Madison, Wis. - Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse head coach Mark Guthrie has been selected the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Track & Field All-Time Coach that will be recognized in conjunction with the conference's upcoming Centennial Celebration.  Twenty-one former UW-L student-athletes have also been named to the WIAC All-Time Men's Track & Field Team.

The Eagles' Brett Altergott (1994-98); Kevin Becker (2004-07); Dean Cash/Ajamu Olaniyan (1989-92); David Coates (1991-94);  Jim Drews (1971-74); Stan Druckrey (1967-70); Jim Hanson (1975-78); Joe Hanson (1974-77); Jim Nelson (2001-04); Tom Newberry (1983-86); Earl Novotney (1985-88); Nate Olson (2003-06); Bobby Riley (2005, 2007-09); Andrew Rock (2001-04); Hans Schmidt (2001-04); Mike Schnur (1994-97); Bill Schroeder (1990-93); Terry Strouf (1985-89); Derek Toshner (2001-04); Mike Turgeon (2002-04); and Danny Tutskey (1999-2002) have all earned recognition on the all-time team.  A total of 51 student-athletes were named to the all-time.

All-Time Teams are being selected in those men's and women's sports that have been classified as “championship” sports at some point during the conference's 100-year history. Additional teams will be released on a weekly basis throughout much of the 2011-12 academic year.

For the complete list of the WIAC Men's Track & Field All-Time Team, click here.

Guthrie served as head coach of the men's track & field program at UW-L from 1988 to 2006.  He led the Eagles to 22 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championships, including 12 indoor and 10 outdoor.  UW-L swept the indoor and outdoor national titles in ten different seasons (1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006).

His peers in the United States Track Coaches Association (now the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) named Guthrie the Division III National Coach of the Year eight times and regional coach of the year on 11 different occasions.

Under Guthrie's direction, UW-L won 34 WIAC titles and he was selected the conference coach of the year 16 times.

In 1997 he was selected first vice-president of the USTCA (now USTFCCCA) Division III Track & Field Coaches and served as the Division III Track and Field president from 2000 to 2004.  In 2004 he was awarded United States Sports Academy's Distinguished Service Award.

He was inducted into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame in 2008.

Guthrie currently serves as an assistant track & field coach at the University of Wisconsin, a position he has held since 2007.

WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner remarked that this has been an extremely difficult process given the 100-year span and incomparable success the conference has experienced in most of its sports. Karner noted that in some sports, even achieving All-American status didn't necessarily guarantee an athlete a spot on the team. He also acknowledged that while disagreement is inherent and expected whenever there is a selection of an all-time anything (be it a team, restaurant or movie), the conference nonetheless felt it important to recognize student-athletes and coaches who have contributed to the success of the most accomplished Division III conference in NCAA history.

The student-athlete representation on each team has relied heavily on input provided by the sports information director from each of the nine WIAC campuses, while the process for selecting the head coach(es) for each team also includes input from a panel of media representatives. The number of individuals selected per team varies depending upon the nature of the sport itself as well as the number of years the sport has/had been sponsored within the conference.

The conference has also elected to establish a special “legacy” category to recognize those student-athletes and coaches who had extremely accomplished careers but competed during an era(s) when the compilation of statistical data was spotty at best and/or the style of play at that time does not translate for comparative purposes to the stats prevalent in the modern era. The WIAC “Legacy Team” will also be named at a later date.

All-Time Team members will receive certificates from the conference and it is hoped that most, if not all, of the recipients will be in attendance or represented at the WIAC Centennial Banquet to be held at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on August 4, 2012.

More information on the activities and events associated with the WIAC Centennial can be accessed via the WIAC website at www.wiacsports.com.