Timmins, Buck

(Born 1948. Died 2020.) 1966 Mitchell/1971 Dakota Wesleyan graduate. Timmins was one of South Dakota’s premier promoters of all sports as a teacher, coach, administrator and official. He won numerous awards in each of those categories. Timmins coached all different sports during a 36-year career at Avon (seven years) and Parkston (29 years). He started […]

Prendergast, Harry

Harry Prendergast graduated from Milbank High School and was a 1953 graduate of Huron College. At Huron he was All-SDIC in football and basketball. He was a member of three SDIC championship basketball teams and started 39 straight games in football. Prendergast is the only football coach in South Dakota history to have coached 6-man, […]

Little, Dave

Dave Little once said that coaching track was 40 percent technique and conditioning and 60 percent psychology. And that’s what he did best – get inside athletes’ heads. The 1960 Watertown High and 1965 Northern State grad had high school coaching stints in Aberdeen and Michigan before going to Black Hills State University in 1968. […]

Larson, Don

Don Larson was a championship runner and unmatched track & field coach in the North Central Conference. As an All-American track & field athlete at SDSU, Larson won seven NCC championships. He set three conference records and still holds a share of the retired 600-yard indoor mark. Larson captured his NCAA DII All-American honors in […]

Keck, Sheri

One of the most successful high school gymnastics coaches in state history, the 1979 South Dakota State grad guided Rapid City. Stevens to six state titles and two runner-up finishes in 13 seasons. A Stevens grad, she coached the Raiders from 1991-2001 and 2005-06. The Raiders won state titles in 1994, ’95, ’97, ’98, ’99 […]

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 […]

Flaagan, Forry

Flaagan is a 1968 Mayville (N.D.) High School grad and 1977 University of North Dakota alum who guided the Rapid City Stevens cross country program to unparalleled success. Flaagan got his coaching start in Spearfish as assistant junior high boys track coach for two years before becoming the head cross country and assistant track coach […]

Hansen, Elmer

Born June 13, 1905, in Kanaranzi, Minn. Luverne (Minn.) HS. 1930 Morningside College grad. Hansen was one of the state’s most successful track coaches, winning 12 state titles in his 21 years as head coach at Washington High. The Warriors’ nine consecutive state titles from 1953-61 is the best such streak in state history. While […]

Greeno, Rollie

The 1944 Langford High and 1950 Northern State grad coached the Milbank football team to 44 consecutive victories before embarking on a 37-year coaching career at Jamestown College. The Amherst native began his coaching career at Wessington Springs from 1950-56, coaching four sports with great success. His football teams there were 37-9-3, including a 27-game […]

Greeno, Rich

Born near Amherst, S.D. 1946 Langford HS grad. 1950 Northern State grad. A cross country and boys track coaching legend at Lincoln High in Sioux Falls, Greeno’s coaching career spanned six decades. He coached at Lincoln from 1968-90. The Patriots won 11 state cross country titles, including all but one in the 1970s, and the […]