also served as an assistant coach for Central Michigan for seven seasons, helping the program win seven MAC Championships and seven MAC Tournament titles.

Cunningham and his wife, Tara, have five children, Hayden, Asher, Ryder, Saige and Sterling.  They reside in University Park, Pa.


Bob Parks- Eastern Michigan (men’s track and field/men’s cross country):
Bob Parks was a collegiate runner at Eastern Michigan from 1951-55 and was the school’s Head Men’s Track and Field and Cross Country Coach for 34 years (1967-2001) and retired having established a tradition of success within the Eagles cross country and track and field programs.

Parks was a three-time letterwinner in track at Eastern Michigan (then Michigan Normal College), who won the 1951 IIAC 880 yard run and was a member of the mile relay team that held the school record for 14 years.

Under his guidance, his Eagles teams won a total of 31 MAC titles and he was named MAC Coach of the Year 22 times.  His teams won six NAIA and NCAA team titles, and he was named NCAA National Coach of the Year once and regional Coach of the Year nine times.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Parks grew up in Howell, Mich. and played high school football, basketball, baseball and track and was the Michigan High School Class B State Champion in the 440-yard dash.

He coached nine years of high school in Michigan before becoming assistant coach at Western Michigan in 1961.  In 1967, he accepted the position of head men’s track and field and cross country coach at Eastern Michigan.

Throughout his career, Parks coached eight athletes who competed in 13 Olympic Games. In fact, he coached an athlete in every Olympic Games from 1960 to 2004.  These athletes include suche track and field greats as Hasely Crawford, winner of the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal in the 100m; Earl Jones, winner of the 1984 Olympic Bronze Medal in the 800m; and Clement Chukwu, winner of the Silver Medal as part of a 4x400m relay team in the 2000 Games.

Parks coached 286 MAC and CCC conference champions and 31 NAIA and NCAA national champions, and his dual meet record stands at 162-14-1.  He coached more than 110 All-Americans; many when only three were honored per event.

Parks is honored in the Eastern Michigan University Athletics and Drake Relays Halls of Fame, and Eastern Michigan’s indoor and outdoor tracks are named in his honor.  He was named to the USTFCCA Hall of Fame in 2000.

During his career, the Eastern Michigan cross country program compiled a dual meet record of 132-24-1 for a .843 winning percentage.  His program was 75-16 (.824) in MAC action and won nine MAC titles.

Eastern Michigan student-athletes competed just as well on a national level.  In his first five years, Parks led Eastern Michigan to the NAIA and /or NCAA Division II Championship meet every year and won the 1967 and 1970 NAIA National Championship and the 1970 NCAA Division II National title. 

After joining the MAC and moving up to the NCAA Division I status in 1972, they won two district championships (1973, 1974) and qualified for the NCAA Championship meet seven times with the best finish coming in 1974 with a sixth place finish.  Parks’ teams qualified for a national championship meet (NAIA, NCAA I, II) nine times in his first 10 years.  Eastern Michigan also won seven Central Collegiate Conference crowns and nine Michigan Intercollegiate Championships.  Parks was named MAC Coach of the Year seven times, was five-time CCC Coach of the Year and twice honored as NCAA District Coach of the Year (1973 and 1974).

Parks completed his education degree in 1955.  He is now retired and he and his wife Pat reside in White Lake, Mich. and Naples, Fla.  The couple have two daughters, Sue and Sarah, and a son, Scott.  His daughter Sue Parks is the current Eastern Michigan Women’s Head Track and Field and Cross Country Coach).  The track inside Eastern Michigan’s Bowen Field House is also named in his honor.


Ben Roethlisberger- Miami (football):
Ben Roethlisberger has won a pair of Super Bowls as the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers after being selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.  With the Steelers he has thrown for 39,057 yards and 251 touchdowns, while earning three Pro Bowl appearances and earning NFL Rookie of the Year in 2004.

Just this past season he set an NFL record for passing yards (522) in a game and set another NFL record with 12 passing touchdowns combined in two games.

In his time at Miami, Roethlisberger completed 854-of-1,304 pass attempts for 10,829 yards and 84 touchdowns from 2001-03. His junior campaign was one for the ages, throwing for 4,486 yards and 37 touchdowns, leading Miami to 12-consecutive wins, including a Mid-American Conference Championship and GMAC Bowl victory.

That season alone, he captured third-team All-America honors and was just the third player in Miami history to garner the Vern Smith Award as the Mid-American Conference Most Valuable Player. Roethlisberger to this day still ranks first in Miami history in completion percentage (.655) and touchdowns, and is second in pass attempts, completions, yards and total offense (11,075).


Gary Pinkel- Toledo/Kent State (football):
Gary Pinkel has a long association with the Mid-American Conference from his time as Toledo head football coach from 1991-2000, to his origins as a Kent State football player and graduate in 1975.

In Pinkel’s 10 seasons as the head coach at Toledo, Rockets players were named to the Academic All-MAC team or Academic Honor Roll 61 times, more than any other league school over that time period. He coached two Academic All-Americans at Toledo, Craig Dues (1995, 1996) and Todd France (2000).

In 10 years as the head coach of the Rockets from 1991-2000, Pinkel racked up the most wins in school history (73), as well as the highest winning percentage (.659) among those coaches who coached for at least three seasons. He also ranks fifth in the MAC in wins, fourth in wins in MAC contests (53) and eighth in winning percentage.

He led his team to a MAC Championship in 1995, as the Rockets went 11-0-1, won the Las Vegas Bowl and ended the season ranked No. 22 in the final coaches’ poll. He also led his team to MAC West Division titles in 1997 and 1998. In his final season at Toledo in 2000, Pinkel’s Rockets went 10-1, including a 24-6 win at Penn State. His teams ranked in the Top 25 in three different seasons (1995, 1997 and 2000).

He was MAC Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1997. Pinkel left Toledo after the 2000 season to accept the head coaching position at Missouri, leading the Tigers into the top 10 in 2007 and 2008, as well as SEC East titles in 2013 and 2014. He is Missouri’s all-time leader in wins (113-66), making him the all-time victory leader at two schools. Pinkel was a three-time letterwinner as a tight end at Kent State from 1971-73. In his senior season he earned All-MAC and honorable mention All-America honors.

At Toledo, Pinkel established volunteer programs for his team with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Habitat For Humanity, as well as numerous elementary school outreach programs in the Toledo area. He has the unique distinction of being in the Hall of Fame at two MAC schools, Kent State and Toledo.


George Dales- Western Michigan (men’s cross country and men’s track and field):
George Dales led Western Michigan to the Mid-American Conference’s first and second ever team Division I National Championships. He is responsible for two of three MAC team national championships.

Dales was one of seven charter members inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also a member of the Western Michigan University Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted 1984), the Miami University Athletics Cradle of Coaches (inducted in 2006) and the Drake Relays Hall of Fame (inducted in 1985 - first MAC coach ever).

The most prestigious honor a coach can receive from the USTFCCCA is the “George Dales Award.” The award is in honor of Dales for his relentless pursuit in the growth and development of track & field and cross country over more than half a century. This award is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to a distinguished individual who, through their efforts, has enhanced the profession of coaching track & field and cross country.

During his tenure, Western Michigan won back-to-back NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1964 and 1965, and accumulated 12 (out of 13 seasons) MAC titles in track & field and another eight in cross country. His cross country teams finished in the top 10 nationally on 13 occasions. He was the 1970 NCAA Track Coach of the Year.

Dales never experienced a losing season at Western Michigan, compiling an impressive career 113-35 record in dual track meets and 79-13-1 in cross country. Dales ended his coaching career with the winningest record in MAC history from the standpoint of team victories. His teams - both cross country & track - never finished lower than third in the conference.

Dales also directed Bronco athletics to six Central Collegiate cross country crowns (1953, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966), a pair of outdoor track titles (1962, 1968) and seven indoor championships (1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966).

Among the many athletes he coached was Olympic Gold Medalist Ira Murchison, world record holder in the 100m and 1956 Olympic winner in the 4x100m. Murchison also captured the NCAA 100 yard dash title in 1958 and another Dales’ athlete, John Bork, won the 880m NCAA title three years later.

Dales’ Broncos earned 25 All-American honors, producing 11 in track & field and another 14 in cross country. Dales’ 1964 and 1965 NCAA championship teams were inducted into Western Michigan’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 becoming the first entire teams - rather than individuals - inducted into WMU’s Hall of Fame.

Dales graduated from Miami University in 1942, where he took cum laude honors, and then served three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Following discharge, he coached at East High School in his native Cleveland for three years before attending the University of Michigan for his master’s degree. Dales joined the Western Michigan staff as an Athletics and Physical Education Specialist in January 1953, and it did not take him long to build the Broncos into a national powerhouse.

Dales served as an advisor in both Greece and Mexico and in the latter assignment worked with Christos
Papanicolaou, who went on to become the world’s first 18-foot pole vaulter. Papanicolaou also worked under Dales at Western Michigan as a visiting student for several months.

Dales retired as Western Michigan University’s head track and cross-country coach in June, 1970. He continued working at the university on the physical education staff until he retired as a professor in 1987. Dales continued to serve and advance the sport for several years, holding positions as the commissioner of the Central Collegiate Conference, President of the International Track & Field Coaches Association, Editor-in-Chief of the Track & Field Review Quarterly and held the post of Secretary/Treasurer for the NCAA Division I Track & Field Coaches Association for 25 years.

Dales, age 92, resides in Kalamazoo, Mich.