BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University’s Athletics Hall of Fame will expand by five by the end of 2022.
The university announced four individuals and one team will be inducted into its Athletics Hall of Fame on a date to be announced.
Individuals to be inducted include Jon Berti, Jean Campbell, Lauren Prochaska, and Kerm Stroh. The 1972 men's indoor track & field team will be inducted as the third team into the Athletics Hall of Fame.
"Congratulations to Jon, Dr. Campbell, Lauren, Kerm and the 1972 indoor track team," director of athletics Bob Moosbrugger said in a news release. "We appreciate and rightfully recognize their outstanding contributions to the rich history of BGSU Athletics. These Hall of Famers helped pave the way for our current student-athletes to achieve their own greatness."
Berti had a fruitful baseball career at BGSU which carried him to Major League Baseball. From 2009 to 2011, he was a two-time first team All-Mid-American Conference selection. He batted .368 in his freshman year, which was the highest average for a BGSU freshman since 1976. He followed that with a school record 93 hits and a .423 average.
Berti was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th round of the 2011 MLB draft. He spent the last three seasons in the majors with Miami.
In between 1966 and 1977, Campbell guided BGSU’s swimming and diving teams to five Ohio State Championships and two Midwest Championships. From 1969 to 1974, her teams won 25 consecutive dual meets. She also led the synchronized swimming team to a sixth-place finish at the AIAW Nationals in 1978. Campbell earned her PhD in Theatre from Bowling Green in 1976.
Prochaska is BGSU women’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer with 2,290 points between the 2007 to 2011 seasons. She earned first team All-MAC recognition three times, was the MAC player of the year twice, and won MAC tournament MVP twice. Prochaska is also BGSU’s all-time leader in free throws made and attempts, free-throw percentage, 3-point field goals made, games started, and consecutive games started.
During Prochaska’s stay, BGSU went 110-25 overall and 55-9 in MAC play. The Falcons won four MAC regular-season championships and two MAC tournament championships. BGSU went to two NCAA tournaments and two WNITs.
A co-founder of Moulton Gas Service, Inc., Stroh gained notoriety around the BGSU campus by giving color commentary for basketball games on WERM-AM radio in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He worked games at BGSU, and maintained connections with the university. He became a member of the BGSU Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2002 and was board chair from 1999 to 2001.
In 2008, Stroh and his family announced an $8 million gift to the university to break ground for a new convocation center, better known now as the Stroh Center, as well as scholarships and other intercollegiate funds.
The 1972 men’s indoor track and field team was the national co-runner-up, finishing one point shy of Southern California and tied with Michigan State for second. Dave Wottle won the national championship in the 800-meter run, and Sid Sink won the title in the two-mile run. Also gathering a national title at the event in Detroit was the medley relay team of Wottle, Sink, Craig MacDonald, and Ted Farver.
First Published January 28, 2022, 4:27 p.m.
