Colleen Booms deBeauclair is the most accomplished Saginaw Valley State female track & field student-athlete in the history of the program.  She claimed 14 different All-American honors during her collegiate career, which spanned from 1980-84.  Booms is a three-time national champion, as she claimed championships in the 1984 1,000 Yard Run and teamed-up with Sandy Niedergall, Kelly Vasold and Andrea Bowman to win the 1984 Two-Mile Relay.  She garnered national runner-up honors three different times during her career.  Aside from her athletic accomplishments, Booms deBeauclair was named an Academic All-American eight times. 

Dan Dorion served as the Head Coach of the nationally-prominent Saginaw Valley State men’s bowling program for 22 years.  Over that span, he guided the team to the national tournament in 18 of those years.  In those 18 trips to the national tournament, 12 resulted in top-3 finishes.  Dorion guided the Cardinals to four national championships, bringing home the title in the 1991, 1997, 2006 and 2007 seasons.  He coached 24 All-Americans, seven of who have gone on to compete and achieve much success in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA).  Three of his Saginaw Valley State University bowlers were named the National MVP, as Dan MacLelland (2008, 09) and Bill O’Neill (2003, 04) each earned the honor twice, with Brian Waliczek earning the honor once (1999).  Dorion was inducted into the Michigan State Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 2013, as well as being a Bay City Bowling Hall of Famer and the 1990 MSBA Man of the Year when he took over the SVSU bowling program.

Dr. Jack M. Ryder, the second President of Saginaw Valley State, served 15 years in the role from 1974 - 1989.  One of Ryder's many credits while President was working to transition Saginaw Valley State College into Saginaw Valley State University, as he led a charge for several public Universities in accomplishing the same task.  During his tenure as President, Dr. Ryder and his wife, Lila, were both passionate fans of Cardinal athletics.  Their support and contributions to the SVSU Athletic Department are recognized on an annual basis with the presentation of the “Ryder Athlete of the Year” award, which is presented to the top male and female SVSU student-athletes.  Saginaw Valley State’s Ryder Center, which houses SVSU’s main indoor athletic facilities, is named after Ryder for all of his contributions to the Athletic Department and the University as a whole.

Mike Villano was a standout player for the Saginaw Valley State University baseball team during the 1991-94 seasons.  Villano’s name echoes throughout the SVSU record books, with his most notable record being the mark for career home runs, which he holds with 26.  Villano ranks in the top-10 in SVSU history in at-bats (528), Runs Batted In (142), Triples (6) and hits (180) while also recording 36 doubles in his Cardinal career.  He earned GLIAC “Freshman of the Year” honors in the 1991 season, his first for SVSU.  Villano went on to play nine seasons of baseball in the professional ranks, being called-up to the Major League level twice; once with the San Francisco Giants in 1996 and the Florida Marlins in 1998.  He was inducted into the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

The 1984-85 Women’s Basketball Team stands out as the benchmark for a program that has a well-established history of success.  The 1984-85 squad posted an overall record of 32-1, with its only loss of the season coming in the NAIA Championship game to Southwestern of Oklahoma.  Leading the team was Head Coach Marsha Reall, a 2013 Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee.  Another pair of Hall of Famers led the team on the court, as All-Americans Beverly Sanders and Gail Goestenkors were members of the national runner-up team.  Sanders is the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Goestenkors was also recently inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on June 13, 2015.

The 1984 Men’s Golf Team has been known as the most successful team in the program’s history.  The 1984 squad holds the SVSU record for the best finish of the 18 times that Saginaw Valley has competed in the national championships at either the NAIA or NCAA Division II level.  The 1984 squad finished runners-up in the 1984 national championships, a field that consisted of 35 teams.  The Cardinals, under the direction of Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame Head Coach Bob Becker, won five tournaments during the season, including the GLIAC championship with a combined 93-5 win/loss record.  The team’s records that still stand today include:  Low four-man 18 hole total 276 (-8), Low five-man 18 hole total 371, Low four-man 72 hole total 1,183 and the lowest scoring average at the National Championships with an average of 295.8.   Bob Stephens, Kendall Kinsey and Mike Mueller all earned All-American honors while Mueller earned Academic All-American plaudits as well.