Linda Collignon - Inducted 2023

Her coaching stay was short, but her impact was long-lasting. That describes the 1968 Rutland High School and 1972 Dakota State College graduate Linda Collignon. In 1991-92, Collignon took over the Madison gymnastics program with no head coaching experience and served as an assistant coach for two years. Her teams did not place her first year but finished fourth in 1993 and third in 1994, and then won its first team state championship in 1995 despite having no individual champions. However, that would set one of the nation’s most dynamic high school sports programs in motion. From 1995 to 2001, Madison would continue winning state titles for seven years under Collignon and 20 individual titles.

Collignon retired in 2001, but one of her former athletes, Maridee Wiese, a member of Madison’s first state championship team in 1995, took over the program, and Madison kept winning. Madison would win a national record 16-straight state gymnastics titles from 1995-2010. After that, the Bulldogs would win four more state titles with six runner-up finishes through the 2021 season.

Collignon got the community of Madison to buy into her program as well. In 1997, Madison gymnasts got their on-campus building when more than 200 Madison volunteers helped build the structure. She served on the South Dakota High School Activities Association Gymnastics Advisory Committee. Collignon was a three-time South Dakota gymnastics coach of the year and was a finalist for National High School Athletic Coaches Association Gymnastics Coach of the Year. She was inducted into the SD High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003.