Stolze, Craig
Born Oct. 21, 1919 in Sioux City. 1938 (Sioux City) Central HS grad. 1949 USD grad. Stolze is the only person to be named South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year four consecutive years. He was sports editor at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader for 10 years (1953-63). While there, Stolze started the Associated Press basketball […]
Lilevjen, Clar
Born May 3, 1914 in Appleton, Minn. Appleton HS. U of Minnesota. A teacher-coach-administrator in South Dakota for 40 years, Lilevjen always had his students and athletes in mind. He was executive director of the South Dakota High School Activities Association from 1977 until he retired in 1979. Lilevjen first coached and taught at Belle […]
Mitchell, Floyd
Born in 1908. 1927 Highmore grad. 1933 Iowa grad. Mitchell’s career as an athlete and coach spanned more than 50 years in South Dakota. He was the coach at Southern State Teachers College (later known as USD-Springfield) for almost 30 years, and he guided the Pointers to their first South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference basketball title […]
Jerstad, Sandy
Born Nov. 18, 1943. Grew up in Virginia, Minn. 1966 St. Olaf College. The winningest softball coach in NCAA Division II history, Jerstad compiled a 1,011-359-2 record in 27 seasons, all at Augustana. She guided the Vikings’ program from its infancy to national prominence. When she retired after the 2003 season, she ranked second all-time […]
Tomnitz, Allen
Born July 22, 1921 in Great Bend, Kan. 1940 Great Bend HS grad. The only South Dakotan in the National Trapshooting Hall of Fame, Tomnitz grew up in Kansas, but he lived in Sioux Falls for almost 60 years. Tomnitz started shooting trap in 1945. Because of his job as a corporate pilot, he was […]
McKee, Vern
Vern McKee was born on April 28, 1930. He grew up in Huron and was a 1948 Browns Valley (Minn.) High School and a 1956 Huron College graduate. McKee is among the few South Dakotans to sign pro contracts in two sports. McKee played three years as a centerfielder in the St. Louis Browns and […]
Loecker, Romain
Born Oct. 13, 1945. 1964 Yankton HS grad. Yankton College. One of South Dakota’s greatest amateur baseball players, Loecker was the MVP of the 1969 state tourney and the batting champ in three tourneys (1969, ’70 and ’76). A slick-fielding, hard-hitting shortstop, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Loecker competed in 18 straight state tournaments and led the […]
Konrad, Cliff
Born Dec. 21, 1928 in Tripp. Went to school in Kaylor and Tripp. Finished HS education while in the military in 1952. Perhaps the greatest bowler that South Dakota has produced, Konrad has rolled an astounding 33 perfect games, 13 of which were sanctioned. He has rolled 10 800 series with a high of 847. […]
Hagen, Clyde
Born March 24, 1948. 1966 Webster HS grad. 1971 SDSU grad. Nicknamed “Wide Clyde” by WNAX sportscaster Norm Hilson, Hagen has been a familiar figure on the South Dakota sports scene for 40 years. He was the last three-sport star at South Dakota State. The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Hagen was all-North Central Conference in football (1969) […]
Crider, Jerry
Born Sept. 2, 1941 in Sioux Falls. 1959 (Sioux Falls) Washington HS grad. Crider played 13 years of professional baseball, including two seasons in the big leagues. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-hander was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1962. He had brief stays with the Twins and Chicago White Sox in 1969 and ’70, going […]