CEDAR FALLS – UNI Athletics will celebrate the careers and accomplishments of six individuals and one team as it announced the members of its 2023 Hall of Fame induction class.
This year’s individual honorees include a pair of standout track and field athletes in Paige (Knodle) Bohannon and Terrance Reid, former Panther quarterback Ryan Helming and three-time All-American wrestler Sean Stender. UNI’s historic 2010-11 women’s basketball team will also be inducted.
Softball player Karen (Vande Voort) Harrell will be recognized as this year’s recipient of the Merlin Taylor Academic Hall of Fame Award, while former UNI business administrator Julie Bright will be honored as the winner of this year’s Dr. Jitu D. Kothari Meritorious Service Award.
The induction ceremony will kick off Hall of Fame weekend on September 8:
5:30 p.m. social hour | 6:30 p.m. dinner | 7:20 p.m. program
Bien Venu Event Center | 7400 Hudson Road, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Tickets to the event are available to the public and can be purchased online by clicking HERE. The cost of an adult meal is $40 and $15 for children 3-11. Youth aged two years and younger without a meal are free. A cash bar will also be available.
This year’s inductees also will be honored in the UNI-Dome at halftime of the Weber State football game that begins at 4 p.m. on September 9.
PAIGE (KNODLE) BOHANNON | Women’s Track & Field
One of the most decorated female track and field athletes in UNI history, Paige (Knodle) Bohannon’s all-around abilities catapulted her to a standout career with the Panthers from 2012 to 2016.
A three-time NCAA All-American from Byron, Illinois, Knodle placed 17th in heptathlon with All-American Honorable Mention recognition in 2013 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She would take fourth the following season, as well as eighth in the event in 2016. Knodle also qualified in the pentathlon for the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships, placing 13th overall.
Elected four times as a team captain, Knodle was widely recognized as one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s top performers, being named MVC Most Valuable Athlete of the Meet three times, including twice during the outdoor season. She also earned Most Outstanding Track Athlete honors, as well as Most Outstanding Field Athlete recognition two times each during her career.
Winning her first individual conference championship as a sophomore in the javelin, Knodle won a total of six MVC titles, taking home gold in the 2014 MVC heptathlon competition. During her senior season in 2016, she won three events at the conference championship meets, including the pentathlon, 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. Knodle finished her career holding school records in seven events, as well as two conference records in the pentathlon and heptathlon. A decorated student in the classroom, she also was named an MVC Scholar-Athlete in 2016.
Following her graduation from UNI, Knodle spent a season coaching at Iowa State before joining the track and field staff at Iowa, specializing in coaching multi-event athletes, hurdles and vertical jumps. She currently resides in North Liberty, Iowa with her husband, former UNI men’s basketball player Matt Bohannon, and their son, Booker, and daughter, Bowie.
RYAN HELMING | Football
If you looked at UNI’s football record book, you would know that Ryan Helming left his mark as a Panther signal caller.
A four-year quarterback and three-year starter for the Panthers from 1997 through 2000, Helming’s arm strength and accuracy helped make the Springfield, Missouri native one of UNI’s most efficient passers in program history, guiding UNI to 22 wins during his starting career. After earning all-conference honorable mention recognition in 1998, Helming dominated the Gateway Conference in 1999 with a school record 3,469 passing yards and 31 touchdowns through the air as a junior, which included the posting of the program’s fifth-best single-season pass efficiency rating of 153.5. Helming also set UNI’s single-game school records for passing yards (541) and total yards gained (548) in a win at Western Illinois. Helming followed up his impressive 1999 campaign with an identical performance as a senior in 2000, recording 3,145 passing yards and 30 touchdown passes, becoming the only passer in program history with multiple 30+ touchdown pass seasons.
Having thrown a touchdown pass in a program-record 22 consecutive games, Helming finished his career as both the UNI and the Gateway Conference’s all-time leader in pass completions (662), passing yards (9,089), passing touchdowns (77), and total offense (9,217). A two-time First Team All-Conference passer and four-time conference Offensive Player of the Week, he picked up Second Team All-American honors in 1999 and earned First Team All-American recognition the following year. Helming was also named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Silver Anniversary Team in 2009.
Following his collegiate career, Helming participated in brief stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams, as well as the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League. Currently a strategic portfolio manager for Farm Bureau Financial Services, Helming currently resides in Johnson, Iowa with his wife Emily, and children Ava, Trevin and Harper.
TERRANCE REID | Men’s Track & Field
In a decade where UNI men’s track and field dominated the Missouri Valley Conference, Terrance Reid’s speed and success left an indomitable mark on the Panther program.
The Davenport, Iowa native made an immediate impact for the Panthers during a stretch where UNI won ten consecutive team indoor conference titles. Reid’s abilities as a sprinter helped UNI capture four straight MVC indoor team championships and three outdoor team titles, primarily as a 200 and 400-meter runner.
As a freshman in 2005, Reid was part of the Panthers’ 4×400-meter relay team that finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships, capturing the first of his eight All-American honors. UNI’s 4×400-meter relay team would go on to qualify for the outdoor national championships that year as well, finishing in eighth place. Reid was also part of a gold medal winning team for the United States at the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in the 4×400-meter relay.
In 2007, Reid captured his first MVC individual championship in the indoor 200-meter dash, while continuing to contribute to UNI’s success in relay competition. He was also named the Co-Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the 2007 MVC Outdoor Championships after contributing to Panther victories in the relays, and winning the first of three straight conference titles in the 400-meter dash.
Reid was part of both the UNI and MVC record-setting in the indoor 4×400-meter relay team, and was part of four of the five fastest relay times in the event in school history. He also is part of the program’s sprint medley relay school-record team, and ranks second all-time in school history in both the indoor and outdoor 400-meter dash.
Reid graduated from UNI in 2009 after a final season where he was named the MVC’s Outdoor Championships MVP, and took 13th place in the 400 meters at the NCAA Championships. He later spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the Panthers.
SEAN STENDER | Wrestling
Described as a “good on his feet wrestler who had the ability to score takedowns on his opponents when needed,” Sean Stender was among UNI’s top wrestlers of the 2000s, putting the Panthers on the national stage with deep runs in the NCAA Tournament.
A native of Donahue, Iowa, Stender came to UNI after compiling 149 wins at North Scott High School with a state title as a senior at 189 pounds. The three-time high school state medalist quickly became one of the nation’s top contenders at 197 pounds with 94 career wins, including 37 victories in dual meets.
Stender qualified for his first NCAA Tournament as a sophomore following an NCAA West Regional championship. After earning fourth at nationals in 2003 in Kansas City, he joined teammates Eric Hauan and Dylan Long as participants in the 2004 NWCA All-Star Classic, an honor only ten other Panther wrestlers had received all-time.
Stender earned his second NCAA Regional title and trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, winning his first three matches before finishing in sixth place in St. Louis. Saving his best season for his last, he won 37 bouts during his 2004-05 senior season with seven pins and four major decision victories. Clinching his third NCAA Regional crown, Stender earned the five-seed for the national championships in St. Louis cruised into the 197-pound final, falling short of an NCAA title in a 5-4 decision to Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State.
Stender is one of just nine UNI wrestlers all-time to be named a three-time NCAA All-American. Following his collegiate career, he continued to wrestle on the national stage while also serving as a volunteer assistant coach for UNI, competing at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in the Freestyle 97 kilogram bracket where he finished third.
Stender is currently a Field Sales Consultant for Henry Schein Dental in Polk City, Iowa, where he resides with his wife Angie, and their three children, Owen, Mosley and Sawyer.
2010-11 UNI WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
Recording a program-record 27 wins and a 19-game winning streak, the 2010-11 UNI women’s basketball team was best remembered for its defensive excellence, which helped carry the Panthers to its first Missouri Valley Conference’s regular season championship, as well as a second consecutive league tournament title and the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
Led by MVC Player of the Year Jacqui Kalin, First Team All-MVC center Lizzie Boeck and All-Defensive Team selection Erin Brocka, UNI posted a 17-1 record in conference play during a year in which also saw then-school records be set for points scored (2,300) and total assists (475). UNI’s potent defense made its mark by setting team records for lowest opponent scoring average (54.8) field goal shooting percentage (35.9%), three-point shooting accuracy (26.2%) and scoring margin, all records that stand to this day. The Panthers recorded an astonishing 22 victories by double-digits and held their opponents under 40 points four times throughout the season, including a three-game stretch in January 2011 of allowing just 36.7 points a game.
Winning the program’s first MVC regular season title in school history by a five-game margin, head coach Tanya Warren was named MVC Coach of the Year as the Panthers rolled through the conference tournament in St. Charles, Missouri, defeating Bradley, Wichita State and Missouri State all by double-digits to earn the program’s second trip to the NCAA Tournament. UNI would match up as 13-seed against Michigan State, coming up short of an upset against the fourth-seeded Spartans in a narrow three-point game.
PLAYERS: Front row (left to right): Lindsey Cain, Rachel Madrigal, Tiffanie Porter, Katelin Oney, K.K. Armstrong, Brooke Brown, Jacqui Kalin. Back row (left to right): Mercedees Morgan, Jess McDowell, Erin Brocka, Lizzie Boeck, Amanda Barton, Amber Kirschbaum.
STAFF: Head Coach Tanya Warren, Assistant Coach Brad Nelson, Assistant Coach Adam DeJoode, Assistant Coach Sami Allison, Graduate Assistant Courtney Felke, Director of Operations Kelley Jacobs, Athletic Trainer Emily Callahan, Head Manager Josh Ostrem, Student Assistant Kat Fairchild, Student Assistant Kerri Jo Miller.
KAREN (VANDE VOORT) HARRILL | Merlin Taylor Academic Hall of Fame Award
A four-year starter behind the plate, Karen (Vande Voort) Harrill’s athletic skills as a softball player were equally matched by her academic success in the classroom.
Vande Voort’s impact on the UNI softball program helped the Panthers build towards a record-breaking season in 1994 with the program’s first 40-win season. Vande Voort was named University of Northern Iowa Softball Rookie of the Year in 1991, Second Team All-MVC conference selection in 1993 and First Team All-MVC conference selection in 1994. She was also the University of Northern Iowa’s NCAA Woman of the Year in 1993-1994. Vande Voort’s academic excellence was equally impressive as she caught behind the plate for her entire career.
Vande Voort, a NFCA Second Team All-Region and MVC All-Tournament Team selection, was named an MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete during her junior and senior campaigns (1993, 1994), and also earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American recognition in 1992 and 1994. As of today, she is one of 11 Panthers all-time to earn multiple CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, and was only the second to receive recognition in consecutive years at the time of her graduation.
After graduating from UNI, Vande Voort would go on to coach high school softball in Iowa at Lynnville-Sully, Union, and her alma mater, Pella Christian, where in 2021 she would take the Eagles to their first state tournament since her senior season in high school in 1990. Today, Vande Voort serves as an assistant coach at Marshalltown Community College. She currently resides north of Pella, Iowa with her husband Rick, and their children Amanda, Natalie and Karson.
JULIE BRIGHT | Dr. Jitu D. Kothari Meritorious Service Award
Having spent over four decades in college athletic administration, Julie Bright spent the majority of her career with the purple and gold, helping oversee business operations for UNI’s athletic department and the UNI-Dome.
A 1975 UNI graduate with a degree in business-marketing, Bright started as the first permanent employee of the newly opened UNI-Dome in April 1976 overseeing business operations for a wide variety of special events, including many sold out concerts. Her focus shifted to Panther athletic business management in 1985 while still having financial oversight of UNI-Dome operations. Bright’s duties included budget development and management, financial reporting and travel. She coordinated football and basketball conference and NCAA postseason travel, including the football program’s national championship game appearance in 2005. Bright established UNI’s trademark licensing program in the 1990s as a new athletics revenue stream, federally registering the existing wordmarks and logos, and coordinating the design development for the current Panther logos.
Bright was a pioneer in the world of college business and was a member of the College Athletic Business Management Association (CABMA) for 34 years. She served several years on its executive committee and was elected president of the organization during the 2000-01 school year. She was named CABMA’s Manager of the Year in 2001. She was also recognized in 2002 with the Iowa Board of Regents Staff Excellence Award for her work representing UNI.
By the time she departed UNI in 2006, Bright had served under five athletic directors, and been elevated to the role of Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Women’s Administrator. Bright served as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration at Iowa State University from 2006 until her retirement in 2019, where she served as the department’s chief financial officer and oversaw accounting and business services, as well as travel, human resources, equipment services, technical/video services, information technology, construction projects and management of Hilton Coliseum. During her run at ISU, she also served on the executive committee for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). In recognition of her long and distinguished career, she was honored in 2019 with CABMA’s Kenneth E. Farris, Sr. Award for her lifetime achievement in athletic business management.
Enjoying retirement, Julie currently resides in New Hartford, Iowa, with her husband David.
