Walseth, Russell “Sox”

Born in Aberdeen in 1926. 1944 Pierre HS. 1948 Colorado grad. The first person ever to coach the men’s and women’s basketball teams at the same NCAA school, Walseth did so at Colorado with outstanding results. He was the winningest men’s basketball coach in the school’s history, going 261-245 in 20 seasons (1956-76) at the […]

Williamson, Warren

Born Jan. 4, 1927 in Hurley. South Dakota State’s wrestling coach for 16 seasons (1956-73), the 1945 Hurley High and 1951 SDSU grad led the Jackrabbits to national prominence in the sport. Williamson also was a standout athlete at SDSU – he was the first Jackrabbit football player to rush for 1,000 yards in a […]

Young, Bob

A Beresford High grad, Young is the winningest football coach in University of Sioux Falls history with a 172-69-3 record in 22 seasons. Young was raised on a farm and participated in three sports in high school. He went on to play football for Sioux Falls College, where he played linebacker and offensive guard and […]

Youngworth, Carl

Born Nov. 5, 1898 in Tyndall. 1915 Tyndall HS grad. 1919 Yankton College grad. As an athlete at Yankton College, he was all-conference as a quarterback in football and guard in basketball and competed in track as well. His first coaching job was in 1921 at Winner, where one of his first stars was Frank […]

Zephier, Andy

The 1949 Flandreau Public High grad made the Flandreau Indian School one of the most successful cross country programs in the state. Zephier, a 1957 Augustana grad, coached and taught at the Flandreau Indian School for 33 years (1957-1990). He coached excellent teams in track and basketball, but it was in cross country where FIS […]

Abbott, Cleve

Born Dec. 9, 1894 in Yankton. 1912 Watertown High School grad. 1916 SDSU grad. Won 16 varsity letters at Watertown and at SDSU he earned 14 more (in track, football, baseball and basketball). Hired by Booker T. Washington to teach and coach at Tuskegee Institute in 1915, Abbott became one of the most respected coaches […]

Antonen, Ray

Born Oct. 14, 1917 near Lake Norden. Lake Norden High School. Huron College. Was president of the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association from 1967 until his death in 1987. At 14 he began playing baseball for the Lake Norden town team as a catcher and he competed for all but one season for the next […]

Antonen, Mel

The 1974 Hamlin High and 1979 Augustana grad was a national baseball reporter for USA Today for 24 years (1986-2010). The Lake Norden native covered numerous history-making accomplishments – including Cal Ripken’s Ironman streak, the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa Home Run Derby, eight players reaching their 3,000th hit, labor negotiations, the players’ strike of 1994, the […]

Booher, Jim

One of the founders of the South Dakota Athletic Trainers Association, Booher was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 1998. The Ashland, Neb., native and 1965 Nebraska Wesleyan grad has been an athletic trainer and instructor/professor at South Dakota State since 1967. He split time between the university and Brookings […]

Burt, Jim

Born in Melcher, Iowa, in 1914. 1936 grad of Melcher High School. Brown Institute in Minneapolis. A broadcast pioneer, Burt spent 40 years at KELO Radio and TV, retiring in 1987. To South Dakotans, no state sports figure was more recognizable. Burt started at KELO Radio in June of 1947. He did play-by-play of KELO’s […]