Christensen, Jill

Jill (Smidt) Christensen graduated in 1979 from Lennox High School and from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa in 1983. In high school, she was a two-time Class A 1st team All-State girls basketball player and earned four medals at the State Track Meet in the 880-yard run and the 2-mile relay. While at NWC, […]

Clifford, Bob

Organized the original Holy Rosary Mission basketball team in 1925. He coached there – except for two years at St. Francis – until retiring in 1962. He was the coach at St. Francis when the state Catholic tourney was started in 1937. Clifford’s Warriors won that inaugural title. He coached Holy Rosary (now Red Cloud) […]

Clodfelter, Dwane

Woonsocket native. 1947 USD grad. Coached USD to the 1958 college-division national basketball title. That team won its last 20 games and was the first North Central Conference team to go unbeaten (12-0) in conference play. His USD teams also set the state record for consecutive home wins (34, 1956-59). In 13 seasons at USD […]

Cobb, Euclid

Born in Denton, Texas. Monmouth, Ill. HS. Monmouth College. Coach and athletic director for whom the Rapid City Central Cobbler athletic teams are named. He spent 41 years at Central and is the only South Dakota coach to have a team named after him. Cobb came to South Dakota to do graduate work at USD. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Tiefenthaler, Jeff

Jeff Tiefenthaler, a 1981 graduate of Armour High School and 1986 graduate of South Dakota State University (SDSU), played a pivotal role in helping Armour win seven state titles—three in track & field and two each in baseball and basketball. At SDSU, he excelled in both football and track & field. Initially attending on a […]

Tiefenthaler, Denis

Dennis Tiefenthaler was born on May 17, 1962, and now resides in Dewey (AZ). In the words of hall of fame member Greg Hanson, “Athletic versatility did not originate with Dennis Tiefenthaler, he has simply refined it to an art seldom seen before in the state of South Dakota. In a time when two out […]

Torve, Kelvin

Kelvin Torve attended Rapid City Stevens and graduated in 1978. He lettered in basketball and football during his last two high school years. As a senior, he was first-team All-State in basketball and was also named the Rapid City High School Athlete of the Year for his outstanding football, basketball, and Post 22 baseball careers. […]

Trudeau, Joe

The 1969 Jefferson High and University of South Dakota grad starred on one of the most famous prep football teams in state history. Trudeau was a four-year, two-way starter at end on a Jefferson team that went 35-1 with a 33-game win streak under Coach Matt Mottice. As a junior, he scored 20 touchdowns and […]