Christensen, Pal

A lifelong Yankton resident, Christensen refereed high school and college football and basketball games in a career that spanned more than 50 years. He reffed high school boys and girls basketball for 37 years and prep football for 50 years. He reffed his first football game Oct. 23, 1947, six days after his wedding, filling […]

Schroeder, Bob

The Miller High and University of South Dakota grad was an extremely successful high school football, basketball and track coach at Miller from the 1940s to the mid-1970s, and he coached two of the greatest teams in state history. Schroeder was an accomplished athlete at Miller while competing in those three sports. He was the […]

Meyer, Don

Northern State’s coach for 11 seasons, Meyer retired in 2010 as the winningest men’s basketball coach in NCAA history, breaking a record set by Bobby Knight. In a 38-year career, the Wayne, Neb., native and Northern Colorado grad won 923 games and lost 324. And in all that time only one player who completed his […]

Munsen, Gary

A White Lake High and General Beadle (now Dakota State) grad, Munsen was one of the state’s most prolific basketball coaches in terms of both wins and state championships. He coached boys basketball for 46 years – 42 as a head coach, the last 39 of which were at Mitchell, which he turned into a […]

LeBeaux, Lyle “Dusty”

A 1971 Oglala Community School grad, LeBeaux has been one of the state’s most successful girls and boys basketball coaches for the past 26 years – all on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He is one of a few Native American coaches whose teams have won the state tournament, and he is one of the […]

Fredrickson, Curt

An Aberdeen Central and Northern State grad, Fredrickson is the second-winningest active NCAA Division II women’s basketball coach with 723 wins in 34 seasons. He also was a great all-around athlete, excelling in football, basketball and baseball. He ranks as one of the greatest amateur baseball players in state history. Fredrickson was just the 16th […]

Thune, Harold

A Murdo High and University of Minnesota grad, Thune was one of the state’s greatest basketball players in the 1930s. He led Murdo to the 1937 state Class B tournament finals, where he was named captain of the all-tourney team. He was the top scorer in the tourney with 35 points. After one year at […]

Tschetter, Kris

A Sioux Falls Washington High grad, Tschetter is South Dakota’s greatest golfer of the last 50 years. She played from 1988-2012 on the LPGA Tour and now plays on the Legends Tour. The former Texas Christian University standout has almost $3 million in career earnings. She won the 1992 Northgate Computer Classic and teamed with […]

DeHaven, Rod

A Huron High and South Dakota State grad, DeHaven was the entire U.S. marathon team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The next year he placed sixth at the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, where he ran his personal best of 2:11:40. He also qualified for the 2004 Olympic trials but injury kept […]

Evans, James

A lifelong Rapid Citian, Evans was one of the state’s greatest football players, then helped the Rapid City Post 22 baseball team become one of the nation’s finest programs. The 1951 Rapid City High grad was selected as a tackle on the state’s all-time high school football team in 1969. Rapid City High lost only […]