Apr. 9—SIOUX FALLS — The South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting 23 sports legends on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.
The 2025 class includes perhaps the greatest kicker in NFL history, world record holders, champion coaches, women athlete pioneers, a pro cowboy and South Dakota’s most well-known sled dog racer.
Tickets will go on sale later this year. The new inductees are: Jo (Haase) Auch, Tom Casey, Jessi Combs (deceased), Cathy Coyle, Donovan Gibbs (deceased), Vern Halter, Ryan Jansa, brothers Edgar and Hobart Lone Hill (both deceased), Guy Mackner, Bill Marquardt, Kim Nelson, Candi Nielsen, Tom Reeves, John “Deac” Sanders, John “Stig” Stiegelmeier, “Jumping Jim” Tays, Mark Tetzlaff, Dennis Tiefenthaler, Buck Timmins (deceased), Lemoine Trout (deceased), Jim Uttecht and Adam Vinatieri.
Vinatieri was a Rapid City/South Dakota State/NFL legend. Uttecht coached West Central to numerous state football titles. Trout helped Rapid City Stevens build a track dynasty. Countless referees credit Timmins of Mitchell for teaching them his talents.
Tiefenthaler was one of the state’s greatest high school athletes at Armour. After Hamlin High School, Tetzlaff was an almost unstoppable force for SDSU on the basketball court. When Tays, a former Hot Springs coach, left Gettysburg High School and the University of South Dakota, he held the high jump record at 14 track meets across the region — the record that Tays set in 1949 is still the GHS record in 2025.
Stiegelmeier won a national football title at SDSU and his impact was felt throughout the nation. A Sunshine Bible Academy legend and later an NFL standout, Sanders was one USD’s greatest players. Cheyenne-Eagle Butte graduate Reeves was a world champion saddle bronc rider. The multi-talented Nielsen was one of the best players ever at Armour, Augustana and in the North Central Conference.
Dakota State graduate Nelson, who like Stiegelmeier coached Vinatieri, is the winningest high school football coach in SD history. Salem native Marquardt is one of four prep coaches in SD history to have teams win state football and basketball titles. NBA draft pick Mackner made Sisseton and SDSU basketball powerhouses in the 1960s.
Born in Pine Ridge, the Lone Hill brothers were two of the best earliest boxers in the Upper Midwest. Sioux Falls native and senior PGA golfer Jansa is the most decorated golfer in state history with a record 33 SD Golf Association titles. Flandreau and USD graduate Halter is the state’s most accomplished sled dog musher. 1940s multi-sport athlete Gibbs, who spent time in the New York Yankees farm system, led Claremont High School to three straight unbeaten seasons to begin their national-record 61-game win streak for six-man football.
Belle Fourche High School and Northern State athletics rose to new heights with the multi-talented Coyle in various lineups. Combs grew up in the Black Hills and later would set land-speed world records of more than 500 mph in jet-powered vehicles. State radio legend Casey’s voice is known and trusted throughout the vast Pine Ridge Reservation. Auch, one of the first women scholarship athletes at USD, expanded opportunities for high school athletes, especially girls, for decades.
With the 23 new inductees, the hall will have enshrined 395 women and men from every part of the state representing more than 30 sports. The South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1968 by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association. A group of unpaid volunteers from across the state now manages it. Inductees are voted into the hall in four categories: as athletes, coaches, contributors (such as media, administrators and/or officials) and/or legends (deceased).
SIOUX FALLS — The South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting 23 sports legends on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.
The 2025 class includes perhaps the greatest kicker in NFL history, world record holders, champion coaches, women athlete pioneers, a pro cowboy and South Dakota’s most well-known sled dog racer.
Tickets will go on sale later this year. The new inductees are: Jo (Haase) Auch, Tom Casey, Jessi Combs (deceased), Cathy Coyle, Donovan Gibbs (deceased), Vern Halter, Ryan Jansa, brothers Edgar and Hobart Lone Hill (both deceased), Guy Mackner, Bill Marquardt, Kim Nelson, Candi Nielsen, Tom Reeves, John “Deac” Sanders, John “Stig” Stiegelmeier, “Jumping Jim” Tays, Mark Tetzlaff, Dennis Tiefenthaler, Buck Timmins (deceased), Lemoine Trout (deceased), Jim Uttecht and Adam Vinatieri.
Vinatieri was a Rapid City/South Dakota State/NFL legend. Uttecht coached West Central to numerous state football titles. Trout helped Rapid City Stevens build a track dynasty. Countless referees credit Timmins of Mitchell for teaching them his talents.
Tiefenthaler was one of the state’s greatest high school athletes at Armour. After Hamlin High School, Tetzlaff was an almost unstoppable force for SDSU on the basketball court. When Tays, a former Hot Springs coach, left Gettysburg High School and the University of South Dakota, he held the high jump record at 14 track meets across the region — the record that Tays set in 1949 is still the GHS record in 2025.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
Stiegelmeier won a national football title at SDSU and his impact was felt throughout the nation. A Sunshine Bible Academy legend and later an NFL standout, Sanders was one USD’s greatest players. Cheyenne-Eagle Butte graduate Reeves was a world champion saddle bronc rider. The multi-talented Nielsen was one of the best players ever at Armour, Augustana and in the North Central Conference.
Dakota State graduate Nelson, who like Stiegelmeier coached Vinatieri, is the winningest high school football coach in SD history. Salem native Marquardt is one of four prep coaches in SD history to have teams win state football and basketball titles. NBA draft pick Mackner made Sisseton and SDSU basketball powerhouses in the 1960s.
Born in Pine Ridge, the Lone Hill brothers were two of the best earliest boxers in the Upper Midwest. Sioux Falls native and senior PGA golfer Jansa is the most decorated golfer in state history with a record 33 SD Golf Association titles. Flandreau and USD graduate Halter is the state’s most accomplished sled dog musher. 1940s multi-sport athlete Gibbs, who spent time in the New York Yankees farm system, led Claremont High School to three straight unbeaten seasons to begin their national-record 61-game win streak for six-man football.
Mitchell Republic file photo
Belle Fourche High School and Northern State athletics rose to new heights with the multi-talented Coyle in various lineups. Combs grew up in the Black Hills and later would set land-speed world records of more than 500 mph in jet-powered vehicles. State radio legend Casey’s voice is known and trusted throughout the vast Pine Ridge Reservation. Auch, one of the first women scholarship athletes at USD, expanded opportunities for high school athletes, especially girls, for decades.
With the 23 new inductees, the hall will have enshrined 395 women and men from every part of the state representing more than 30 sports. The South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1968 by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association. A group of unpaid volunteers from across the state now manages it. Inductees are voted into the hall in four categories: as athletes, coaches, contributors (such as media, administrators and/or officials) and/or legends (deceased).
