CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Park University Athletics is proud to announce and welcome five selections into the Viking Hall of Fame 2023 class. The newest group of inductees will be Jim Bergquist, Fredrik Greiff, Gregory Sager, Nick Soldano, and Lauren Wiltsie.

Jim Bergquist was a multi-sport student-athlete at North Park, excelling in football and track & field. He was an all-conference lineman his junior and senior seasons and was recognized as an All-American on the field and in the classroom his senior year. Bergquist was a five-time all-conference selection in outdoor track, spending three seasons as discus thrower and two years in shot out. He held the NPU discus record for 25 years and won multiple regional indoor meets in the shot put and 35-pound weight throw. Bergquist also served on the Student Government Association at North Park, was the 1989 homecoming king, and the Male Senior of the Year in 1990.

Fredrik Greiff was a standout men's soccer player at North Park, spending four seasons under the coaching guidance of now Director of Athletics, John Born. During his time on the pitch, Greiff was a four-time all-conference pick – garnering three first-team accolades – a three-time NSCAA All-Region selection, and competed in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament in each of his four seasons. Greiff competed alongside now Head Men's Soccer Coach Kris Grahn in a pair of NCAA Tournaments, including the 2012 season where he had a team second-best eight goals.

Nicknamed "The Voice of the Vikings", Gregory Sager began serving as the play-by-play voice of North Park Athletics in 2008, before live streaming at the Division III level became a regular occurrence. Sager started his broadcasting career doing commentary for men's basketball and now, with the addition of men's volleyball just a few years ago, he provides play-by-play and commentary for nine Viking sports. Sager has been a part of numerous CCIW and NCAA Tournament broadcasts through the Vikings Sports Network, where as many as 15,000 unique viewers were tuned in to a single game. Additionally, Sager works behind the scenes as the NPU Athletics historian, crafting record books while inserting accurate factoids into many Athletics press releases.

Nick Soldano is the most decorated pitcher in North Park baseball history. The dominant left hander is a two-time All-CCIW and All-Region selection (2012 & 2014) and was the D3baseball.com Central Region Pitcher of the Year in 2012. That same 2012 season, where the Vikings captured a league and tournament championship to advance to the NCAA playoffs, Soldano was named an All-American by both the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3baseball.com. He finished his career in 2014 as the all-time strikeouts leader (251) and, nearly 10 years later, he is only second to Ethan Sund's 256. Soldano's name is written across many all-time career categories in the NPU record book, including wins (23, 2^nd), IP (272.0, 2^nd), starts (35, 3^rd), win % (.767, 4^th), and ERA (3.17, 10^th).

Lauren Wiltsie rounds out the five honorees for the 2023 Hall of Fame class, securing her spot after becoming the only Viking women's volleyball player to become a four-time All-CCIW pick. Additionally, Wiltsie was the first Viking to receive First Team honors, securing such recognition in 2017. During her senior season, the high-jumping outside hitter guided the Vikings to the program's first-ever CCIW Tournament appearance in 2018, powering the offense with 384 kills. Against CCIW opponents, her 4.23 kills per set led the league and her 110 kills were good for third-most. She appears across the NPU record book in numerous career categories, including kills (1,419, 2^nd), kills/set (3.44, 4^th), points (1,555, 4^th), digs (1,390, 8^th), and digs/set (3.37, 8^th).

WHEN AND WHERE

The Viking Hall of Fame ceremony will take place in Hamming Hall on Saturday, December 2, at 9:30 AM.