Whalen, Duane

Duane Whalen graduated from Rapid City High School in 1954. From 1954 to 1958 he attended Black Hills State University. In the fall of 1958, he began his 40-year teaching, coaching, and athletic administration career in Rapid City. Whalen began his career in athletic/activities administration in 1977 when he was appointed Junior High Activities Director […]

Conley, Bruce

Bruce Conley covered South Dakota sports for 25 years as a reporter with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. For the last three years of his 28-year tenure with the newspaper he was a general assignment reporter. Conley resigned in 1990 to accept the position of News Information Director at Augustana College. He retired in 2010 […]

Ruml, Ken

Wrestling has been Ken Ruml’s life for over 50 years. He graduated from Letcher High School in 1967 and Dakota Wesleyan University in 1971. He competed in football, wrestling, and track & field all four years and was a three-sport letter winner all four years. Ruml coached wrestling at Howard High School from 1976-2011. His […]

Miner, Jim

Jim Miner graduated for Watertown High School in 1959 and Huron College in 1963. He was known as a tireless recruiter at Yankton who got many boys and girls participating in extra-curricular activities. In 2019, he was still volunteering his services to coach students and mentor coaches. Miner was football defensive coordinator under Max Hawk […]

Mitchell, Ronald

Ronald Mitchell is hearing, but for nearly 50 years was a dedicated supporter/promoter of deaf sports programs in South Dakota, Minnesota and nationally as an athlete, coach and administrator. Mitchell served as a Team USA assistant coach at the 1993 Deaf Olympics in Sweden, where one of his athletes won five gold medals. For 36 […]

Reed, Gary

Gary Reed attended Egan High School where he played varsity basketball for five years. He continued his basketball career at the University of Sioux Falls as a four-year starter. Graduating from USF in 1963, Reed began his teaching and coaching career in Jasper, MN. In 1965 he returned to Sioux Falls to continue teaching and […]

Houska, John

John Houska graduated from Chamberlain High School in 1961 and Black Hills State College in 1965. He was a multi-sport high school star athlete who became a Hall of Fame athlete at Black Hills State College. Houska coached for 50 years in football, cross country, track & field, and wrestling. Schools that he coached at […]

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 […]

Diede, Laverne

Laverne Diede was a pioneer in South Dakota high school girls’ sports and was a leader in helping establish girls’ sports in the 1970s and beyond. She was a teacher, coach, and administrator for more than 40 years in Delmont, Marion, and Freeman. She was especially involved in helping girls’ track to prosper. In 1977, […]

Reinhart, Jim

Jim Reinhart is perhaps the state’s greatest high school distance runner. He graduated in 1973 from Sioux Falls (SD) Lincoln High School and was a 1977 graduate of Notre Dame. As a sophomore, he lost his first cross country race. After that, he never lost another cross country race in high school and went on […]