Spring 2005 Rabbit Tracks

RABBITtracks

Volume 11, No. 1

South Dakota State University

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Spring 2005

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A message from Fred Oien

Go Jacks!

T

his year marks the 25th anniversary of the Stan Marshall Golf Classic. Started by a group of long-standing friends and alumni of the program in honor of Stanley J. Marshall, it has grown from modest beginnings to one of the premier athletic events of the year.

Through the generosity of those at the auction and golf event, two athletic scholarships are now endowed. In addition, it has given our most loyal supporters a chance to come together and celebrate the athletic program.

Like it’s beginning, a dedicated group of volunteers work throughout the year planning the event. Each year the event has grown, providing additional funding for athletic scholarships.

This year we will dearly miss one of our founding members of the committee and former Chair of the event – Mr. Bob Durland. From his playing days as a Jackrabbit football player, his career at the University and continued support in retirement, Bob’s service represents the “heart and soul” as to why this event has been so very successful and popular.

Always focused on what could be done to make the event better and provide additional support to our student-athletes, Bob was a true champion for the student-athletes.

The Stan Marshall Golf Classic brings a family together. We get a chance to celebrate our past and at the same time build a future. I hope you would consider attending again or come for the first time. Please contact the athletic ticket office if you would like to join us. You have a chance to be a part of something very special.

Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Go Jacks!

Fred Oien SDSU Athletic Director

P a s s i o n a t e .

R e l e n t l e s s .

C h a m p i o n s .

VISION To be a premier student-centered, collegiate athletic program.

MISSION To passionately and relentlessly create an environment, rooted in sportsmanship and ethical conduct, where motivated student-athletes can develop into lifelong champions.

VALUES Honesty, equity, academic integrity, fiscal integrity and social responsibility with the expectation of competing at the highest level.

P a s s i o n a t e .

Rabbit tracks Spring 2005,Vol. 11, No. 1 SDSU President Peggy Gordon Miller SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien SDSU Sports Information Director Ron Lenz SDSU Sports Information Assistant Director Jason Hove Assistant to AD/External Affairs Keith Mahlum Editor Nan Steinley, University Relations Contributing Writers Kyle Johnson, Dave Graves, Miranda Malo, Nicole Schaffer, University Relations Designer Kristine Madsen, University Relations Photographer Eric Landwehr, University Relations

R e l e n t l e s s .

Rabbit Tracks is produced by University Relations in cooperation with the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State of South Dakota. Please notify the Athletic Department office when you change your address.

Athletic Department South Dakota State University Box 2820, Brookings, SD 57007 Telephone: 605/688-5625 Fax: 605/688-5999 Website: www.gojacks.com Cover photo: SDSU senior Shannon Schlagel

C h a m p i o n s .

Contents Stan Marshall Golf Classic to mark 25th year . . . . . . . . .2 Who was the man who is associated with the Classic . . .4 Melissa Pater resumes her career in Europe . . . . . . . . . . .5 Warren Williamson remembered by his wrestling family .6

Front cover photo by Eric Landwehr, University Relations

A look at the significant numbers in Williamson’s life . . . .8

1,200 copies printed by the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State of South Dakota. PE069 3/05

Track alums being called on to create new scholarship . . .9 Gym rat Shannon Schlagel tops SDSU scoring list . . . .10

Get to know your Jackrabbit

Courtside courtship continues for Swenson, Meister . . .12 Jack passion doesn’t die for Howard Sauer . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Sports naturally breed camaraderie, and an outgrowth of bonding with teammates is nicknames.

Hobbies: Travis Gottschalk repairs old tractors . . . . . . . . .16 Hobbies: Kira Sudbeck can’t stop singing . . . . . . . . . . . .17

SDSU athletes have plenty of them as you can see by the list on Page 20.This issue gives you a couple glimpses at the fun side for some of our Jackrabbits. In addition to sharing nicknames, we thought we’d tell you about some of their interesting hobbies.

As a warm-up, see if you can match the athlete with their nickname or hobby. To check your answers, go to Page 20 (nicknames) and Pages 16-17 (hobbies).

Name 1. Jared DeJong 2. Lucas Jungemann 3. Mitch Pontrelli 4. Lisa Robinson

Meet athletes who distinguish themselves academically . .18 What do their friends call them? Check out nicknames . . 20 Nickname A. Bob B. Footer C. Fonz D. Lunatic

Name 1. Amy Goodrich 2. Luke Greving 3. Brad Lowery 4. Erin Zempel

Hobby A. Diving board tricks B. Scrapbooking C. Shopping on eBay D. Star gazing

Stan

Marshall

Stan Marshall Golf Classic and Auction marks silver anniversary

Tournament namesake would be pleased I

t’s been said that Stan Marshall spent his waking hours trying to figure how to make life better for the SDSU Athletic Department and its student-athletes.

With that in mind, the late athletic director would be mighty pleased with the success of the Stan Marshall Golf Classic and Scholarship Auction.

Named in his honor following his death in 1980, the event observes its 25th anniversary when the 2005 outing takes place June 3-4. Traditionally held the first weekend after Memorial Day, the event raises a significant amount of scholarship money for Jackrabbit athletics.

“Stan would be very proud,” says Nona Marshall, when asked how her husband would view the two-day affair. “He always put the students first and was very interested in their welfare. He would be really pleased with the money that has been set aside for scholarships.”

Revenue from the 2004 event totaled $118,500, making it the highest on record. Proceeds fund male and female athletic scholarships in the name of Stanley J. Marshall.

“This is an event that gets a lot of people involved with SDSU athletics,” says 2005 committee chairman Matt Einspahr.

“Having an event where people can come together and generate money for scholarships for our student-athletes, is a great and worthwhile cause.

2 • Rabbit tracks

“Everyone has lots of fun, too,” he adds. “It’s looked at as a fun-raiser as much as a fundraiser. It’s very exciting how it has grown in the last twenty-five years, from just a gathering of a few alums and a small event, to a major weekend on the Jackrabbit calendar.”

Greg Fargen, who served as committee chairman for three years, notes that the tournament fits perfectly with the vision Marshall had for student-athletes.

“I think he would approve of the efforts being done in his name, especially for the things he felt was right,” says Fargen, a 1980 State graduate. “We can’t give enough credit to those people who got this off the ground twenty-five years ago.

They kept it going and the interest to maintain it.”

“It has evolved into a wonderful weekend. It’s very exciting how it has grown in the last twentyfive years, from just a gathering of a few alums and a small event, to a major weekend on the Jackrabbit calendar.” – 2005 committee chairman Matt Einsphar

Stan

Marshall

Expansion makes it better The event has grown in size and popularity over the years. So much so in fact that six years ago it was necessary to expand it from one day to two days when it became clear the Brookings Country Club could no longer handle both the auction and golf.

The auction, which was sometimes jeopardized by inclement weather, was moved to the Brookings Inn on Friday, followed by eighteen holes of golf Saturday.

Two more changes in 2003 gave the Stan Marshall Weekend a substantial financial boost. The auction was relocated to the Swiftel Center (formerly the Brookings Area Multiplex), which means the auction can easily accommodate hundreds of people.

Golf, traditionally capped at thirty teams, ballooned to fifty with the addition of a morning session to the customary afternoon start. The increase resulted in 220 people teeing off last year.

The numbers are impressive, considering the first tournament drew seventy-seven golfers and raised $2,000 for the Marshall memorial fund, including $750 for the Alumni Association.

“Going to a two-day event was a major change,” cites Einspahr. “The main reason for doing it was to include nongolfers. People who came to the auction and didn’t golf felt they weren’t part of the event. People can go to the auction, which is open to the public, without even signing up for golf.

It’s a much better opportunity for people to be involved.

“The success of the event can be measured in the demand that there’s been to get into the golf tournament,” he adds. “It’s

always been full. We expanded and it has more than met our expectations.”

First weekend after Memorial Day Athletic Director Fred Oien helped organize the first Stan Marshall outing on June 10, 1981, while working as a research coordinator in the HPER master’s department.

“We began with humble beginnings,” he says. “We currently have more than $200,000 in the endowment. Our goal was to create an endowment to pay for one women’s and one men’s scholarship.”

There had been talk of a fund-raising golf tournament before Marshall’s death. His passing served as a catalyst to make it happen, Oien says.

Einspahr has been playing in the tournament since the mid-1980s. In fact, he fondly recalls his first outing.

“I was asked to play with Harry Forsyth [former SDSU athletic director] and his team,” he says. “I was still in high school and we actually won the tournament.”

“Anyone who has been associated with this event marks it on their calendar because they know it’s the first weekend after Memorial Day,” says Einspahr, who has always been active as a player and organizer. “The amount of repeat people we have back is just incredible and some have never missed it.

“We have a very, very successful auction, an auction on par with other Division I programs,” he adds. “Moving to the Swiftel Center has worked out beautifully. We only use about half the building so there’s a tremendous opportunity for growth.”

Stan Marshall Golf Classic and Scholarship Auction When: June 3-4, 2005.

Auction: June 3, Swiftel Center.

Social: 6 p.m.

Live auction: 8 p.m.

Golf: June 4, Brookings Country Club.

Start times: Morning session, 8 a.m. Afternoon session, 1 p.m.

Contact information: Micah Grenz, Stan Marshall Committee, 688-6747 Mike Burgers, Stan Marshall Committee, 688-5422 Committee Chairman Matt Einsphar, 692-6106; Tim Reed, 697-7475.

Rabbit tracks • 3

Stan

Marshall

Auction benefits all The auction is always a big hit, according to 2004 committee chair Tim Reed, who notes the 2004 event attracted 530 people and raised $64,000.

“It went really well,” says Reed, a 1988 State graduate, who will chair this year’s auction. “There were 100 total items auctioned off and we had gift baskets donated from area businesses. There was something for “We began with humble everyone in every beginnings. We currently price range. New people are winning have more than $200,000 bids on items every year.” in the endowment.” – Auction items that went for more than Athletic Director Fred $4,000 included: play Oien system from Rainbow Play Systems of Brookings, a men’s basketball trip to New York when the Jacks faced Manhattan last November, a women’s basketball trip to the Virgin Islands, where the Jacks played in a November tournament, and a trip to the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

A diamond-studded rabbit jewelry piece, a charm bracelet with SDSU charms, and Jackrabbit memorabilia were auctioned off. A Coke machine with Jackrabbit alums pictured on the front, highlighted by two-time Super Bowl winner Adam Vinatieri, was sold. Various products made by SDSU alums like salsa and wine were also on the auction block.

A video display, courtesy of a Daktronics Pro Star video board, enabled auction attendees to view past Stan Marshall scholarship winners and highlights of the Jackrabbit sports season.

After the auction, the Dweebs, a show band from Minneapolis, returned a second time for post-auction entertainment. For this year’s entertainment, the ’70s cover band Boogie Wonderland will perform.

“This event has really grown,” Reed notes. “It has become a tradition that friends and alums come back for from all over the U.S.” Organizers are quick to point out that the event is much more than simply raising money for the athletic department.

It’s also an important social gathering where participants can rub shoulders with Jackrabbit coaches, former SDSU athletic greats, and school officials.

“It’s designed as much as anything as a way of giving back and saying thanks to all the people for their support of SDSU athletics,” says Einspahr. “There’s still room to get into the tournament. We’re looking for five-player teams and one of the exciting things is the number of new teams that have signed up and participated in the last couple of years. We’re also always looking for new and exciting auction items.”

4 • Rabbit tracks

Who was Stan Marshall?

Stan Marshall, a 1950 State graduate, was athletics director at SDSU from 1965 to 1980.

He was born in Yankton in 1927 and was a graduate of Centerville High School.

A three-sports athlete at State, Marshall coached football, basketball, and track at Groton, Centerville, and Hot Springs from 1950 to 1955.

Marshall entered the college ranks as head football and track coach at Jamestown College in North Dakota from 1955 to 1957, before coming to SDSU as an assistant football coach from 1957 to 1963.

He coached football at Wayne State in Michigan in 1964 prior to returning to SDSU as athletic director.

He served on a number of national committees. Most notably he was secretary-treasurer of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, in the same year, 1976-77. He was the only person to have held both positions at the same time. He was also instrumental in initiating national championships for NCAA Division II and III schools.

Among Marshall’s crowning achievements was the construction of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Center. It was completed in 1973 and named in his honor after his death.

Marshall had rheumatic fever in his early high school years. Experiencing heart problems later in life, a mechanical heart valve was installed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on May 1, 1980.

A month later, Marshall suffered a heart attack while attending the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors convention in Las Vegas and died June 14.

Kyle Johnson

Melissa

Pater

Paterresumes cage career in Europe W

hen Melissa Pater was afforded the chance to resume life on the hard great . . . eat, sleep, court, it didn’t take her long to and play basketball. decide.

And, when a paycheck was in I do miss my family the offer, the move was truly and friends in the satisfying for the former Jackrabbit great.

States, but I missed “Being a professional athlete is playing the game I a dream of many athletes as well as mine,” says Pater. “I was given love. A chance to a chance to play at this level and I couldn’t pass it up.” travel to Europe, Pater, who graduated in May while getting paid to 2003, owned school records for games played, career points, play basketball, points in a season, and rebounds in a season. Now she is playing made the for the Perik Jumpers of opportunity very Tubbergen, Holland. She signed a attractive to me.” — one-year contract with the team April 2004 with an option for a Melissa Pater second year.

The Jumpers, who stood 13-7 as of March 5, are one of twelve teams that compete in the Division I League in the Netherlands, the highest level in the country, and somewhat similar to the Women’s National Basketball Association in the United States. The season began in October and runs into June.

Unlike basketball country back home, soccer is king in Europe. Pater’s team, though, has a solid fan base and she hopes to aid in the tradition the program has carved out.

“The Jumpers are a well-known team in the Division I League,” she notes. “They usually finish in the top four and three years ago they won Team photo: the division Melissa Pater, back row, second from left, joins championship.” her Perik Jumpers teammates for a group photo.

Pater The Holland, Minnesota, native is in her first knows about season of playing in a league in the Netherlands. winning. She

“I can’t beat it! It’s

led the SDSU women to a 32-3 record and their first NCAA championship as a senior two years ago. She was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Elite Eight field and became the first player in the program’s history to earn firstteam all-America honors.

“I don’t think a day goes by when I haven’t thought about the national championship we won,” she says. “It was something I’ll never forget.”

A Dutch heritage Pater was one of two non-European players the Jumpers were allowed to bring into their program. Their other foreign player is from Pittsburgh. Three players are from Canada and have European citizenship. The other players are Dutch.

Pater is the Jumpers’ second-leading scorer and rebounder, averaging seventeen points and six rebounds per game while leading the squad with three steals per contest.

Since Pater is considered “a very Dutch last name” and being from Holland, Minnesota, the Jumpers contacted Pater in hopes of her obtaining Dutch citizenship, which in the end, didn’t happen.

“They inquired if I had enough of a Dutch background to apply for dual citizenship,” Pater explains. “My grandparents were born in the Netherlands, but not my parents, so I could not get citizenship.

“The Jumpers wanted me to gain citizenship because then I would not be considered one of the non-European players and they would be able to go after other foreign players, like Americans or Canadians.”

But after viewing game tape she was still offered a contract, a choice she doesn’t regret, even when it means extended periods away from home.

“I can’t beat it!” she says. “It’s great . . . eat, sleep, and play basketball. I do miss my family and friends in the States, but I missed playing the game I love. A chance to travel to Europe, while getting paid to play basketball, made the opportunity very attractive to me.”

Pater says she recently acquired a visa to look for a possible job on the side, but to do that she first must get familiar with the Dutch language.

Meantime, she concentrates on hoops and works on a master’s degree in a two-year course that focuses on coaching.

“I’m taking two classes over the Internet to finish my master’s degree,” says Pater, who was a graduate assistant basketball coach for the Jacks during the 2003-04 season. “I want to teach and coach at the collegiate level someday.”

Kyle Johnson Rabbit tracks • 5

Warren

Williamson

Coach Williamson Father of South Dakota wrestling also father figure to many SDSU wrestlers

D

awn remained snuggly tucked under the night sky when heavyweight wrestler Frank Kurtenbach ’61 pulled into Brookings in early March 1961.

A frosty stillness clothed the pre-dawn hour as the 24-yearold drove in a 1955 Ford east on Fourth Street toward Hillcrest School, and drove up a little hill into Coach Warren Williamson’s driveway. Kurtenbach’s 1,540-mile trip by car and train had come to a close, just like his South Dakota State athletic career did the weekend before, when the senior competed in the national wrestling tournament at Oregon State University.

Kurtenbach stopped the car, opened the trunk, and at 4 a.m. Williamson grabbed his bags.

Turning to the man who had coached him throughout his career at State, Kurtenbach shook his hand and said, “Coach, we have traveled a lot of miles together and I have enjoyed every one of them.”

The line is etched in history via a book written by the late Williamson on his athletic career.

The line, whether spoken by words or sentiment, also is etched in the hearts of hundreds of wrestlers and football players who called Warren Williamson “Coach.”

Under Warren’s wing Kurtenbach came to campus in 1957, the year after Williamson took over State’s fledgling wrestling program. “Warren was like a second father to me. When I went to college, my parents were

6 • Rabbit tracks

elderly. It was a real refreshing thing for Warren to take me under his wing and keep me on the straight and narrow.

“He did that for a lot of people. This was just common for him to take young men and women under his wing,” Kurtenbach recalls.

Many of those that Williamson ’51 had made his children were in Brookings in November when the community bid farewell to him. Williamson, 77, died Tuesday, November 9, 2004, at his home. Kurtenbach carried Coach the final steps, serving as a pallbearer.

“Warren liked people. He was genuinely interested in people,” says his widow, Dorothy.

That was evident at his November 12 funeral at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings, where he and his high school sweetheart had celebrated their golden anniversary six years earlier. With mourners packed shoulder-to-shoulder in nearly every pew, the choir loft was used for overflow seating.

The man who was widely recognized as the “father of South Dakota wrestling” was being honored by those who knew him from all walks of life.

In addition to colleagues from his beloved South Dakota State University, Williamson was honored by friends from church, from the community, and from his hometown of Hurley.

But particularly, there were those wrestlers who considered him a second father.

‘One of Willie’s boys’ “You were one of Willie’s boys and that’s the way it always will be,” says Marv Sherrill of Watertown.

Harry Forsyth, who served as assistant athletic director during much of Williamson’s sixteen-year-career as head wrestling coach, says, “The kids that Warren had, he worked the heck out of them, but they loved him. Warren was a fierce competitor himself and he passed that on to his kids.”

Reflecting on his coaching relationships in an October 14, 2003, interview, Williamson said, “Coaching wrestlers, it’s kind of an armpit-to-armpit relationship. I always prided myself in knowing as much as I could about a youngster and his background. You got to get inside of them.”

Warren

Williamson

Road trip counseling He often did that driving back in a state-owned car from a distant match or tournament.

“It was about one-on-one relationships. You ride home from Manhattan, Kansas, at two in the morning, you’ve got a lot of time to talk. There’d be three kids in the back seat sleeping.

One kid in the passenger seat and he’d open up,” Williamson said.

Kurtenbach adds, “He got right inside your mind after wrestling matches. He got to know a lot about people.”

Greg Schmidt ’70, who was a three-time All-American under Williamson, says, “The door was always open if you needed to talk to him.” He notes that Coach particularly provided encouragement to wrestlers who came from alcoholic families.

Encouraging academics

Jim Perkins, a senior ag major from Worthington, Minnesota, and

Verne Winter ’67, who established a scholarship in Williamson’s Coach Warren Williamson await the referee’s whistle, or the photographer’s flash, to start “their match.” The photo was taken name, says, “There were a ton of different personalities on the December 11, 1962, as Williamson was beginning his seventh season team. How coach was able to handle that, I don’t know.” as SDSU wrestling coach.

Schmidt and Winter both benefited academically from Williamson’s encouragement. Winter enrolled at State as a ‘A very special weekend’ mechanical engineering major after wrestling four years at Nearly forty years after shaking hands in the Schmidt kitchen, Westbrook, Minnesota. But he found himself a “C” student at Schmidt’s parents were with Greg when he visited Coach on the State as the engineering courses were figuratively rubbing his Saturday before the Hall of Fame induction. “Their respect for nose in the mat.

Coach Williamson is exactly the same as mine. It was a very But Williamson’s “hang in there” encouragement kept important weekend for me,” Schmidt says.

Winter in the match and “my junior year things really took off It also was a very special weekend for Williamson, who for me as far as being able to relate to the courses I was had been weakened by the lymphoma that taking.” would take his life but had vowed weeks He now is president of R.R. Floody Company, earlier that he wanted to hang on for the “Coach, we have an industrial distributor in Rockford, Illinois. induction of Schmidt, State’s first three-time AllSchmidt works as the west regional manager traveled a lot of miles American in wrestling. for Daktronics Sports Marketing Group. On October At this point, jaundice and exhaustion together and I have 10, 2004, Schmidt was inducted into the Jackrabbit tainted Williamson’s face. “It just broke my Athletic Hall of Fame. “The most important part of enjoyed every one of heart to see him,” Schmidt says. that festivity is that Coach was there. Without “But he still performed like he was in the them.”

Coach, I’d never have been through college. wrestling room in terms of spirit; he could pull Without Coach, I’d still be hauling bales and rock,” Frank Kurtenbach to himself up,” he adds.

Schmidt says.

Dorothy Williamson remembers, “That was Warren Williamson a very, very emotional night. He was drained Kitchen table persuasion after that, but it meant so much to him. I’m so The “Mighty Mite” was the most highly recruited South Dakota glad he was able to do that because that was the last [public] wrestler in his senior year at Redfield. thing he was able to do.”

Williamson wrote about the late August 1965 visit he made to the Schmidt farm home near Rockham. Schmidt and his Embodying a winning attitude parents had an oral agreement to attend Kansas State, but Since her husband’s passing, she has received more than 400 Williamson made another attempt to bring him to South Dakota symphathy cards. “It’s been very gratifying and overwhelming. It State. makes you feel real good, even though it’s been tough,” He said the K-State coach was his friend and would Dorothy Williamson says. understand a decision to stay in South Dakota.

Coach knew about tough. It “I suggested that Greg’s father, Milton, might call Coach marked his early days in Hurley and Knorr. He picked up the phone, made the call, and everyone shaped his character in his dying days. was comfortable with the decision. We shook hands all around, Schmidt notes, “He never talked about I knowing that shaking hands with this German family was as his health, not once. He was one certain as a signed letter of intent is today,” Williamson wrote tough cookie.” his 1995 book.

Dave Graves The respect that he extended to others was reflected back to Coach.

Warren

Williamson

Williamson By the numbers

H

e was a record setter, a groundbreaker, and a pacesetter; he was a husband, a father, and a friend; he was a writer, a historian, an administrator, and always a coach.

Trying to capture Warren Williamson ’51 in a series of numbers and dates seems like trying to paint a rainbow with only one color. While numbers can never capture the character of Williamson, they do form the outline for a man who maintained a passion for SDSU even as the numbers on his days here dwindled low.

The early numbers: 1-4-27. Born to Nels and Florence Williamson on a farm near Hurley, in southeastern South Dakota.

12-25-31. “The first Christmas I can remember. At age four, I spent a lot of time going through the catalog. I was fascinated by a picture of a football in the catalog. But for Christmas I got a basketball instead. My parents said I cried all day and kept pointing at the picture.” *As told by eulogist V.J. Smith.

The enticing number: 125. In the summer of 1944, Williamson was a 17-year-old with a farm job making $125 a month, a goodly sum when rationing kept one from buying anything anyway. With the likelihood of being drafted, he planned to skip his senior year at Hurley High School.

The high school superintendent, who was also the coach, visited Williamson in the threshing field and informed him, “Football practice starts tomorrow night and I expect you to be there.”

The bait worked. Williamson was there. And for the next six seasons, whenever and wherever the whistle blew, Williamson was on the field.

“What a favor it was for him to have recognized my potential and his effort to contact me. I have been forever 8 • Rabbit tracks

indebted to Don Jones for his genuine and sincere interest in my future” Williamson would later write of his coach.

The running numbers: 1,014. Even for his day, Williamson was small (5-9, 160 pounds), but he was an elusive and fierce competitor. The 1,014 yards gained in a ten-game senior season set a school record that future Pro Bowl receiver Pete Retzlaff would nudge past by two yards the next year.

14. He crossed the goal line fourteen times in 1950, producing eighty-four points, which ranked No. 1 in the school record book until 1984.

The grappling numbers: 0. Williamson had never wrestled a formal match before becoming head coach of the State wrestling program in 1956. His wrestling experience consisted of several weeks of drills in late fall 1947, when Wally Johnson was introducing the sport at South Dakota State.

Williamson dropped the sport when track coach legend Jim Emmerich put out a call for athletes to practice indoors in the gymnasium.

16. Williamson’s term as head wrestling coach began with the 1956-57 season and lasted until 1973. He took a sabbatical in the 1968-69 season to earn his director’s degree in recreation from the University of Indiana and became the coordinator of the public recreation degree.

134. Williamson compiled a record of 134-74-9 in dual matches during those sixteen years, also winning three conference titles.

The recreational numbers: 6. There were but a half-dozen sports for intramural athletes when Williamson began as director of intramural sports in 1956.

31. Soon after the opening of the new HPER center in late January 1973, there

was a five-fold increase in the number of intramural sports. Among the new sports were badminton, dance, ice hockey, and judo.

100. Before the explosion in intramural sports, thirty flag-football teams was considered a large turnout. But as the number more than tripled, the need came for a lighted field. In the fall 1978, that became a reality.

The family numbers: 2. Warren and Dorothy had two children—Tom, a retired Army lieutenant colonel now teaching at Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph; and Carolyn Trudell, a principal at a special education school in Las Vegas, Nevada.

3. Two of the Williamsons’ grandchildren—Casey and Wade Williamson—were pallbearers at Warren’s November 12, 2004, funeral.

The third is eight-year-old Jessica Reynolds.

55. The golden anniversary of the November 21, 1948, marriage of Warren Williamson and Dorothy Benson was marked by a party with plenty of old friends at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings. They would observe five more anniversaries.

The final numbers: 36. Williamson’s career as a teacher, coach, and administrator stretched from 1951 to 1987, when he was honored as professor emeritus.

60. By retiring in the prime of his life, Williamson had seventeen years to pursue interests in genealogy, travel, South Dakota history, and writing. He would write three books, one covering his early life, another detailing his professional life, and the final work chronicled his retirement years.

1340. Warren’s earthly life ended at his home on Trail Ridge Circle at 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday, November 9, 2004, ending a lengthy fight with cancer.

Bartling

Scholarships

The race is on Track & field alums being called on to fund new scholarship Call it the ultimate relay race.

Call it a terrific example of grassroots giving.

Call it alumni passing on the baton of the SDSU experience.

Rod DeHaven, left, and Bob Bartling

A

final name on what to call a new SDSU track and field/cross-country scholarship is still up for grabs, but an effort by Rob Beyer ’86 and others is clearly picking up speed. Beyer and his relay partners favor honoring longtime track supporter Bob Bartling in the scholarship name.

But Bartling, the humble Brookings shoe salesman, has come up with an alternative name for the new scholarship. He devised an acronym drawing four well-known past coaches.

EDUM would use the initials of legend Jim Emmerich, 1946-60; Jay Dirksen, 1969-77; Scott Underwood, 1978-96; and Ruth Markse, 1973-1983.

Bartling notes, “I probably knew more of all the previous track and cross-country athletes than anyone else because I was here with all of the major coaches starting with Emmerich to the present time.” But Bartling doesn’t think putting the scholarship in his name is justifiable.

Not so, says Beyer. “His name is synonymous with track and field in the whole Midwest.”

Adds current track/cross-country coach Rod DeHaven, “He’s touched many, many lives over the last four decades. It’s just a small token to get involved and get our names associated with it. Bob is a strong supporter of the sport throughout the state and the Upper Midwest.”

Running down the alleys Bartling started running down the back alleys in 1968 and a year later he was selling shoes.

He started out selling Onitsuka Tiger shoes (now Asics) while also helping to run the family furniture store in downtown Brookings. In 1972, Bartling began his thirty-threeyear association with Nike, primarily as a distributor to teams.

“It was in its infancy, people were running in high-top Converse,” Bartling says of the running shoe business.

By this time, Emmerich had retired and Jay Dirksen was coaching the Jackrabbits. “I got to be real pals with Jay,” Bartling says of the current University of Nebraska coach.

Bartling’s association with Emmerich dates to 1951, when Bartling returned to his hometown and would go to watch Emmerich’s top-notch teams.

A motivator for many Through the years, his fascination with State athletes has been reciprocated by the athletes themselves.

Paul Danger, a 1994 All-American and the SDSU coach from 1998 to 2004, says, “When we travel to races in the summer, and I’ve traveled to many races with Bob, he’s always been a motivating factor for both elite runners and newcomers by his willingness to compete all the way into his upper 70s these days.”

Now 78, Bartling plans to continue competitive running for at least a couple more years.

“If you hang in there, the competition . . . there aren’t many left,” Bartling says of running in the age 80 and over category.

Bonding with Bartling There are a myriad of SDSU track and field and cross-country athletes who would put themselves in the category of a friend of Bob Bartling. “One of our points of continuity through all of our coaches was Bob Bartling,” Beyer observes.

Danger reports that his first connection with Bartling was in 1987, when the St. James, Minnesota, high school sophomore came to Brookings to run in the Longest Day 10K. “Like many runners in the area, one of the stops in Brookings is Bartlings Shoe Store and that was a stop for me also because of the vast running library that he has accumulated.

“From the late ’80s when I came to campus to my current running as a member of the Prairie Striders, he has provided mentorship and counseling,” Danger says.

Alums helping current athletes Now Beyer is hoping to capitalize on the feelings Danger and others have for Bartling to help fund scholarships here.

DeHaven says, “Track and field is a sport where we have many kids. Most kids either have a partial scholarship or walk on. To give that scholarship opportunity to five more kids will help add to the depth of our squads on both sides [men and women].”

Dave Graves Rabbit tracks • 9

Shannon

Schlagel

Schlagel rises from gym rat to Jacks’ scoring leader

P

ersistence has many benefits, and for one Shannon Schlagel, it was a big factor in her growth as a person and as a basketball player. For the Jackrabbits’ all-time leading scorer, her rise to the top shouldn’t come as a surprise. Past history indicates a penchant for not giving up, an inner drive that was apparent to many, including Jerome Nesheim.

Head girls coach at Clark High School at the time, Nesheim made the decision to elevate eighth-grader Schlagel to varsity status, the only junior high player on the squad.

“Shannon was so gifted at a young age,” he recalls. “She was raw, but you could see the talent. She was better than a lot of my older kids.”

When junior high practice concluded, Schlagel stayed to watch her mom, Jackie, the assistant coach, and Nesheim direct the varsity players. She didn’t sit still, though, becoming the “There aren’t too many water girl and participating in drills. Finally, about halfway teams we played in through the 1997 season, the Division I that Shannon young prospect’s constant presence became too much wouldn’t start on.” — for Nesheim to take.

“I was always kind of like, Coach Aaron Johnston nagging around the whole time, wanting to get into practice,” grins Schlagel, who grew up on a farm four miles south of Raymond with her two younger brothers, Tony, a freshman at North Dakota School of Science, and Blake, a freshman at Clark.

“I had just finished with junior high practice and coach told me to grab my shoes, because we were headed to a high school game in Milbank. That was the first night I got to play.

I was thankful for the opportunity.”

Schlagel saw action the rest of the season, and in the first game of the district tournament against De Smet, she led Clark with fifteen points.

A blossoming star From that point on, the rest was history, becoming a gym rat of sorts, according to Nesheim. “We had open gym and she spent

10 • Rabbit tracks

lots of time there, always practicing, working hard to improve her game.”

A daughter with a strong work ethic wasn’t news to Jackie, who took the time to organize local girls for three-on-three practice for games and tournaments in the surrounding area.

“We’d hold practices on our deck or in town,” she recalls.

“Shannon always had the desire to just play, even as a thirdand fourth-grader. She would always do anything that you asked of her.”

Schlagel went on to compile impressive figures, setting Clark career records for points, rebounds, and steals. Twice earning first-team all-state honors, she was all-conference in volleyball and competed in track.

When it came to college, Schlagel took her time, receiving attention from most schools in the region, including Creighton and Drake.

During the summer before her senior year, SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston and assistant coach Laurie Melum offered her a scholarship, after watching her Amateur Athletic Union team in tournaments in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

“We had known about Shannon as a junior and even as a sophomore,” reflects Johnston. “We visited with her family and had quite a dinner. We got to know them really well during the recruiting process. We felt that Shannon would be a good fit for us early, although she didn’t completely decide until the fall of her senior year.”

Jackrabbit bound In the end, it was SDSU, a choice that never left Schlagel. “In the back of my mind I knew this was where I wanted to be, but I wanted to explore my options, too,” she says. “I did want to stay close to home, and when it came right down to it, they were so professional.

“AJ told me the only thing he could promise me was that he couldn’t promise anything and that meant a lot. He said that everything that I worked for would be what I earned.”

Schlagel was a model of consistency, excelling in all facets of the game. Twice named NCAA Division I Independent Player of the Week this season, the six-foot forward’s other career marks are first in free throws made, second in rebounds, second in field goals made, eighth in three-pointers, and eighth in steals.

Shannon

“Shannon is very good inside and she’s also one of our best three-point shooters,” says Johnston. “She handles the ball well and many times started our transition. Defensively, she’s good in the passing lanes and guards people well inside. There are very few parts of her game that she doesn’t do well.”

Replacing former teammate Melissa Pater atop the career scoring chart with 1,887 points was an accomplishment she humbly accepts.

“I don’t think about stats, they don’t cross my mind that much,” she says. “It is an honor, though. It’s been a correlation of having good teammates and a good coaching staff.”

A special treat The Schlagel era also contained an all-around personality that evolved into a leadership role, according to Johnston.

“Shannon is considered a leader because she’s an outgoing person and pretty easy to get “Shannon’s goal was to to know,” he cites. “She is really bubbly and enjoys every part of life. I think be a Division I player that’s one of the things that and being close to draws people to her is her home means a lot. She personality.”

“Bubbly? That’s a pretty got to play in front of good word,” muses Schlagel.

“I think he called me a treat large crowds, and once, a treat to have getting a taste of around.”

She was especially a treat Division I, offered her for mom and dad to watch and the close proximity of a the best of both Division I school. worlds.” — Jackie “Shannon’s goal was to be a Division I player and Schlagel, Shannon’s being close to home means mom a lot,” says Jackie. “She got to play in front of large crowds, and getting a taste of Division I, offered her the best of both worlds.”

“My parents came to all the home games and only missed a couple of the longer trips,” Schlagel notes. “My grandparents were usually in attendance and lots of people listened on the radio.

“Growing up my mom was definitely a big push. Dad [Wayne] was always there and was always going to be proud no

Schlagel

matter what happened. But, I think he was pretty happy that Mom steered me toward basketball.”

The Division I charge SDSU was happy, too, especially having a player of Schlagel’s caliber to lean on. In their rookie Division I season, the Jacks went 21-7, including an 8-7 mark against the “big schools.”

A special niche was that the Jacks were one of only six teams in the country to post non-league wins over multiple Southeastern Conference opponents with triumphs over Kentucky and Alabama. During the season they also beat Oklahoma State and Middle Tennessee State, while having single-figure losses to Purdue, Southern Cal, and Oregon State.

“There aren’t too many teams we played in Division I that Shannon wouldn’t start on,” Johnston points out. “The multidimensional part of her game would be something those schools would love to have.

“Our success didn’t necessarily go through Shannon, but having a player who can make plays, having a player who gets other people shots, really is the difference at the Division I level,” he adds. “And you don’t become the all-time leading scorer at SDSU unless you can make plays.”

Success was three consecutive trips to the NCAA Elite Eight, including the 2003 national championship. Toss in a senior year with an ambitious Division I schedule, and a small town farm girl’s time on the Brookings campus was truly eventful.

“It’s been great,” says Schlagel. “Knowing we were going Division I was exciting and overwhelming at the same time, but once it took off it was by far the best experience that we could have asked for. I have just been very happy. It’s been an honor and a privilege to be at SDSU.” Kyle Johnson

Kurt

&

Angie

Meister

Courtside courtship continues Swenson, Meister, find that life after basketball brings family, more basketball

K

urt Meister may not have listened to every piece of advice that his basketball coach gave him, but he heard Coach Scott Nagy loud and clear when he said “Kurt, you gotta marry that girl.”

‘That girl’ just happened to be fellow athlete Angie Swenson, who, from the very beginning, had much in common with Meister. After dating throughout most of their college careers, they were married on July 17, 1999.

“I learned a lot from While at State, Swenson everybody. Dedication and Meister duo were two dynamic, all-conference, alland respect, respect region starting centers for the Jackrabbits. They both for the opponent, topped 1,000 career points respect for the and played four successful referees, and respect seasons. Swenson played from 1993 to 1997 and for my teammates.” — Meister from 1994 to 1998.

“Angie was friends with a Angie Meister lot of people and after we had spent so much time together, I felt as if I was just known as Angie’s boyfriend,” says Kurt Meister, who liked having a girlfriend that shared his hectic schedule. “It was pretty handy,” he says.

Angie Meister agrees, “We saw each other quite a bit. The girls and the guys teams would play on the same night,” she says. Many times both of their parents would come up and they would all “hang-out” together after the games.

“There’s so many times that we’re thankful we experienced college together and experienced playing ball together,” says Angie Meister.

12 • Rabbit tracks

Kurt admits, “We talk about State all the time.” They recall playing for the same rowdy crowds in a packed Frost Arena, the same road trips to their rival schools, and even the same feeling on the court. “Every game was so electric,” he says.

Angie Meister says, “We both had so many awesome memories.”

Game plan changes with family From their collegiate athletic careers to their present careers, their love of the game has shaped their course.

After student teaching and coaching at Grant-Deuel High School Angie Meister left State in 1998 with a health, physical education and recreation degree. She was hired as an assistant basketball coach for the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.

“I knew that I didn’t want to coach at that level. I knew I wanted a family someday,” she says, explaining why she was only there for a year.

At the same time, Kurt Meister, who is a year younger, was finishing up his degree in history education. The Hamilton, Illinois, native student-taught in Sioux Valley High School in Volga and graduated in December 1998. He then moved three hours away from Angie Meister to Edwardsville, Illinois, where he became a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois University. “We just didn’t like it [but] I did really like teaching,” he says.

They sent out their applications, and got interviews during the same week.

Angie Meister, who grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, is now coaching varsity girl’s basketball at Rochester Mayo High School.

Kurt

&

Angie

Meister

“My biggest accomplishment is the relationships that I’ve built with these girls and the role model I’ve become because I’m a mom, a wife, and a coach,” says Angie Meister. “It’s hard to juggle coaching and being a mom,” she admits.

Luckily, she says, Kurt Meister brings Lincoln, 2 1/2, and Lilly, 8 months, to watch her games.

While Kurt continues to teach geography at John Marshall High School, Angie Meister’s alma mater, he gave up his coaching position when Angie Meister took her position.

“That’s not the stress [both coaching at the same time] that we wanted,” says Angie Meister, who is on maternity leave from her teaching job.

Basketball stars take their spots on the bench With four years of collegiate basketball experience, both Meisters say that sometimes it’s hard not being in the game.

“You can be on the bench and watch the game take place and know there’s not a whole lot you can do about it,” Angie Meister says.

Kurt Meister says that playing college ball made it tough for him to coach.

“It was at the pinnacle of my career, and I expected the [high school] guys to work as hard as I did then,” he says.

They both cite their sports careers as ones that taught them lessons and created lasting friendships.

“I learned a lot from everybody. Dedication and respect, respect for the opponent, respect for the referees, and respect for my teammates,” says Angie Meister. “I would hope that I would take a lot of what Coach [Nancy] Neiber taught me,” she says describing her coaching philosophy. “I try to teach a lot of life lessons through basketball.”

Kurt Meister recalls Coach Nagy’s “constant motivation. He would always say, ‘You can never be satisfied with last year’s record. You can always get better,’” says Kurt Meister, who remembers the example Coach Nagy set for the team.

Angie Meister adds, “We enjoyed our time there so much. The people out there are great. The boosters, the staff–they've all made an impact on our lives.”

The Meisters try to attend at least one State game a year, but Angie Meister’s coaching schedule makes it difficult for them to make the trek to Brookings during the regular season.

“I’m really good friends with a couple of my teammates,” says Angie Meister, noting that they remain close, even though they’re geographically not.

Kurt Meister tries to keep in contact with his old teammates and coach, too.

“I find myself missing a lot of those guys.” He is planning a June 11 golf outing and reunion with his teammates.

Between their coaching, teaching, and parenting, the couple finds time to just sit and watch a basketball game together every now and then.

“We try and figure out how we ever ran up and down the court like that!”

Kurt Meister jokes.

“Those were some good years of ball,” Angie Meister remembers.

Miranda Malo Kurt and Angie Meister are starting their basketball team with Lincoln, 2 1/2, right, and Lilly, 8 months.

Angie Swenson puts up a jumper in January 25, 1997, game against the University of South Dakota in Frost Arena during her senior year. She finished her career with 1,335 points, which currently has her 12th on the all-time scoring list.

Kurt Meister lays in a bucket during a 93-79 win over Metro State in the semi-finals of the North Central Regional tournament at Frost Arena on March 7, 1998. It was Meister’s senior season.

Rabbit tracks • 13

Howard

Sauer

Jacks and Sauer a synonymous pair Howard Sauer provided a professional appearance while serving as head scorekeeper of Jackrabbit basketball games from 1948 to 1990.

W

There are fans and then there are fans.

Meet Howard M. Sauer, fan extraordinaire.

hen it comes to SDSU loyalty, they don’t come any finer than Sauer. And at 97, lessons could be learned from a man who has devoted most of his life to SDSU and Jackrabbit athletics.

Ever since joining the SDSU faculty in 1938, Sauer has been a fixture, whether as an instructor, volunteer, or fan.

Though obviously slowing down, Sauer is fit and trim with a mind just as sharp.

He has few contemporaries and not many follow the Jacks as closely as Sauer.

He attends most home football and “I’m just an old man running basketball games.

Game programs around now. I don’t look residing on back much anymore.” — apartment tables 97-year-old Howard Sauer attest to his neverending support.

He regularly attends booster club meetings and makes stops at the athletic department for conversation and sports updates.

Road games are also on Sauer’s itinerary. This year, he and other fans flew to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to cheer the football team to a win over Southern University. The day before the game, the SDSU contingent took a bus for a sightseeing trip to New Orleans and Sauer was among those walking the city’s famous Bourbon Street.

“I’m just an old man running around now,” muses Sauer. “I don’t look back much anymore. I always look ahead. I don’t plan to spend my time in a rocking chair!

“I don’t like to miss home games,” he says. “I missed a football game one time. It was a home game and my son had his wedding that day.”

Checking in players Sauer was a professor and head of the Department of Rural Sociology from 1958 until retiring in 1973. From 1948 to 1990, he was the official scorekeeper for SDSU home basketball games.

Displaying a professor’s demeanor behind the scorer’s table, Sauer was methodical by nature and professional in appearance.

“It was a job and you had to keep looking at it that way,” he says. “I just enjoyed doing it. It required concentration, otherwise you would get mixed up pretty quickly.”

When he wasn’t working home games, Sauer and his wife, Marjorie, chaperoned the SDSU cheerleaders to away games.

“Back in those days they needed somebody to guide them and keep them out of mischief,” he jokes.

Sauer didn’t have much time for sports growing up. As the eighth of twelve children, his time was spent helping his Coach Sauer with his 1930 team from Grimes, Iowa.

14 • Rabbit tracks

Howard

Sauer

Howard Sauer, left, and President Emeritus Sherwood Berg relax in the lobby of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, motel on September 25, 2004. They traveled with other Jackrabbit fans to Baton Rouge to watch SDSU claim a 31-24 win over Southern University. Sauer has been rooting for the Jacks since coming to SDSU sixty-seven years ago.

father farm 320 acres near Farson, Iowa, about thirty miles northeast of Ottumwa.

“As a boy, I didn’t get to practice after school because I always had to come home and work,” he explains. “That always bothered me, but the farm work had to be done. We only had horses so the amount of acreage we farmed was considerable in that era.”

Sauer attended the first eight grades at a country school a mile from Farson. He went to Farson High School for two years, before the school closed its doors, and finished at Martinsburg, Iowa.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1929 from Des Moines University and a master’s degree at the University of Iowa in 1931. He did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin.

Sauer met Marjorie, a Dunlap, Iowa, native, who was a physical education teacher in Sioux City, Iowa.

They were married for 64 years before her death in 1996. They had twins, a son Howard, Jr., a retired dentist in Faribault, Minnesota, and a daughter, Janet, who died of Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Sauer’s teaching career Howard Sauer attained the rank of began in 1931 in the Iowa lieutenant commander while serving high school ranks. For seven in the Navy during World War II. years, he was a coach, principal, and social science teacher at Grimes, Lovilia, and Denison.

He interviewed at SDSU and was hired as a sociology instructor. Three years later, when World War II erupted, Sauer

joined the Navy as a gunnery officer on large transport ships.

He attained the rank of lieutenant commander when the war ended.

The SDSU life

“I don’t like to miss home games. I missed a football game one time. It was a home game and my son had his wedding that day.”

— Howard Sauer Back in Brookings, Sauer settled in as a teacher and added the role of official scorekeeper.

Credited with establishing the Ph.D. program in sociology, Sauer wrote numerous pamphlets and bulletins and was an active member of professional organizations, including ten years as secretary-treasurer of the National Rural Sociology Society.

Sauer was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service at SDSU commencement ceremonies May 7, 1994. The North Central Conference honored him with the Volunteer of the Year Award in 1999.

He created three major endowments at SDSU in 1997: scholarships for men’s basketball and women’s basketball, and one in sociology. In basketball, the recipient must be an upperclassman in good academic standing and is selected by the head coach. The sociology scholarship is open only to seniors with a 3.0 GPA, and selection is based on academic performance, extra-curricular activities, and promise to the profession.

Sauer said he would not change a thing in his life, especially the decision to come to SDSU. “I have no regrets coming up here from Iowa,” he says. “I appreciate the fact that others have given me opportunities. It’s a good university. I recommend it to anyone no matter what business they want to get into.”

Kyle Johnson Rabbit tracks • 15

Athletic

Hobbies

Wrestler reverses fate of aging tractors

A

t the age of ten at a county fair, Travis Gottschalk first heard the harsh, sputtering pop-pop-pop of a two-cylinder Model B John Deere tractor.

It was the spark that would drive Gottschalk, a current SDSU wrestler, and his older brother to start not only a very unique hobby but also a business.

Gottschalk, his brother, and his father spent two hours talking to the man who owned the two-cylinder tractor, and afterwards, each brother bought a Model B John Deere with money from their 4-H steers.

From a very young age, Gottschalk, a sophomore from Kimball, Minnesota, has been interested in how things work.

“The first real experience I had with this was when I was six and my brother was eight. My dad came home to his new lawn mower totally dissembled.

Anybody who knows my dad knows that he can’t fix anything.

“When he asked why we would do such a thing, we said through our teary eyes that we just wanted to know how it worked,” Gottschalk says. “Long story short, we had the mower running not too long after that and nothing was wrong with it.”

Gottschalk carried this aptitude into his fascination with old John Deere

tractors. For the past ten years, Gottschalk and his brother have been buying broken John Deere tractors, restoring them, and selling them, unless the brothers want the tractors for their own collection.

“We have tried to get an extensive collection of different tractors to show how agriculture used to be done,” says Gottschalk, who wrestles at 174 pounds.

“We kind of have a museum, actually.”

The Gottschalk brothers’ tractors range the years from a 1924 Spoker D John Deere, one of only twenty-five or so left, to a 1964 High Crop 3020 John Deere.

The brothers buy tractors for less than $100 or for as much as several thousand dollars, and after putting in 100 to 300 hours of work, they sometimes are able to sell a tractor for up to five times what they paid for it.

While they buy some tractors just to part out to other restorers, the tractors they sell help them finance the purchase and refurbishment of the next tractor.

“I like meeting people, helping others with their projects, hunting for the next tractor, preserving the past and listening to stories from those who have farmed with this equipment,” says Gottschalk.

The Gottschalk collection has filled a 100-foot by 50-foot shed, so they will have no new additions until Gottschalk gets home and builds a new shed.

In the meantime, they will continue to take their tractors to shows in the Midwest and give tours of their collection to John Deere two-cylinder clubs and anyone else interested in the history of agriculture.

Nicole Schaffer

Travis Gottschalk, right, and his brother Trevor pose by one of manay John Deere tractors that they have restored and have on exhibit at their Kimball, Minnesota, farm.

Athletic hobbies Soccer

Football

Karoline Brause, so., Fergus Falls, MN, cross-stitching Janel Brown, soph., Des Moines, IA, hair dying Sarah Bryant, soph. Kansas City, MO, obsessed with Pete Rose; germaphobe Shannon Flynn, sr., Rapid City, hiking and cracking jokes Amy Goodrich, sr., Coralville, IA, shopping on ebay Vanessa Paswaters, fr., Longmont, CO, snowboarding Lisa Robinson, fr., Rapid City, programming and fixing computers Molly Scharfenkamp, jr, Omaha, NE, lifting weights Kelsey Worcester, fr., Anamosa, IA, going to honkey tonks

Paul Aanonson, redshirt fr., Cambridge, IA, skiing Josh Davis, jr, Omaha, NE, singing Ruey Dei, fr., Omaha, NE, lifting weights DJ Fischer, jr, Gettysburg, flying airplanes Luke Greving, fr., Alton, IA, scrapbooking Michael James Jr., jr, Kansas City, KS, cutting hair Maxon Keating, redshirt fr., Madison, disc golf & backpacking Chris Molitor, jr., Lakeville, MN, cards Mike Murphy, so., Sioux Falls, rock climbing Taylor Murray, so., Cambridge, MN, table tennis Nash Simet, fr., Brookings, mopeding

16 • Rabbit tracks

Athletic

Hobbies

A ‘note’ worthy hobby Choral musician Sudbeck keeps on singing Unless she is between hurdles, Rapid City sophomore Kira Sudbeck finds it hard to resist singing. “I annoy my friends because I am constantly singing, especially in the car,” the predentistry major says.

K

ira Sudbeck got the attention of SDSU coaches by putting her name on the Rapid City Stevens’ hurdling record. But it isn’t just her running ability that causes people to associate her name with records.

Sudbeck, the hurdling sophomore from Rapid City, excels in singing.

While her name isn’t on records, or more likely, compact discs, she does have an extensive music history and maintains a love of song.

Sudbeck first sang in a choir in sixth grade. She enjoyed it so much that she participated in chorus throughout high school, singing in Rapid City Steven’s elite choral groups each year. Sudbeck became one of the best in the state.

“I was selected through tryout for AllState Chorus my junior and senior years,” says Sudbeck. “I also was chosen to be in the South Dakota Honors

Choir, which was my most memorable choir experience.”

“I was fortunate to be chosen,” she says. “Out of the 200 or so who auditioned, only twenty-six altos were chosen.”

Sudbeck also has had extensive solo experience. She sang solos in music contests, group choirs, and even at homecoming her senior year. These solo performances drew attention to her talent, and the requests started rolling in.

“I’ve been asked to sing at two weddings, but my busy schedule got in the way. I kind of regret not singing at those weddings, but I am planning on singing at mine,” says Sudbeck. “I have sung the National Anthem at a few basketball games, football games, and track meets.”

Even though the trackster doesn’t sing in the choir at State, she still sings.

All the time.

“I annoy my friends because I am constantly singing, especially in the car,” the pre-dentistry major says.

But she doesn’t necessarily like singing in a bus, which is where she gets many of her requests. “The track team tries to get me to sing over the intercom on the way home from track meets sometimes,” says Sudbeck. “It’s really embarrassing.”

Sudbeck now mostly sings in the car or along with her stereo, but her favorite music to sing is still choral music.

Sudbeck says, “You do not have as much individuality, but when you are singing with a good choir, your pitch, blend, and style come together and almost sound like an instrument.

“What I like about singing is how you can manipulate your voice into sounding so different for different occasions and settings,” she says. “The human voice is the most versatile instrument on earth.”

If the track team is lucky, maybe someday they will convince Sudbeck to prove it.

Nicole Schaffer

Men’s Basketball

Cross-Country and Track & Field Men

Jared DeJong, senior, Orange City, IA, horseback riding

Nayouki Asano, so., Tokyo, Japan, karaoke Kevin Bjerke, sr., Fargo, ND, wakeboarding & baking Sean Donahoe, fr., Chatfield, MN, bass guitar & classic cars Chris Gruenhagen, jr., Mankato, MN, photography & breakdancing Ben Johnson, sr., Le Mars, IA, Yahtzee Josh Klawitter, so., Hutchinson, MN, playing guitar Clayton Lang, sr., Paynesville, MN, wakeboarding & kneeboarding Brad Lowery, sr., Pierre, watching the stars Jared Schwader, so., Yankton, photography Troy Thielen, so., Rapid City, racquetball & cards Andrew VanNurden, so., Owatonna, MN, writing, curling, showing livestock, & ping pong

Cross-Country and Track & Field Women Taunja Disher, jr., Holdingford, MN, camping & collecting ducks Savanna Linderman, fr., Timber Lake, singing, fishing, & camping Krystie Ratzlaff, jr., Mountain Lake, MN, reading & weightlifting Jacquelun Schneller, so., Canton, drawing Anna Taylor, so., Mandan, ND, ice skating, sledding, & rodeo Katie Tornberg, jr., Harrisburg, riding horses & rollerblading Cori Vining, sr., Huron, scrapbooking, wakeboarding, & drawing Erin Zempel, jr., Lamberton, MN, diving board tricks

Rabbit tracks • 17

Athletic

Profiles

Making marks in the classroom SDSU student-athletes outperform their peers when it comes to GPAs and graduation rates.

A

ccording to a recent study prepared for the South Dakota Board of Regents, the average grade-point average of student-athletes at the six public universities was higher than the GPA of the entire student body. In 2003, Jackrabbit student-athletes had an average GPA of 2.89 compared to 2.69 of all students at SDSU. “I think our coaches historically recruit students that want to be successful academically,” says Athletic Director Fred Oien. “We don’t recruit student-athletes that aren’t serious about graduating.”

At SDSU, student-athletes graduate at a rate of 73 percent, which is 20 points above the university-wide rate of 53 percent.

That is a reassuring statistic for the SDSU athletic department.

At this year’s NCAA Convention, the Division I Board of Directors raised the academic bar for their schools. If teams don’t keep their projected graduation rate above 50 percent, they could sacrifice up to 10 percent of their scholarships for a year.

For a D-I men’s basketball team, that would mean forfeiting two of its fifteen scholarships for the year.

“I would say the [new] rules reinforce the philosophy we’ve had for a long time: student-athletes come to the university to graduate,” says Oien.

“It is our departmental goal to have that [graduation rate] average at 75 percent. We are way ahead of the average for Division I, Division II, and Division III schools,” he says.

For 2003-04, the average studentathlete graduation rate for Division I schools sits at 62 percent and for Division II schools it’s 51 percent while SDSU was at 73 percent.

Reporting of failures to meet the new sanctions will be very public. Oien says 18 • Rabbit tracks

that he hopes that the “public scrutiny” will motivate other schools.

Many of State’s own aren’t waiting for motivation, they’re already excelling academically. Here are nine studentathletes, representing most of the winter and spring sports, who achieve whether they’re in uniform or not.

Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: Defeating Tennessee State University in State’s first Division I win on December 22.

Future Plans: Loney hopes to coach basketball (and possibly track) as well as teach math, specifically calculus and trigonometry. He plans to work in either Minnesota or Iowa. “I’ve just had a really good time up here [at State],” he says.

Erin Zempel “I would say the [new] rules reinforce the philosophy we’ve had for a long time: studentathletes come to the university to graduate.” — Fred Oien

Heather Sieler Sport/Position: Women’s Basketball, point guard Hometown: Huron Year/Major: Health Promotion GPA: 3.96 Awards Received/Activities: Named to Dean’s List, member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council, Helping Everyone Reach Optimal Health club member, 2003-2004 Academic All-Conference Honorable Mention Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: “Winning the National Championship my freshman year was very memorable. We had great fan support,” says Sieler, who is also enjoying the switch to D I. “Getting some big wins, it’s been fun surprising people.”

Michael Loney Sport/Position: Men’s Basketball, post Hometown: Humboldt, Iowa Year/Major: Sophomore math education GPA: 3.773 Awards Received/Activities: Named to Dean’s List.

Jackrabbit Guarantee recipient.

Sport/Position: Women’s track, runs sprints and hurdles.

Hometown: Lamberton, Minnesota Year/Major: Junior pharmacy student (P1) GPA: 3.89 Awards Received/Activities: Named to Dean’s List.

Received the Ray and Joan Grefe Scholarship (available to students in southwest Minnesota who plan to pursue an education in math or the natural sciences); Valedictorian scholarship; and the Jackrabbit Guarantee. Involved in Golden Key International Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta, and Kappa Si (a pharmaceutical fraternity).

Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: Zempel says taking trips with her team are among her favorite athletic memories from SDSU. “We have a lot of fun, even on the bus rides,” she says.

Future Plans: “I hope to be a clinical pharmacist in a hospital,” says Zempel, who hopes to work in a large city in the Midwest.

Travis Gottschalk Sport/Position: Wrestling, 174 lbs.

Hometown: Litchfield, Minnesota Year/Major: Sophomore mechanical engineering GPA: 2.73 Awards Received/Activities: Jackrabbit Guarantee recipient. In 2003, he received his FFA American Degree, and was selected as one of ten national winners of Agri-Entrepreneurship (where he received a $1,000 scholarship). He and his brother own a business that restores antique John Deere tractors. At the 2001 Chevron/Texaco Tractor

Athletic

Profiles

Athletic Profiles Restoration Competition, he won reserve national champion and received a $1,500 scholarship. On campus, Gottschalk participates in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: Gottschalk fondly remembers a pin at a December 2004 match against University of Mary. The pin made fellow SDSU student and acquaintance Mike Plathe a $1,000 winner in the Pin to Win Contest. Gottschalk was happy to help a fellow student. “[Mike] was a student, so at least he needed the money,” he says.

Future Plans: “I’d like to eventually move back to my old farm,” says Gottschalk, who lists John Deere, Bobcat, or Caterpillar as companies he might like to work for in the future. “I’d like to stay ag-related if possible.”

Brandon Maydew Sport/Position: Men’s swimming Hometown: Sioux Falls Year/Major: Sophomore pre-pharmacy GPA: 4.0 Awards Received/Activities: Jackrabbit Guarantee recipient. Involved in Campus Crusade for Christ.

Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: “My first [collegiate] swim meet,” says Maydew, who took a break from swimming after his senior year of high school. He began to swim again for State in September 2004, and remembers the gun going off to signal the beginning of his collegiate swimming career. “It got my blood pumping,” he says.

Future Plans: In addition to improving his times in the water, Maydew hopes to keep up his 4.0 GPA and attend pharmacy school at State. ‘I’m really satisfied with this school,” he says. After graduation, he plans to work as a pharmacist in the Midwest for a few years and “live life to the fullest.”

Brad Lowery Sport/Position: Cross-country and men’s track, distance events Hometown: Pierre Year/Major: Senior physics GPA: 3.75 Awards Received/Activities: All-Academic Team in 2003 & 2004, Deans List

Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: “My best memory was when I was a sophomore. As a team, we placed fourth in the National Cross-country meet,” he says, recalling the Ashland, Ohio competition.

Future Plans: Lowery is some-what undecided, but says that he will eventually go to graduate school so that he can become involved in research.

Christian Larson Sport/Position: Baseball, pitcher Hometown: Little Falls, Minnesota Year/Major: Sophomore business economics GPA: 3.277 Awards Received/ Activities: Jackrabbit Guarantee recipient Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: Larson had athletic memories from State long before he became a student. “My dad used to be a football coach at SDSU. That’s why I came back. My brother and I grew up on the sidelines watching those guys practice and get ready for games,” says Larson, who credits those experiences with his wanting to become a student-athlete for State.

Future Plans: Enrolled in Air Force ROTC program, Larson will spend four years after graduation in the Air Force. “Then I will probably work something with finance at a bank,” he says.

Ashley Kalina Sport/Position: Softball, outfield Hometown: Elkhorn, Neb. Year/Major: Senior psychology GPA: 4.0 Awards Received/ Activities: Named to the Dean’s list seven times, 2003 All-NCC Academic Team, 2003 Division Seven Verizon AllRegion Academic First Team, 2004 Division Seven Verizon All-Region Academic Second Team, Golden Key Honor Society, Phi Kappa

Phi honor fraternity, and Psi Chi, the national psychology honors society.

Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: “I have enjoyed seeing how the program has changed from the time I was a freshman to a senior. The level of talent has increased. I really have enjoyed playing for Coach Bouman,” says Kalina, who began playing the same year Bouman started coaching. “We shared the newness together. He’s done a lot for the program. I think we’re changing for the best. I’m excited to see how the team that we have right now plays against our D-I competition,” says Kalina, looking forward to the spring season.

Future Plans: Kalina, who is getting married in June, hopes to attend graduate school. “I want to work in law enforcement. I would probably start in the police academy and then work my way up to investigator.”

Jane Tschetter Sport/Position: Women’s Swimming, breaststroke and medley relay Hometown: Brookings Year/Major: Sophomore business economics GPA: 3.95 Awards Received/Activities: Briggs Scholar, Economics Department Outstanding Scholar, Admissions Ambassador, Vice President of Staters for State Favorite SDSU Athletic Memory: “We always take a training trip to the Tampa Bay/ St. Petersburg area. For the team, we grow as a whole, as well in our individual swimming abilities,” she says. This year’s trip was Jan. 2 to 8. “It is an intense practice time.

We swim twice a day. It’s good to get to know people differently,” she says, noting that it is a team-building event.

Future Plans: “I want to work with a nonprofit organization,” says Tschetter, noting her career objectives change weekly. She has a leadership and management of non-profit organizations minor. She says that she likes “how you can touch people’s lives through a non-profits.”

Mirando Malo

Rabbit tracks • 19

Athletic

Athletic nicknames Soccer Alissa Bernth, sr., Ralston, NE, Bernie or Sa-Sa Karoline Brause, so., Fergus Falls, MN, Ole Janel Brown, so., Des Moines, IA, Brownie Amy Goodrich, sr., Coralville, IA, Goody Vanessa Paswaters, fr., Longmont, CO, V Lisa Robinson, fr., Rapid City, Bob Molly Scharfenkamp, sr., Omaha, NE, Smalls

Swimming Nathan Bylander, fr., Thief River Falls, MN, Passion Lucas Jungemann, sr., Wolsey, Lunatic Mariah Pavlicek, so., Bettendorf, IA, Mavs Adam Pick, jr., Sioux Falls, Pickle

Wrestling Travis Gottschalk, so., Kimball, MN, Gots ya

Football Nik Aamlid, redshirt fr., Sioux Falls, Dinkster Paul Aanonson, redshirt fr., Cambridge, IA, Long Ball Neal Bainbridge, so., Ethan, Steal Mitch Erickson, redshirt fr., Hutchinson, MN, Hutch Brock Gentile, fr., Council Bluffs, IA Bean / Sloth Britt Haroldson, fr., Bruce, Woody Jeff Hegge, so., Watertown, Lockdown Mitch Pontrelli, fr., St. Paul, MN, Fonz Nash Simet, fr., Brookings, Squat Tyler Trees, jr., Belmond, IA, Carp Luke Witte, redshirt fr., Long Pine, NE, Beef Cakes Clayton Wulf, redshirt fr., Lennox, Inspector Gadget

Baseball Justin Morar, freshman, Omaha, NE, Smiley

Men’s Basketball Ben Beran, so., Victor, IA, Red Mackenzie Casey, fr., Wounded Knee, Mack Jared DeJong, sr., Orange City, IA, Footer Luke Geiver, sr., Sioux Falls, Geeve Andre Gilbert, fr., Brooklyn Park, MN, Dre Gilly Joe Green, so., Waverly, IA, Joe Willy Steve Holdren, jr., Champaign, IL, Hollywood 20 • Rabbit tracks

nicknames

DB gives thumbs up to nickname ‘No Thumbs’ Scotty “No Thumbs” Breyfogle is cool with his nickname.

Yes, Scotty “No Thumbs” Breyfogle has thumbs. Playing football would be fairly challenging without them, but football injuries did lead to his nickname.

“I got my nickname from teammate Andrew Hoogeveen this year,” Breyfogle, a sophomore from Holstein, Iowa, says. “It started because I had to tape my thumbs before each practice. In past seasons I had injured both thumbs and when every new season starts, it only takes a few practices before I re-aggravate them.”

Breyfogle’s nickname hasn’t crossed over into his everyday life yet; most of the people who call him No Thumbs are members of the Jacks defensive backfield. “It doesn’t really bother me,” says Breyfogle. “I just try to laugh about it.”

Of course, being called No Thumbs is definitely better than being called All Thumbs.

Nicole Schaffer

Diminutive diver fits ‘PNUT’ nickname At 5-1, Rachel “PNUT” Stenzel doesn’t make much of a splash when she hits the water. The diver says she likes the name she has had since sixth grade and that it fits her. Besides, it’s better than Goober.

Sometimes a nickname from childhood persists, evolves, and refuses to go away.

When this happens, one has two choices: be annoyed or accept it.

Rachel Stenze accepted it because she happens to like her nickname, PNUT. “In fifth or sixth grade, our gymnastics coach was late to practice, so we were all goofing around and decided that we all needed food nicknames,” says Stenzel.

“There was a Little Debbie, Muffin, Candy, and Peanut. I was the smallest, so I was elected to be Peanut.”

Though she doesn’t know exactly how tall she was in sixth grade, suffice it to say that she didn’t hit 4’9” until tenth grade and she didn’t break the five-foot barrier until after she graduated.

Peanut didn’t really stick until Stenzel, of Marshall, Minnesota, performed in her first gymnastics meet in seventh grade. “After my routine, my sister Ronda, who was captain, yelled ‘Way to go Peanut,’” Stenzel says.

In ninth grade, a friend in a youth group shortened Peanut to PNUT. Almost everyone called Stenzel PNUT throughout high school and her real name virtually disappeared.

“My sister and I worked together and she called me PNUT, so most of my coworkers didn’t even know my real name,” says Stenzel. “When I came to SDSU, I figured that the nickname would disappear, but the swimming coach and divers picked up on it.”

Stenzel also answers to variations of PNUT, including: Peanut Butter, PB, and Nut. While some may be annoyed by such a persistent nickname, Stenzel isn’t. “I like my nickname. It fits me really well,” she says. “I have grown two inches since high school, though, so now I’m about 5’1”.”

However, PNUT isn’t her only nickname. Throughout her lifetime, Stenzel has also answered to MonkeyHead, Midget, Shortest, TTT, and many more.

Nutty, isn’t it?

Nicole Schaffer

A message from Keith Mahlum

“Full steam ahead” Thank you for your loyal support of Jackrabbit athletics. A lot of exciting things have occurred during the 2004-05 year. Our development team, athletic department staff, and dedicated volunteers have been working hard on a variety of initiatives during the last several months. I thought it was time to give you a progress report on some of these projects. The focus of all of these events is our student-centered vision and mission.

Lifelong Champions First, our “Lifelong Champions” campaign, under the direction of Sid Bostic, has just completed a very strong first year. To date, we have received more than $4.7 million in pledges and donations ($20 million goal) for athletic scholarships.

Stan Marshall Auction/Golf As you’ve read, preparations are underway for the 25th annual Stan Marshall Auction and Golf Tournament.

Through the years, a dedicated committee and numerous patrons have provided scholarship assistance for male and female student-athletes through their support of this event. This year, we will celebrate the past success of this event and build a foundation for future success on June 3-4 as we host the biggest and best event ever.

Facility construction Baseball and softball facilities are currently being constructed on campus and will soon serve as the home for Jackrabbit practices and games (softball). These projects are being funded by private gifts, departmental funds and state dollars dedicated to Title IX compliance plans at the six state public universities.

Home games in Sioux Falls Jackrabbit baseball and football teams will be hosting home events in the coming months in Sioux Falls.

Baseball will host the University of Minnesota on April 20 and Creighton University on April 26 at the “Bird Cage.”

Football will take on the University of California-Davis on October 8 at Howard Wood Field. These events will provide an opportunity for the loyal fans of SDSU who live in the Sioux Falls area to come cheer on the Jacks in their own back yard. For our teams, it’s a chance to compete in great competitive environments and display their talents in the largest population center in our region.

On-line tickets, donations Jackrabbit fans everywhere can now purchase tickets and make donations on-line thanks to enhanced technology being utilized in our department. To check out these new options just log on to our web site at www.gojacks.com. In addition, our March “Fan Fest” was expanded to several local business partners this year.

Participating businesses are making donations to our scholarship fund to support student-athletes in our program.

Stay tuned in the coming months for other exciting developments within our department. We are moving full steam ahead to provide the resources that our student-athletes and coaches need, and opportunities for fans to participate and enjoy the best of Jackrabbit athletics.

GO JACKS!!

P a s s i o n a t e .

Keith Mahlum SDSU Assistant to Athletic Director/Development Director

R e l e n t l e s s .

C h a m p i o n s .

Jackrabbit fans can now purchase tickets for all home games online. For more information, go to www.gojacks.com.

P a s s i o n a t e .

South Dakota State University Athletics Department Box 2820 Brookings, SD 57007-1497

R e l e n t l e s s .

C h a m p i o n s .

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