.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
John Piper: BGSU Hall Of Fame Inductee
September 13, 2001 | General
Sept. 13, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome eight new members on Friday, Sept. 21. The 2001 class will be inducted during a formal dinner in Olscamp Hall on the BGSU campus. There is still time to order tickets to the dinner, as well as for the next night's football game at which the inductees will be honored.
The official induction ceremony will take place Sept. 21 in Olscamp Hall. The social hour begins at 6:00 p.m. with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the program starting shortly thereafter.
In addition, the class will be introduced at halftime of the Sept. 22 BGSU-Temple football game at Doyt Perry Stadium. The game begins at 6:00 p.m. and is designated as Varsity BG & Hall of Fame Night.
Tickets for the Sept. 21 dinner can be purchased at the Memorial Hall Ticket Office for $28 and advance reservations are required. Tickets can also be reserved by calling the ticket office at 1-877-BGSUTICKET or 372-0000. The deadline for ordering tickets for the dinner is Tuesday, Sept. 18. Football game tickets can also be purchased through the ticket office.
The public is invited to attend the induction dinner.
The class of 2001 will include basketball player Stephanie (Coe) DeSalvio '86, softball player Vicki Miwa-Hansen '90, golf coach John Piper, football and track athlete Bob Ramlow '59, cross country and track athlete Kevin Ryan '80, swimmer Andrea (Szekely) Burton '89, gymnast Cheryl (Vasil) Christiansen '80 and swimmer Don Worsfold '58.
The following is the third in a series of eight articles profiling each of the inductees:
JOHN PIPER
Piper, a native of Sandusky, Ohio, coached the Falcon golf team for 13 years, posting three MAC titles during his tenure. He guided the Brown and Orange to conference crowns in 1972, 1973 and 1978, earning MAC Coach-of-the-Year honors following the '78 campaign.
During his tenure, Piper's teams won 20 tournament titles, and posted a winning percentage of .671, based on matches and tournament finishes. He took the three MAC-championship teams to the NCAA Tournaments while sending individuals in four other years. In the decade of the 1970's, the golf team was the most successful of all BGSU sports teams in MAC competition, posting a runner-up, one third place and one fourth place finish in addition to the three titles.
In addition to his coaching duties at BGSU, Piper served two terms as the elected Secretary-Treasurer of the NCAA Golf Coaches Association (1979-83). An associate professor emeritus in the school of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at BGSU, he was selected as a finalist for the school's University Master Teacher Award by the BGSU Undergraduate Alumni Association on five occasions. In 1990, he was one of three BGSU faculty nominees for the National CASE Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award.
A 1958 graduate of Mount Union College, Piper received his Master's of Education degree in 1961. He then coached golf, basketball and football at the high-school level before becoming BGSU's freshman golf coach in 1967. Piper took over for the retired Forrest Creason as head coach three years later.
Piper currently works as a motivational speaker and consultant. He and his wife, Sylvia, have one son, Mark. Mark is a U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot.
