Former Illinois State baseball star Dave Bergman ’78 and cross country and track standout Sue Daggett Miller ’97 are two of six inductees in the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame 2016 class. Bergman is the first Redbird baseball player and Miller the third women’s track and field honoree chosen. Their inclusion brings ISU’s inductees to 10.
A member of the baseball team from 1972-1974, Bergman registered a career batting average of .366 with 63 RBI. As the team MVP in 1973 and 1974, he was named an All-American outfielder in 1974 by The Sporting News after leading ISU in hits, home runs, runs scored and stolen bases.
Bergman was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1974. He was the starting first baseman for the 1984 Detroit Tigers team that won the World Series. In 1989 he enjoyed MLB career highs with 127 games, 385 at bats, 103 hits, and 44 walks. He matched a career high with seven home runs. Bergman passed away in 2015 from cancer but was made aware of the honor. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Miller is one of the most decorated female student-athletes in ISU and MVC history. She claimed a league-record 17 individual conference championships as a Redbird. A three-time All-American selection, she was the 1995 NCAA District V cross country champion.
She was a four-time indoor and outdoor all-conference honoree. A three-time MVC Female Track Athlete of the Meet, Miller earned the award at the Indoor Championship in 1996 as well and at both the Indoor and Outdoor meets in 1997. She led Illinois State to back-to-back MVC Indoor Championship titles. She and her husband reside in West Bend, Wisconsin.
Director of Athletics Larry Lyons said both are very deserving of the honor.
“Dave was a gifted baseball player as a Redbird and in the professional ranks, but he was also an incredible person and father,” Lyons said. “Sue was as talented of a student-athlete as there has been at Illinois State.”
