Three Inducted into Hall of Honor

Three former athletes with national championship game experience were the newest additions to the Central College Athletics Hall of Honor this fall.

Candace Wilson DuRegger ’01, the 2000 AVCA Division III player of the year and a three-time volleyball national champion was inducted, along with Al Dorenkamp ’75, captain of Central’s 1974 NCAA Division III football title winners, a baseball catcher and later the school’s athletics director, and Rick Perry ’89, a CoSIDA Academic All- America wide receiver on Central’s 1988 national runner-up football squad and a standout guard for the Dutch men’s basketball team.

They were honored as part of Central’s homecoming festivities Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

Established in 2002, Central’s hall of honor is intended to recognize those who were exceptional performers in the athletics arena as a student-athlete, coach or administrator, and who have distinguished themselves in life after graduation through service and leadership. To be eligible for consideration, a nominee must have graduated or served as a Central coach/ administrator at least 15 years earlier. Current Central staff members are not eligible for consideration. This year’s inductions will raise the hall’s membership level to 54.

THREE-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION

The only four-time volleyball honoree ever for the Dutch, DuRegger starred in one of the most dominant four-year runs of any team in Central history. The Dutch compiled a glossy 154-8 record during her career, which included a national third-place finish in 1997, followed by three consecutive NCAA Division III championships.

A 6-foot-1 middle hitter, DuRegger’s quickness, leaping ability and long arms made her a dominant force at the net. She set school career marks for kills (2,008), attacks (3,780) and blocks (641) along with attack percentage standards for a season (.425, 1999) and career (.398), numbers that rank among the best ever in Division III. She recorded 35 statistical double-doubles.

In 1997, DuRegger was a second-team all-America honoree before gaining first-team distinction the following three years. DuRegger teamed with fellow middle hitter Abbie Brown Sogard ’00, a 2015 hall of honor inductee, for the first two NCAA crowns, then captured another in 2000 following Sogard’s graduation, and was tabbed Iowa Conference MVP and national player of the year.

Central rolled to conference titles all four years, never losing a league match.

Following her freshman season, DuRegger also joined the women’s basketball squad in December and helped the Dutch win a share of the league title in 1997-98, advancing to the NCAA tournament. DuRegger averaged 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

DuRegger was involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Central and served on a mission trip to Mongolia in the summer of 2000. She also spent a semester in London through Central’s international study program in 2001. Following graduation, she worked for Minnesota Teen Challenge from 2002-07, before serving as women’s director for Teen Challenge of the Midlands from 2007-12, when she was based in Pella. While in Minnesota, DuRegger was also a volunteer assistant coach at Bethel University and was a club volleyball coach as well. She and her husband, Sam, now live in Oklahoma City, and are expecting their fourth child in November.

TEAM, DEPARTMENT LEADER

Dorenkamp was the sole captain of Central’s 1974 Stagg Bowl winners and held a series of leadership positions following graduation as well, including 14 years as Central’s athletics director.

The 1974 team and league MVP, Dorenkamp was named to the AFCA Division III All-America team as well after leading the Dutch to an 11-0 season. He spearheaded a Central defense that stymied a high-powered Ithaca (N.Y.) offense in the 10-8 title game win. The triumph was preserved by a dramatic goal-line stand in the game’s final moments and Dorenkamp was in on the pivotal fourth-down stop. He was a two-time all-conference honoree.

He was a four-time letter-winner in baseball as a catcher and part-time pitcher.

While serving as Central’s athletics director from 1998-2012, Dorenkamp served a four-year term on the NCAA Division III Football Committee and was the national chair from 2005-07. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Iowa Award from the Iowa chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for his leadership and contributions to the game as a player and athletics administrator. In 2005-06, Dorenkamp took on extra duties as Central’s interim dean of student life.

After leaving Central, Dorenkamp served as athletics director for AIB College of Business in Des Moines, completing duties there this spring.

A Thornton, Iowa native, Dorenkamp received a master’s degree in education administration from the University of South Dakota and was a graduate assistant football coach. He taught and coached for three years at Denison High School, earning conference coach of the year honors three times and district coach of the year recognition once. He then served as a secondary principal at Center Point for three years. In 1987, he became high school principal at Waverly-Shell Rock, then in 1995, joined Rubber Development, Inc. in Waverly before moving to Carroll High School as principal for a year in 1997.

Dorenkamp and his wife Jo Fall Dorenkamp ’74 now live in Polk City. They have two adult daughters and four grandchildren.

TWO-SPORT AND CLASSROOM STAR

Perry’s athleticism and versatility were keys to Central’s 1988 Stagg Bowl run, and to his ability to quickly transition to the basketball floor after playoff-extended football campaigns. Yet Perry shined in the classroom as well, winning an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship while also gaining CoSIDA Academic All- America honors in football. He’s also the only student-athlete in school history to receive the Mentink Award for leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration in both football and basketball.

In the 1988 NCAA Division III football playoff opener, on an icy early-winter afternoon at Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.), Central advanced in a 7-0 defensive struggle thanks to Perry’s 46-yard punt return for the game’s only touchdown.

Perry still ranks sixth in career receiving yards at Central (1,673), ninth in career pass receptions (101) and sixth in career touchdown receptions (16). In 1988 he had 51 catches for 806 yards and nine scores. He also had an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, averaged 7.5 yards on 31 punt returns and rushed for 93 yards on eight carries.

He was a member of four league championship football squads and four-time playoff participant.

Perry was a football team co-captain and three-time letter-winner while also earning two letters in basketball. After reporting late for basketball in 1988-89, he still started 16 of 18 games, averaging 7.6 points and 2.3 assists as an off guard.

Perry, who graduated magna cum laude with majors in accounting and business management, joined the McGladrey & Pullen accounting firm in Moline, Ill. in 1989, then passed his Certified Public Accountant exam in 1991. He earned a master’s of business administration degree at the University of Iowa in 1992 and also received Chartered Financial Analyst certification. He worked with Equitable Investment Services in Des Moines until 1997.

He moved to Atlanta to serve as portfolio manager in high yield bonds with ING Investment Management until 2000, when he returned to Iowa to work at Aegon USA Investment Management in Cedar Rapids. While in Cedar Rapids, Perry also was an adjunct instructor in the finance department at the University of Iowa for 12 years.

Last October Perry accepted his current position in Overland Park, Kan., as senior vice president with Waddell and Reed, a financial services firm. Perry and his wife Michelle ’89 have four children.