Godfrey, Vic
The 1958 Aberdeen Central and 1963 Northern State grad has been a track and/or cross country coach for more than 50 years – much of it at Watertown. Godfrey began his coaching career in Indonesia while in the Peace Corps from 1963-65. During that time he worked with Olympic gold medalists Emil Zatopek and Charlie […]
Dirksen, Jay
A 1963 graduate of General Beadle High School in Madison, Dirksen excelled as a runner and a coach. The 1968 South Dakota State grad coached SDSU to the 1973 NCAA Division II men’s cross country title before spending more than 30 years as a coach at the Division I level, mostly at Nebraska. He began […]
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, […]
Breemes, Gene
Gene Breemes was a 1944 Phillip High School and 1950 Black Hills State College graduate. He was a multiple sport standout in high school and starred in football as a quarterback, track & field as a pole vaulter and javelin thrower at Black Hills State. He coached and taught at Hurley (1950-52), Beresford (1952-57), Rapid […]
Baker, Don
Don Baker graduated from Scotland High School in 1950 and the University of South Dakota at Springfield in 1954. He earned 12 letters in college at USD-S in football, basketball, and track & field. He was all-conference in football and basketball and was one of the SDIC’s top distance runners. He was also a multi-sport […]
Wipf Wiebe, Janel
The 1976 Freeman High graduate was among South Dakota’s first female long-distance runners – and she still ranks among the best. Her running career started with track and cross country in the early 1970s, when distance races first became available to girls. Her early successes included three consecutive state titles in the mile run and […]
Turning Heart, Jeffrey
Jeffrey Turning Heart was one of South Dakota’s greatest distance runners in state history, a 1980 Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School graduate, and a 1984 Adams State (Alamosa, CO) graduate. Turning Heart was a two-time State A cross country champion (1978-79, he had better times than AA winners) with one runner-up finish and helped CEB win […]
Schwartz, Gary
An all-state football player at Wessington Springs, Schwartz was thinking about playing the sport in college. All that changed in a flash at the 1962 Howard Wood Dakota Relays. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder’s discus throw of 190 feet, 7 1/2 inches was the best prep throw in the nation at the time that year and broke […]
Smith, Gene
Born and grew up in Thomas, SD. 1947 Watertown HS grad. 1952 Huron College grad. Perhaps the greatest basketball player in the history of Huron College, Smith was one of the first South Dakotans ever drafted by an NBA team, taken by the NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers in 1952. Despite the complete loss of two […]
Schemmel, Jeff
Jeff Schemmel was the first South Dakota native to run a sub four-minute mile (3:59.4), running for Kansas State on June 1, 1974. He was a four-time track NCAA DI All-American who anchored K-State’s distance medley relay team to the 1975 NCAA championship. He won five Big 8 Conference individual track titles and helped KSU […]