Hawk, Max
Born March 19, 1933. 1951 Wessington Springs HS grad. 1957 Northern State grad. The winningest prep football coach in state history (284-78-2), Hawk coached Yankton for 30 years, ending with a perfect season and state Class 11AA title in 1994. He coached Scotland for eight years starting in 1957 before coming to Yankton in 1965. […]
Heinitz, Jim
Jim Heinitz graduated from Mountain Lake (MN) High School in 1968 and from SDSU in 1973, where he was an all-conference linebacker. In 1977, he became the head football coach at Rapid City Stevens, leading the Raiders to a 7-2 record and a #2 state ranking with seven shutouts. He retired in 1978 to go […]
Wipf Wiebe, Janel
The 1976 Freeman High graduate was among South Dakota’s first female long-distance runners – and she still ranks among the best. Her running career started with track and cross country in the early 1970s, when distance races first became available to girls. Her early successes included three consecutive state titles in the mile run and […]
Withorne, Steve
Steve Withorne arrived at Dakota Wesleyan University as a promising basketball prospect. He met all expectations, and then proved his versatility when he went out for football and excelled. Withorne earned four letters playing basketball, served as a tri-captain in 1973 and received honorable mention recognition to the 1973 all-conference team. He was instrumental in […]
Wolfgang, Doug
The Sioux Falls native was one of the biggest stars on the World of Outlaws sprint car circuit throughout the 1980s. The 1970 Lincoln High grad won more than 600 feature races in his career. He was selected eighth on the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame “Drivers of the Century” list. He won 107 […]
Anderson, Sparky
Born Feb. 22, 1934 in Bridgewater. Anderson, one of the greatest managers in baseball history, is the only South Dakotan inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, entering Cooperstown in 2000. Anderson lived in Bridgewater until moving to California at age 9. In his 1990 autobiography “Sparky!”, Anderson said: “I remember more about South Dakota […]
Baker, Don
Don Baker graduated from Scotland High School in 1950 and the University of South Dakota at Springfield in 1954. He earned 12 letters in college at USD-S in football, basketball, and track & field. He was all-conference in football and basketball and was one of the SDIC’s top distance runners. He was also a multi-sport […]
Barnes, Don
A 1962 graduate of Notre Dame High School in Mitchell and a 1970 graduate of USD, Barnes is arguably South Dakota’s greatest tennis coach and one of its longest-tenured high school coaches, regardless of sport. His tenure with the Sioux Falls O’Gorman boys’ and girls’ tennis teams is marked by extraordinary achievements, including over 1,000 […]
Boner, Gary
The winningest football coach in South Dakota School of Mines history, the 1959 Edgemont graduate had a 93-74-7 record in 19 seasons (1971-89). His teams were 72-31-3 in the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference and won seven SDIC titles (1974-77-78-80-81-82-84). His 1980 team was 8-1, while his 1978, ’81, ’82 and ’84 teams each won seven […]
Breemes, Gene
Gene Breemes was a 1944 Phillip High School and 1950 Black Hills State College graduate. He was a multiple sport standout in high school and starred in football as a quarterback, track & field as a pole vaulter and javelin thrower at Black Hills State. He coached and taught at Hurley (1950-52), Beresford (1952-57), Rapid […]