Former Falcon football Coach Mike Farley will be inducted into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Hall of Fame on Aug. 4.
If you would like to send a congratulatory note to Coach Farley, his e-mail address is:
g.mike.farley@juno.com.
Farley, basketball great Nate DeLong and Falcon coach and athletic director Don Page are all inaugural members who will all be inducted into the league's Hall of Fame.
The three will be inducted as part of the WIAC Centennial Celebration banquet to be held on August 4, 2012, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. A total of 30 individuals from across the WIAC will be inducted. The WIAC elected to establish a Hall of Fame to coincide with the conference’s celebration of its 100th anniversary that will take place during the 2012-13 academic year. For more information on the Centennial Celebration, please visit
www.wiacsports.com. To make reservations for the Hall of Fame banquet go to this
link.
Farley revived a proud Falcon football tradition as the team's head coach from 1970-1988. Before his arrival in 1970, the last Falcon football conference championship came in 1958. Five years after his arrival, he led the Falcons to the conference championship. The success didn't stop there as Farley coached the Falcons to eight WIAC championships, including four in a row from 1984-87. He finished his career with a 117-70-3 overall record and that still stands as the fifth best in WIAC history. Farley was named the WIAC Coach of the Year after the 1986 season He coached 91 players to All-WIAC honors and three Falcons earned WIAC Player of the Year recognition under Farley's tutelage. He was inducted into the UWRF Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1994. Farley coached the 1979 team to the NAIA National playoffs, the first time a Falcon football team had ever competed at the national level. In 1979 and 1986 he was named the American Football Coaches Association Region 6 Coach of the Year, and the NAIA District 14 Coach of the Year in 1975, 1979 and 1985.
DeLong dominated college basketball during his playing days at UWRF. He lettered in basketball in 1944, and 1947-50 and in football in 1946-49. In 1950, he led the nation in scoring with 861 points on the basketball court. DeLong holds the UWRF career scoring record with 2,572 points. DeLong helped the Falcons to four straight conference basketball championships and four state championships. He also played in the National Basketball Tourney for three years and held the single game scoring record of 57 points for 27 years. His name is etched into both the UWRF and WIAC's basketball records book for both is scoring and rebounding prowess.
Page served the University as a coach of several sports and as athletic director from 1970 until his retirement in 1992 Page was hired at UWRF as the head basketball and baseball coach in 1957. He coached the Falcon basketball team from 1957-1966 and the baseball team from 1957-1974. He was an assistant football coach for the Falcons for 15 years. He also coached the Falcon men's tennis team for 15 years. Known as the Falcon Athletics Icon, Page also served the WIAC as the supervisor and men's basketball and football officials for several years. He is a member of the NAIA District 14 Hall of Fame for his many years of service as secretary-treasurer and an executive committee member. Page was inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, the UWRF Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the Wisconsin Football and Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fames in 2004.
