A trio of multi-sport standouts -- Scott Gernander (basketball and football), Ed Lundstrom (football, basketball and track) and Diane Ruhl (volleyball, softball and basketball) -- along with long-time administrator/coach Linda Larson and former National Hockey League veteran Shjon Podein will be paid a lasting tribute on Sept. 28, 2007 when the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame holds its 10th enshrinement ceremonies. The addition of this distinguished group brings the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame membership to 83.
Gernander, a native of Duluth and 1965 Denfeld High School graduate, was a four-time letterwinner in both basketball (guard) and football (quarterback/split end/defensive back). On the hardcourt, he ranked first among the 1968-69 Bulldogs in points per game average (11.7) as a senior captain en route to landing UMD’s Most Valuable Player Award. That fall, Gernander put the wraps on his collegiate football playing days by catching a team-leading 14 passes for 203 yards while finishing second on the club with 247 passing yards (21 completions on 46 attempts and one touchdown). Named UMD’s Outstanding Senior Athlete for 1968-69, Gernander went on to embark on a lengthy basketball coaching career which first took him to Tower Soudan (Minn.) High School for seven years and South Houston (Texas) High School for another two seasons. In 1980, he was hired as an assistant coach at San Jacinto College Central and seven years later was promoted to the head job at the Pasadena, Texas-based school. An eight-time Region 14 Coach of the Year, Gernander has compiled a 542-128 record overall record (an .809 winning percentage) at San Jacinto while directing the Ravens to eight NJCAA Division I National Tournament appearances, which includes runnerup finishes in both 1997 and 2003. Gernander, who has helped produce a number of future professional players, including NBA All-Stars Sam Cassell and Steve Francis, during his two decades at the Raven helm, was inducted into the National Junior College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
Larson joined the UMD staff in 1975 as the its first coordinator of women’s athletics and became the Bulldogs’ head volleyball, basketball coach the following season. In six years with the volleyball Bulldogs, the Chicago native won 83 percent of her games, going 287-57 while guiding her troops to three AIAW Division II National Tournament appearances -- including a fifth-place showing in 1980. Larson and the Bulldogs posted back-to-back 59-6 seasons in 1977 and 1978 and captured five consecutive Minnesota AIAW state championships as well as the inaugural three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles (1979-81). Larson, who served as the Bulldogs’ head softball coach during the 1977 season, spent seven years overseeing the women’s basketball program (1976-80 and 1981-84) at UMD. During her reign, the Bulldogs were 110-85, and, in 1982-83, posted a 20-10 mark to go with a NSIC runnerup finish. The recipient of the 1999 President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the University of Minnesota system, Larson continued in her role as women’s athletic coordinator and senior woman administrator until retiring in June 2002. The Linda Larson Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, which is given each year to a UMD faculty/staff member by UMD’s Commission on Women, is named in her honor.
Lundstrom, who was born and raised in Two Harbors, Minn., lettered four times in football (1958-61), three years in basketball (1958-61) and twice in track (1959-60). He started at both quarterback (one year) and safety (three years) for the football Bulldogs and was voted to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Team in 1961 after pacing the conference in total offense yardage and setting team single- season records for pass completions (50), passing yardage (870) total offense (1,107 yards), and touchdown passes. Lundstrom, who returned four punts and one kick off (for 95 yards, which is still a Bulldog record) for touchdowns as a collegian, participated in the Concordia Coaching Clinic All-Star Game in 1962 and 1963 when he was named the event’s Most Valuable Player. With the basketball Bulldogs, Lundstrom was part of two MIAC championship clubs (1958-59 and 1960-61) and one NAIA National Tournament qualifier (1958-59) during his three-year stay. Lundstrom entered the coaching arena in 1962 as a student assistant with the UMD football team and then served as the head football coach and assistant boy’s basketball coach at Aitkin High School in 1963-64. He returned to UMD the following season and was a Bulldog assistant football coach under the legendary Jim Malosky from 1964-65 to 1969-70. In 1966-67, Lundstrom was hired as UMD’s head men’s skiing coach (nordic and alpine) and held that position through the 1973-74 season. He assumed those same duties on the women’s side from 1971-72 to 1973-74. In addition to coaching, Lundstrom began a 41-year tenure with UMD’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation staff in 1965, taking over as the department head in 1979-80. During that time, he chaired the Building Committee for the Ward Wells Fieldhouse in the mid-1970s and also served on the UMD Physical Education and Recreation Complex Expansion committee 10 years later.
Podein skated a regular shift with the Bulldogs for three years (1987-90) after transferring from the now-defunct U.S. International University. During his farewell collegiate season, the Rochester, Minn., product served as an alternate team captain and finished on the Bulldog scoring charts with a career-high 39 points in 35 games. A three-time Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic Team honoree, Podein twice received the Goldie Wolfe Award as UMD’s Most Inspirational Player and was bestowed with the UMD Hockey Community Service Award in its first two years of existence (1988-89 and 1989-90). Podein launched his professional puck career with American Hockey League’s Cape Breton Oilers in 1990-91 before latching on with the Edmonton Oilers (the club which selected him in the eighth round of the NHL draft) two years later. He wound up taking part in 699 NHL regular season games and another 127 playoff outings with four teams (Edmonton, Philadelphia, Colorado and St. Louis) over the course of 11 seasons (1992-2003). While with the Colorado Avalanche, Podein collected five points in 23 outings during their Stanley Cup title conquest crusade in 2001-02. He retired from the professional playing ranks in 2006 after skating one year in Japan (Nikko Ice Pucks) and two seasons with Vaxjo HC (Sweden). Podein, who competed for the U.S.National Team at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in both 1993 and 1998, was the winner of the NHL’s King Clancy Award (for exemplary service in the community) in 2000-01. He continues to oversees the Shjon Podein Children’s Foundation and is the namesake of the Shjon Podein Community Service Award, which has been presented annually since 2003 to a UMD student-athlete who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the field of play and has made noteworthy humanitarian contributions in the Duluth and UMD communities.
Ruhl, a Hopkins, Minn., native, was a three-year starting outside hitter in volleyball and the ace of the Bulldog softball mound staff for four seasons in addition to lettering once (1982-83) in basketball. UMD’s Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award honoree for 1983-84, Ruhl landed All-NSIC volleyball acclaim in 1983 when she topped that circuit in both attack percentage and serve reception efficiency. She was chosen the Bulldogs’ Most Valuable Player as a junior and a senior and helped lead UMD to three NSIC volleyball championships (1980, 1981 and 1983). Ruhl’s athletic heroics were equally impressive with the softball Bulldogs. During her final year in a Bulldog uniform, the hard-throwing righthander posted a 9-1 record, with the lone loss coming at the University of Minnesota, and allowed just one earned run in 67 2/3 innings of work for a sparkling 0.10 earned run average -- still a school single-season record. For her efforts, Ruhl garnered All-NSIC honors after being an All-MAIAW State pick the previous two springs. Ruhl, the Bulldogs’ Most Valuable Softball Player as a senior, was a student assistant coach for the UMD volleyball team in 1984.
