EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) - Dave Lorentz is the recipient of the 2017 Jim Mueller Blugold Spirit Award.

The award will be presented at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Hall of Fame banquet Friday, September 29.  The banquet is open to the public and tickets, which are $25, can be obtained by contacting the UWEC Alumni Office at 715 836-3266 or larsojan@uwec.edu.  The awards program will begin at 6:30 p.m. preceded by a social at 4:30 p.m. and dinner at 5:30 p.m.

Lorentz has been a member of the football chain gang since Link Walker was coaching (Link retired in 1986) and is currently the official scorer for Blugold men's and women's basketball.  He assumed the chain gang position when chain gang member Ray Heidemann broke his leg.  He remembers his brother Dick, who was on the chain gang at the time, waving to him in the stands from across the field when Heidemann went down with his injury.  That means he is on the sidelines this year with his seventh Blugold head coach (Link Walker, Jim Lind, Greg Polnasek, Bob Nielson, Todd Hoffner, Todd Glaser and Dan Larson).  He became the official scorer for women's basketball when Lisa Stone became head coach in 1988, meaning this will be his 30th season at the desk.  He took over as the men's scorer when Bill Arnsdorf retired six years ago.  

Born in Green Bay but raised in Eau Claire, Lorentz played basketball and ran cross country at Memorial High School.  He went on to play one year of basketball for Bill Zorn at UWEC before enlisting in the Army Reserve in 1967.  He served for six years.  He worked at Uniroyal from 1969-82 and from 1982 to 2013, worked in industrial sales.

Lorentz and his wife Kathy have three children and eight grandchildren.  In continuing the Lorentz tradition, his son Stuart is currently a member of the Blugold chain gang.

The Jim Mueller Blugold Spirit Award, named in honor of its first recipient Jim Mueller, recognizes a non-staff individual or group for long-term support of the Blugold athletics program.  The recipient must have demonstrated exemplary interest in and concern for Blugold student-athletes and coaches.  Their pride and spirit as a friend and ambassador of the Blugold program epitomizes the true meaning of a Blugold.

Since Mueller, the previous Blugold Spirit recipients have included Milt & Marci Siker, Bill Arnsdorf, Dave Hanson, Mike Sullivan, Ron Buckli, the Indianhead Kiwanis Club, Bob Bradovich and Gregg Brandrup.