Ram Report
Honoring Barron Bremner
There were two new honors this fall for Cornell fixture Barron Bremner. The college held an event to honor the legacy of the longtime coach, athletic director, and teacher (along with many other positions!), and Cornell and Coe announced the formation of the Bremner Cup.
The cup will feature the long-time rivals competing for an all-sport traveling trophy named in honor of Bremner, a legendary coach and administrator with 42 collective years of service at the two institutions.
The Bremner celebration, held at the Small Multi-Sport Center, featured colleagues and former students who spoke of what Bremner taught them.
Steve Miller ’65, former athletic director, football coach, and associate director of development, emceed the event. He told the crowd of the impact Bremner had on the hundreds of students he coached and taught during his time at Cornell, and how he filled every role with characteristic vigor.
“The job has not been created that this man, with his multiple talents, and supreme self-confidence, could not do,” Miller said.
Bob Bowman ’62, who played football, spoke about the impact Bremner had on the gridiron. “Barron brought an irrepressible spirit that was infectious to all and a seriousness of purpose that made him someone you did not want to disappoint,” he said. “What we liked about him most was that he always led. We admired him for it. And we were the better for it. He was by far the best part of my football experience at Cornell—and I do not know a single soul who played for Barron at the time, or later on, who would not say the same thing.”
Trustee and tennis player Ted Meads ’67 spoke about the lessons Bremner taught his students. “There were the life lessons that all of us who were privileged to be coached or taught by him took with us after leaving Cornell,” Meads said. “Do the right thing; be honest; love life; work hard; stand up for what you believe in; laugh at yourself; have humility; and put your family first.”
Web extra – You can see video from the celebration, as well as read comments left for Bremner by alumni who couldn’t attend.
Hall of Fame winners
Two elite distance runners, a multiple-time conference golf champion and a volleyball record holder were enshrined in Cornell College’s Athletics Hall of Fame at Homecoming.
The 2011 Hall of Fame Class was Tony Every ’91 (men’s cross country, track and field), Jackie Clark ’83 (women’s cross country, track and field), Tina Naaktgeboren Brooker ’91 (volleyball), and J.D. Wagner ’92 (men’s golf).
Every, a four-time all-American, left an indelible mark on Cornell’s cross country and track and field programs. The Colesburg, Iowa, native is believed to be the only athlete in Midwest Conference history to earn all-America accolades in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.
Clark, a native of Fort Dodge, Iowa, was named Cornell’s Outstanding Senior Female Athlete of the Year in 1983, stamping a running career in which she claimed three Midwest Conference individual titles while pacing the Rams to three conference team crowns.
Brooker, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native, holds Cornell’s all-time record for serve percentage, converting 1,242 of 1,243 career attempts for a glowing 99.9-percent success rate. She holds the top three single-season serve percentages, firing a perfect 712 serves in a row during the 1988 (311-of-311) and 1989 (401-of-401) seasons.
Wagner, of Barrington, Ill., was a three-time individual champion in golf, only the second men’s player to accomplish that feat in Midwest Conference history. He competed in the 1992 NCAA Division III Championships his senior season. Wagner won conference titles in 1989, 1991 and 1992.
