Dick Soergel

Three years, three sports, nine varsity letters; that is the legend of Dick Soergel, three-sport superstar at Oklahoma State University.

In 75 years of OSU athletes, no other athlete has been as contributing as this football, basketball, and baseball standout.

Soergel led his teams to excellence, quarterbacking the Cowboys in the 1958 Blue Grass Bowl, pitching the Cowboys to the 1959 NCAA baseball championship and leading the basketball squad to the quarterfinals of the 1959 NCAA tournament.

Before his days at OSU, he earned a blue-chip reputation at Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City. He played in the first white-black match against Douglass High School in 1955. Future OU standout Prentice Gautt rushed for 147 yards in 20 carries for Douglass, while Soergel ran for 70 and passed for 97.

Unlike most of his one or two-sport friends, Soergel had no off-season. His football team reached the mid-state playoffs in 1954, and he started on the basketball team that reached state supremacy. In 1954 and 1955 he was selected as the quarterback for the All-City Players football team, and reached All-State and All-American status for basketball in 1956. Soergel developed a strong relationship with his Redskin football coach, C.B. Speegle and later played for Speegle's brother, Cliff Speegle at OSU.

As a Cowboy, his 18-3 record pitching earned him two Big 8 All-Conference honors in 1959 and 1960, with his career highlight at 5-3 win over Arizona in the 1959 NCAA Championship title game. He pitched his way to the 1960 All-American list, and was also twice an honorable mention All-Big 8 player in football and basketball.

Despite his tireless commitment to sports, Soergel also made the Dean's Honor Roll at OSU and made the Academic All-Conference lists for both basketball and football. He graduated from OSU in 1960 with a B.S. in Business Administration and returned to Stillwater to accept the job of school business manager. He was later named assistant athletic director and held that position for 16 years. He did continue to play baseball on a semi-professional team, Wichita Auto Service Glass, winning a national championship.

In 1987, Soergel left OSU for a career in banking at Liberty National Bank and Trust and later retired in 1997.