In this photo from the fall of 2005, from left, NMU women's basketball head coach Troy Mattson, former NMU basketball player Bill Harris and Wildcats men's basketball coach Dean Ellis reunite and discuss old times on the basketball court at the university in Marquette. Ellis coached both Mattson and Harris back in the 1980s. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — A pair of national powerhouse teams and a duo of long-time successful coaches join three athletes as the 2025 class being inducted into the Northern Michigan University Sports Hall of Fame, the university announced last week.

The ceremony to induct them takes place on Friday, Sept. 19, after NMU’s Homecoming parade, with tickets to go on sale in early July.

These inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the homecoming football game against Davenport that kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Those being inducted include longtime men’s basketball coach Dean Ellis and women’s basketball coach Troy Mattson, and athletes Jennie (Long) Barlage of volleyball, Renee LeBlanc of women’s soccer and Berndt Rognstad of football and nordic skiing.

In addition, the 1990-91 and 1991-92 women’s swimming and diving teams are also being inducted.

Here are details about each inductee, starting with individuals who are listed alphabetically:

Jennie (Long) Barlage — A member of the class of 1994, this two-time national NCAA Division II volleyball champion in 1993 and ’94 was one of the most dominant two-way players in Wildcats’ history.

She is one of only seven players to surpass 1,000 in both career kills and digs, ranking No. 3 in digs with 1,556 and service aces with 183, while also ranking No. 8 in kills with 1,237.

She played in all 149 matches NMU played during her career, which ties her for the most matches played in Northern history. She also holds the program record by playing in 495 sets in her four years.

Barlage was named a Second Team All-American in 1994 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, also earning recognition that year on the NCAA D-II Elite Eight all-tournament team. That’s also when she finished with 392 kills, 360 digs and 55 aces.

She was named to the GLIAC First Team in 1993 and AVCA Great Lakes regional team in both ’93 and ’94.

Barlage will be the 13th person affiliated with the volleyball program to be inducted into the NMU sports hall.

Dean Ellis — The winningest coach in the more-than-a-century history of the Wildcats’ men’s basketball program, he compiled a 55.4% winning percentage with a 369-303 record in 24 seasons from 1986-2010. He had at least a .500 record in 18 seasons.

In 1993, Ellis led NMU to the GLIAC regular season title and was named conference Coach of the Year with a 22-8 (.733) record. In 2000, Northern won the GLIAC Tournament and finished at 24-6 (.800), then the top and now second-winningest season in Wildcats’ history.

The Negaunee native also led NMU to three NCAA Division II national tournaments, winning games in two of them.

Ellis, the 22nd coach to be inducted into the NMU sports hall, was also the Northern men’s golf coach for two decades through 2013, and later spent three years as assistant golf coach at South Dakota State in Brookings, South Dakota.

Renee LeBlanc — A member of the class of 2007, she is the most decorated attacker in Northern women’s soccer history and still holds several team offensive records with 44 career goals and 99 points even while only playing 70 games in her four years.

In 2005, she put in 16 goals, a Wildcats’ record, with six of them game winners. Her 37 points that season is tied for the NMU single-season record, too. Then in 2006, she put in 14 goals and accumulated 30 points, while her eight game winners that year are still the record, while the 15 she had in her career is also a program best.

In four years, she put up 233 shots and 117 shots on goal.

She was named to the GLIAC Second Team in 2006 and 2007, and in addition, is the first women’s soccer player to be inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame.

Troy Mattson — A multiple-sport coach at Northern, he is best known as the head coach of the Wildcats’ women’s basketball team from 2005 to 2022.

But he was also an assistant and associate head coach of the men’s basketball team with Ellis as head coach from 1986-2005, headed up the women’s tennis team from 1994-2003 and also coached the NMU golf teams in the 2022-23 season.

In tennis, he was GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002 and Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2002.

A Milwaukee native who grew up in Ishpeming, Mattson was a high school basketball star at Westwood High School — he was one of the 11 state finalists for the first Mr. Basketball Award in Michigan in 1981 — and he played the sport at NMU from 1982-85, two of those years the Wildcats made the national tourney as he accumulated a total of 1,018 points.

As NMU women’s basketball coach for 17 years, he compiled a 240-231 record (.510), with 2013-14 a notable one as the Wildcats won the GLIAC Tournament. That team and two other Northern squads made the NCAA Division II national tourney, winning a game there twice.

Berndt Rognstad — A member of the class of 1976, he had an interesting two-sport combination of nordic skiing and football that he excelled in at NMU.

In skiing, he placed third at the Nordic Skiing National Championships in 1973, runner-up in 1974 and fifth in 1975.

He also signed up for the Northern football team, mainly as a kickoff specialist, and played on the Wildcats’ 1975 NCAA Division II national championship team.

Rognstad’s humor was always apparent as he made his football debut in a “00” jersey. While at NMU, he was a perfect 18 of 18 on extra-point kicks.

He signed with NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, but tragically lost his life in an auto accident in 1976.

Rognstad will be the sixth male nordic skier and 115th football player to be inducted into the NMU hall.

1990-91 and 1991-92 women’s swimming and diving teams — These Wildcat teams in back-to-back years made history for NMU, with the latter team finishing a program-best runner-up at the 1992 NCAA Division II Championships and the ’90-91 squad placing third.

The two teams combined for 16 NCAA championships, nine in 1991. Kirsten Silvester was a four-time national champion each year, was the NCAA Division II Swimmer of the Year and became the first Division II swimmer to win four titles in a single season.

The 1992 group also earned the Wildcats’ first GLIAC championship.

Both teams were coached by Anne Goodman James, who was named 1991 NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America, along with 1991 and ’92 GLIAC Coach of the Year.

Story contents based on a Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the awards. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.