Presenting: The Western Michigan MACwood Squares

MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Western Michigan. Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.

Here's your nine buckin' Broncos. Explanations for all after the jump. Feel free to disagree if possible.

Jim Bouton (baseball)
Ball Four. Take your base.

Bruce Burston (track, cross-country)
Burston was a cornerstone of the 1964 NCAA x-country champions, where he finished 11th; he also finished 3rd in the '65 NCAA mile race.

Dan Dorion (hockey)
At the time of his departure in 1986, he held the CCHA record for most career points (219), which was broken four years later by BG's Nelson Emerson. Dorion was a second-place finisher to the Hobey Baker. A brief foray with the Devils didn't warrant much; he ended up playing in Great Britain, of all places.

Greg Jennings (football)
Packers! Wooo!

Manny Newsome (basketball)
Nobody in the MAC scored points at a higher rate. He may not have the career points record anymore, but nobody else was more dominant in their sport at WMU as was Newsome, so I'll give him the center square.

David Kool (basketball)
The all-time leading scorer, and on his way up the coaching ladder.

Carrie Moore (women's basketball)
All-time leading scorer who broke the MAC single-season scoring record and even took some All-American accolades.

Ira Murchison (track)
Won a gold medal for the USA in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne on the 4x100 relay. He went onto win the NCAA Championship in '58 in the plain ol' 100-meter.

John Offerdahl (football)
One of the most under-sung defenders in the conference. And for a few years, one of the top pro linebackers.

So ends the week for WMU. Next week: Toledo, the final school. Consult our summer schedule for previously-completed schools.