St. Cloud State University
Director of Women's Athletics
1969-95
Coach for Various Sports Gladys "Zip" Ziemer helped lay the foundation for the current NSIC with her strong leadership at St. Cloud State. Ziemer, a native of Mankato, Minn., served as SCSU's Director of Women's Athletics from 1969 to 1995, and helped guide the program from its early beginnings to a power in the NSIC and later in the North Central Conference (NCC). In addition to her role in establishing the Northern Sun Conference, Ziemer coached several SCSU teams over the years. She served as the head coach of the Husky volleyball (1969-76) and softball (1969-73, 1976-77) teams, and most recently, was head coach of the women's basketball team. With the women's hoops team from 1973-93, Zip completed a career mark of 321-212 in 20 seasons. She guided SCSU to four NCAA Division II quarterfinal appearances in the 1980s and was named Division II Coach of the Year in 1990. Ziemer coached teams that won four NSC (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984) titles and one NCC (1989) crown during her tenure. Leading the Huskies during 15 consecutive winning seasons from 1975-90, Ziemer guided SCSU to seven postseason appearances from 1983-90. Today, Zip serves as a professor in the Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sport Science department at SCSU.