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Oct. 15, 2008

Cedar Falls, Iowa- The 1977 University of Northern Iowa softball team was inducted into the UNI Hall of Fame this past weekend during the halftime of the UNI-Illinois State football game.

Only a few short years after softball became an organized varsity sport at UNI the Panther women's softball team did something that only one other team sport can pride itself on at UNI. In 1977, the Panther women's softball team claimed a national title.

UNI adopted softball as an official varsity sport in 1972 under the direction of head coach Jane Mertesdorf. The following year, UNI qualified for its first Women's College World Series, and made it again in 1975.  That year, the Panthers topped Northern State College, Texas and Indiana State before losing to Northern Colorado and settling for a runner-up finish.

UNI's sights were set on the top spot however, and in 1977 18 women finished what many of them started just a few years earlier. In the 1977 WCWS the Panthers posted decisive victories over Southern Illinois and Kansas, allowing neither team to score in the first two rounds. But the Panthers were just warming up the bats.  In the next game, UNI put seven runs on the board and came out with a 7-3 win over Michigan State, giving the Panthers their second chance at the national title.

UNI won the first game against Arizona, 1-0, in eight innings, but fell, 1-0, in the second game. UNI failed to give up, and put the exclamation point on the stellar season with a win over Arizona in the third game, 7-0.

The Panthers finished the season 30-2, which still marks the best season in UNI softball history. Both the Panthers' losses that season came by only one run, a 1-0 loss to Luther, and the 1-0 loss to Arizona in WCWS finals.

Head coach Jane Mertesdorf coached seven seasons of Panther softball, amassing an impressive record of 128-33 (.742) and taking the Panthers to four WCWS.

The members of the 1977 WCWS National Championship team were: Janeen Benson, Jan Duffy (Bernhardt), Joyce Willms (Bernhardt), Connie Lukes (Bruess), Sue Goodall (Coakley), Vanessa Fulton, Sharon Johnson, Teresa Kennedy, Kris Gustafson (McCartney), Julie Semprini (Olson), D.J. Parker, Carol List (Rankin), Jeanelle Sidwell (Robins), Kathy Monroe (Santi), Pam Merron (Schneider), Pat Stockman-Sann, Michelle Grost (Thomas), and Barb Carter (Wahlstrom).  Diane Eckhardt (Braun) was the assistant coach, and Jane Mertesdorf was head coach.