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Jody Schwich Marquardt (Multiple Sports, 1969-72)
Prior to the advent of a national organization for intercollegiate women’s team sports, Jody Schwich Marquardt was a multiple-sport standout that helped usher in the modern era for female athletes on the PLU campus.
Recognized as an “athlete ahead of her time” by one teammate, Schwich played field hockey and basketball all four year and tennis for two seasons. Those were the only sports offered to women at Pacific Lutheran at the time. Sara Officer, a longtime coach and educator at PLU, said that Schwich was particularly outstanding in field hockey and basketball. In field hockey, which was a brand new sport to her, Schwich played center halfback and led the team in scoring. Then-basketball head coach Carolyn Phillips called Schwich the most outstanding athlete she coached during that four-year period. Known as a tenacious defender and the team’s leader in assists, Schwich led PLU to a victory over the University of Washington in her senior year.
The Associated Women Students (AWS) president in 1970-71 and ASPLU executive vice president (Student Senate Chair) in 1971-72, Schwich was named 1971 Woman of the Year at PLU.
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Chad Johnson (Football, 1997-2000)
During his four-year PLU career, quarterback Chad Johnson made his mark as one of the most decorated and successful signal callers in Lute football history. A Puyallup native and grandson to legendary coach Frosty Westering, Johnson amassed a dizzying offensive statistical resume while leading the Lutes to three NCAA Division III postseason appearances, punctuated by the national championship game victory during his junior season in 1999.
In his three years as a starter (1998-00), Johnson threw for 8,081 yards and 62 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he led PLU – in its first season as a Division III institution – to the first round of the national playoffs. One year later Johnson spearheaded PLU's drive to the national title, with the Lutes winning five straight road games. He threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in the team's 42-13 championship game victory over Rowan in Salem, Va. Johnson added a lengthy list of awards in his final season in 2000. Passing for a season-high 3,304 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 64.8 percent of his passes, the left-handed quarterback was named a First Team All-American and went on to win the prestigious Gagliardi Trophy. The trophy annually recognizes one NCAA Division III football player for his excellence in athletics, academics and community service. Johnson compiled an overall record of 30-5 in three season as a starter. He was also a three-time All-Northwest Conference first-team quarterback and twice earned NWC Offensive Player of the Year recognition.
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Jim Johnson (Swimming Coach, 1978-2010)
Jim Johnson led the Pacific Lutheran men's and women's swimming teams to a total of 18 Northwest Conference championships in 31 years as head coach from 1978-2010. Johnson missed the 2008-09 season while overcoming throat cancer, and he returned for one final season before retiring.
Under Johnson's direction, the PLU women's swimming team won Northwest Conference championships from 1983-92 (going unbeaten in conference duals during that time) and again in 1996. The Lute men garnered seven conference championships under Johnson. While at PLU, he earned Northwest Conference Coach of the Year honors three times.
During Johnson's tenure, Pacific Lutheran swimming teams compiled a record of 339 wins and 254 losses, a .572 winning percentage. He achieved a milestone in his PLU coaching career on Nov. 12, 2005, when the Lutes defeated Pacific for his 300th career victory at the school. While the school was a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) member, PLU placed in the top 20 at nationals every year under Johnson's tutelage.
The NAIA Coaches Association and the College Swim Coaches Association both named Johnson the 1985 NAIA Women's Coach of the Year. A one-time president of the NAIA Swim Coaches Association and a former board member of the College Swim Coaches Association, Johnson earned NAIA District I Coach of the Years honors four times.
In addition to coaching, Johnson managed the PLU pool and helped develop a strong tie between the university and the Parkland-Spanaway community by offering summer swimming lessons and competitive swimming opportunities.
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Robynn Rockstad-Rex (Rowing, 1984-87)
Robynn Rockstad-Rex, who started rowing while a first-year student at PLU in the 1983-84 school year, ended her career as a four-year letter winner, national champion and multiple-time regional champion. Perhaps no woman in PLU crew history enjoyed the level of success that she achieved.
In her first season as a rower, Robynn earned a spot in the varsity lightweight 4 shell that placed fourth at the collegiate nationals. The following year, her sophomore season, Robynn earned numerous championships rowing for Pacific Lutheran lightweight and flyweight boats. The lightweight 4 won a gold medal at the West Coast Championship, also called the Western Sprint Regatta, and one month later at the Women's Open Nationals on Seattle's Green Lake, the flyweight 4 won a silver medal and the lightweight 4 placed fourth. At that same open championship event, Robynn teamed up with Trice Carlson to win the national title in flyweight pairs. They rowed the 1,000-meter course in a time of 4:19.79 to win by more than five seconds.
Serving as team commodore (captain) in 1986, Robynn once again helped the lightweight 4 win at the West Coast Championships, and in 1987 she finished off her "three-peat" by pacing PLU's lightweight 4 to its third consecutive West Coast Championships gold medal. That same year, Robynn and her lightweight 4 teammates placed fifth at the collegiate nationals.
Following her collegiate career, Robynn competed for the Seattle Rowing Club and won a gold medal at the prestigious Canadian Henley Regatta in 1994.
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Ryan Dirks (Track & Field, 1998-2001)
Ryan Dirks, one of Pacific Lutheran's top all-time indoor and outdoor track & field competitors, dominated throwing events in his tenure as a Lute. He became PLU's first-ever national indoor track & field titlist in March 2000, when he took top honors in the 35-pound weight throw with a distance of 59-8 ¼. In May of that same year, Dirks was the runner-up in the hammer throw at the national outdoor track & field championships with a career-best mark of 190-5.
In his senior season in 2001, Dirks took home yet another indoor track & field national title in the 35-pound weight throw with a winning distance of 60-8 ¾. He is the only PLU track & field athlete to win a national indoor title. Dirks led the Lute throwers during the outdoor track & field season with team-best marks in the discus, shot put and hammer. He again finished as the national outdoor meet runner-up in the hammer throw with a mark of 185-11.
In PLU's record books, Dirks ranks third all-time in the hammer throw (190-5), fourth in the discus (166-1) and 24th in shot put (48-1 ¼). He was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American from the 1998-99 season to the 2000-01 season.
Upon his graduation, Dirks earned a prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship, making him one of five PLU student-athletes to have achieved that distinction.
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