Nielsen, Howard

Born March 4, 1921. 1938 Yankton HS grad. 1949 USD grad. Nielsen, of Yankton, chronicled South Dakota sports as a radio broadcaster and/or as a sportswriter for 50 years. He began doing play-by-play for KYNT in Yankton in 1958, continuing for more than 30 yers. He became sports editor of the Yankton Press & Dakotan […]

Coplan, Burdell

Born Jan. 13, 1928 in Watertown. 1946 Watertown HS grad. 1952 USD grad. Coplan was the football coach at Canton High School for 35 years (1955-89), compiling a 228-82-9 record. Seven times his teams were undefeated (1959, ’61, ’63, ’70, ’71, ’75, ’86) and five times the C-Hawks were ranked No. 1. His 1986 team […]

Jacobsen, Jon

1957 Lake Norden grad. 1961 SDSU grad. Was the No. 1 career scorer (2,825 points) in the history of South Dakota prep boys basketball for 50 years. At SDSU, the 6-2 guard was a three-time all-NCC performer, earning the league MVP award in 1961. He was named Outstanding Player of the 1961 NCAA College Division […]

Johnson, Floyd “Lefty”

1937 Watertown High School grad. 1948 Augustana grad. Thought of by many as Mr. Tennis in South Dakota, the longtime Brookings teacher and principal won almost 50 state championships of one kind or another since his high school days. Appropriately, the SD Tennis Hall of Fame started in 1991 with his induction. After starting city […]

Ferrie, Roger

Sioux Falls. The lifelong Sioux Falls resident had to overcome an early bout with polio to become one of the state’s finest softball players. The 6-5, 217-pound right-hander pitched from 1948-77, going 455-183 with 26 no-hitters and five perfect games. He led his teams (Bull Pen Bar and Midwest Coast) to nine state titles. He […]

Goldammer, Lee

Canova High School. One of the finest amateur baseball pitchers South Dakota has ever produced. A right-hander, Goldammer won 312 games and struck out 4,292 batters in a career spanning more than 35 years. He played on six state championship teams and set a state record of 13 consecutive wins (1963-69) in state tourney play. […]

Dunker, Leigh

It’s probably safe to say that few, if any, have dominated a sport like Leigh Dunker did in horseshoes. The Warner farmer was the state champion a phenomenal 35 times. So amazing were Dunker’s feats that they were chronicled in a story in Sports Illustrated in 1974. Dunker was born March 23, 1915, in rural […]