Edward Boguski was a member of the initial UW-Oshkosh Athletics Hall of Fame class in 1974 after a standout career competing for the university’s basketball, football and track & field teams.
Boguski was a member of the UW-Oshkosh basketball and track & field teams from 1924-27 and the football program from 1924-26.
Boguski still holds the WSUC record in the 220-yard dash with a time of 21.6 seconds. His record-setting time, established in 1927, stood unrivaled for 34 years until an athlete matched the mark in 1961 and another tied the time in 1973. Boguski also held the WSUC record in the 100-yard dash for 40 years.
Boguski qualified for the 1928 Olympic Summer Games in Amsterdam, Netherlands. However, the 23-year-old Boguski was forced to miss the event due to a bout with influenza.
During his three seasons with the UW-Oshkosh football team, the Titans held a 13-8-2 record, including a second-place league mark of 3-0-1 during the 1925 campaign.
After graduating from UW-Oshkosh, Boguski was a coach and industrial arts teacher at Green Bay West High School, coaching boxing, cross country, football, track & field and wrestling during his 28-year tenure at the high school before moving on to Franklin Junior High School in Green Bay. His 1934 and 1935 Green Bay West High School track teams won state championships.
Among his teaching and coaching accolades were the Arnie Herber Award from the Green Bay Elks Club in 1977, a Special Citation from the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly in 1980 and a citation by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1985.
From 1930-32 Boguski helped Curly Lambeau coach the Green Bay Packers.
During the Korean War, Ed was assigned by the State Department to instruct Military Marching, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Wrestling, Boxing, Football, and Physical Exercise at school clinics throughout Northeast Wisconsin.
Boguski, who was also a member of the Wisconsin Coalition On Aging and an amateur cartoonist, passed away in 1987.
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Born October 5, 1905 in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Graduate of Princeton High School, Oshkosh State Teachers College, UW-Madison, Chicago, Iowa, Northwestern and St. Norbert College.
Coached at:
Thorp High School 1927-29;
Green Bay West High School 1929-70; and
Franklin Junior High in Green Bay 1970-80.
At Green Bay West he was an assistant football coach for 28 years. He coached Cross Country and Track, Wrestling and Boxing. In 1934 and 1935 his track team won the State Championship. His teams won seven conference championships.
He has been cited by Governor Warren Knowles and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, William C. Kahl for 45 years of devoted service and personal contributions towards the education of Wisconsin’s youth. He has received personal acknowledgments and citations from Brown County, Oconto County Commission, and the Wisconsin Coalition of Aging groups for his years of devoted service to the welfare of Senior Citizens.
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Edward Boguski was one of the greatest track athletes in the history of the WSUC and Oshkosh.
The man with the friendly smile and a gaite that still is brisk in spite of his years qualified for the 1928 Olympics but did not make the trip because of illness. It was his biggest disappointment in sports.
Boguski had set a conference record in the 220 and 100 yard dashes in 1927 ans the 21.6 in the 220 was not equaled until 1963 and is still on the books of the conference. It has never been surpassed.
Boguski turned in a 9.8 in the century and in the 1920s there weren't many athletes who could equal that time. The 100 mark stood for some 40 years. he lost two races in the conference as a freshman and never was beaten again as a collegian.
In later years Boguski turned to coaching and his team at Thorp High School was the school's first Cloverleaf League Championship in basketball and his teams twice won district titles.
At Gree Bay West High School Boguski coached for 27 years. He was coach of everything - cross country, track, football, wrestling, and boxing. One year he took five men to the state track meet and returned with the championship.
Boguski was an industrial arts teacher at Franklin Junior High School in Green Bay for many years.
Retirement finds Boguski in Green Bay at the Lakewood cottage or in the winters at Tuscon, Arizona.
