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RABBIT TRACKSSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

WOMEN’S ATHLETICSFROM INTRAMURALS TO TITLE IX

VOLUME 14 NO. 1 \ WINTER 2009

ABOVE: Dana, LaDawn, Alana and Dan Dykhouse attended the September 13, 2008, groundbreaking for the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center just north ofCoughlin-Alumni Stadium. The training, academic, and office complex is slated for completion in August.

After serving SDSU for nearly three decades, Fred Oien hasannounced his retirement as director of athletics.

His legacy will go down as the individual who helped spearheadthe movement from Division II to Division I. Under his watch, the Jackrabbits achieved many remarkable things and have givenJackrabbit fans a reason to walk tall and hold their heads high.

He will be remembered as one of the great athletics directors ofSDSU and will be likened with the names of Stan Marshall, JackFrost, Harry Forsyth, and the other great visionaries that set thegroundwork for today’s success stories.

Perhaps one question remains: What was Dr. Oien’s number oneaccomplishment in his tenure at the SDSU?

Debating his best accomplishment is like choosing your favoriteflavor of SDSU ice cream—nearly impossible to choose and withseemingly endless great options.

Some may argue that Dr. Oien’s most coveted accomplishment would be the 2,500-plus victoriesthat the athletic teams chalked up under the direction of the coaches he hired.

Staff members may argue that his smile while walking down the hallways of the HPER Center iswhat was most special.

Long-time fans might treasure the ten North Central Conference all-sport titles. Jackrabbit newbie’s might hold dearest in their hearts the recent NCAA postseason appearances by

the volleyball and soccer teams. How about the nineteen NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients or the thirty-three CoSIDA

Academic All-America recipients? The numerous academic awards—including the women’s basketball team’s three straight national

team titles for grade point average? Title IX proponents may argue that reinstating women’s golf or women’s tennis was Dr. Oien’s most

significant feat. How about adding women’s soccer in 2000 or adding women’s equestrian in 2004? One could say the facilities upgrades had the largest impact or tripling scholarship offerings for

women’s athletics would rank amongst the best. Okay, you get the point.The list of achievements goes on and on, but possibly most notable is the fact that Oien maintained

that all focus must remain on the student-athletes and that SDSU athletics remain a premier student-centered collegiate athletic program. He has served many roles for SDSU, including golf coach, associate professor, research coordinator,

ticket manager, business manager, department head of physical education, and ringleader of the entireathletics show. His commitment to the University runs deep, and his impact will be felt by all futureJackrabbits. His stories are endless and his mind serves as a vault of Jackrabbit knowledge. Not surprisingly, his

stories all circle back to common themes that are recognized by those that have worked under him andby Jackrabbit fans far and wide. Oien stressed the importance of sportsmanship, honesty, equity, academic integrity, fiscal integrity,

social responsibility, and what it means to wear the yellow and blue. He preached that student-athletesshould be passionate; that they should be relentless; and that they should be champions. One of the truest Jackrabbits and a special piece of history, we salute you, Dr. Oien. Congratulations

and best wishes!Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.

SDSU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT STAFF

Hats off to Dr. Fred Oien

It’s often said that what goes around, comes around. I mustsay it’s both fun and rewarding to witness firsthand how generosity exudes within the Jackrabbit family. The first people that naturally come to mind when we talk

about giving are those members of the Jackrabbit Club that goabove and beyond their personal lives to donate finances insome shape or form to help SDSU athletics. SDSU’s leadership uses these resources in their mission to

give student-athletes the best possible experience—both on andoff the field of competition—and to develop individuals intolifelong champions—to be PASSIONATE; to be RELENT-LESS; to be CHAMPIONS. The munificence and commitment of those donors to the

University allow SDSU to compete amongst the nation’s greatest—academically, athletically, socially, in research, and

in creating tomorrow’s leaders. The young men and women who benefit from donor generosity aresome of the brightest and best student-athletes that exist, and we’re proud to call them Jackrabbits.In addition to those that are gracious enough to give financially, we are also blessed to have

individuals that commit their lives to the betterment of the University. Ranging from professors to the Board of Regents and from alumni to undergrads, SDSU is lucky

to have advocates that fit the Midwest stereotype. Y’all know ’em . . . those people that possess anever-quit work ethic, that go above and beyond, that do the little things for others, the genuineindividuals that do the right things for the right reasons. As an employee of the University, it’s pretty special that SDSU is one of those “right reasons.”

It’s a place where high morals are expected, an avenue by which lifelong friends are made, aUniversity with big promise and a bold vision, and a place you can call your own. We thank you—the best fans around—for your support of the University. As the giving snowballs, we can see things come full circle as our student-athletes pour their

hearts into your program. Going the extra mile and shedding blood, sweat, and tears while wearinga Jackrabbit uniform is something that we can all admire. More impressively, however, is that the buck doesn’t stop there. The giving these young men and

women do outside of athletic competition and the commitment they make to others is what reallymakes them champions. Volunteering for Special Olympics, visiting area retirees or elementary students, working for

the children’s hospital, helping to serve a warm meal to those in need, and numerous other acts of kindness are all everyday occurrences and serve as a way for Jackrabbit students to give back. To have such selfless and kind-hearted student-athletes is truly a blessing. It becomes clear that the Jackrabbit family helps to make our world go round. Thanks kindly for

both the “go-arounds” and the “come-arounds.” You make it a great day to be a Jackrabbit.

Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks. Mark BurgersASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Contributions of Jackrabbit familygoes full circle

4WOMEN’S ATHLETICSRemained as intramurals for decades until Title IX

SDSU PRESIDENT David L. ChicoineINTERIM ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Mylo HellicksonSPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTORJason HoveSDSU SPORTS INFORMATIONASSISTANT DIRECTOR Ryan SweeterASSOCIATE AD/EXTERNAL AFFAIRSMark BurgersEDITOR Andrea Kieckhefer, University RelationsCONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dave Graves, Kyle Johnson, Dan Genzler, University RelationsDESIGNER Nina SchmidtPHOTOGRAPHER Eric Landwehr,

University Relations

Athletic Department South Dakota State UniversityBox 2820, Brookings, SD 57007Telephone: 1-866-GOJACKSFax: 605/688-5999Web site: www.gojacks.com

Rabbit Tracks is produced by University Relations incooperation with the SDSU Athletic Department at no costto the State of South Dakota. Please notify the AthleticDepartment office when you change your address.

2150 copies printed by the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State

of South Dakota. PE069 2/09

2 TRANSFORMED BY A LAWTitle IX’s original purpose was to bringgender equity to education, but its mostvisible impact was in athletics.

5 GRADUALLY DEVELOPINGToday’s high-flying women’s programs cantrace their beginnings to pioneers like NellieKendall, Ruth Marske, Norma Boetel, andNancy Neiber.

8 ANGNER’S ARMMackenzie Angner, or “Ohio,” as she isknown to her teammates, pounded her wayinto the Jackrabbit volleyball record book.

10 A ROCK SOLID YOUNG MANQuarterback Ryan Berry set nine schoolrecords this season but the real story hasmore to do with Carson, Caitlin, character,and the Waldorf-Astoria.

13 WALK-ON ELEVATEDMackenzie Casey has moved from walk-onto a scholarship player, but he continues inhis position of role model.

14 TEAM ROOMSOff-the-court accommodations for men’sand women’s programs have become morecomfortable with team and locker roomimprovements.

16 BIDDING GOOD-BYE TO BOOSDSU’s first full-time athletic trainer, JimBooher, will retire in May after forty-twoyears, and he leaves as one of the mostrespected men in the business.

18 DRIVING TO A NEW LEVELThe scores have dropped, the scholarshipshave risen, and the men’s golf team isfinding new-found respect.

20 TOURNAMENT IN SIOUX FALLSMarch Madness comes alive with men’sand women’s Summit League basketballtournaments March 7-10.

ON THE COVER

The contrast between today’s vibrant colorphotography and the black-and-white tonesof yesterday couldn’t be greater than that ofwomen’s athletics before Title IX and that ofthe modern era.

8 16

RABBIT TRACKSSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

VOLUME 14 NO. 1 \ WINTER 2009

Rabbit Tracks continues its look at women’s athletics with a sport-by-sport review of each program’s highlights.To contribute, contact Dave Graves, (605) 688-4538, ordave.graves@sdstate.edu.

coming in thespring issue

G rabbing the SDSU yearbook for 1973, a year after PresidentRichard Nixon signed into law Title IX, one can findpictures of a diver, a gymnast, and cheerleaders with plaidoutfits and long hair.

But a year later, women’s athletics merited eight pages and thedistaff of SDSU athletics was making footprints in the marathon march

to equality. Women’s athletics had been a part of State for decades,but to say that the University had an athletic program for womenwould be like saying the Wright brothers had an airline company.

What was considered women’s athletics in the era of the Model Tbares as much resemblance to today’s program as Henry Ford’s creationresembles today’s computer-enhanced, comfort-oriented vehicles.

Miss Nellie Kendall, who taught women’s physical education atSouth Dakota State from 1914 to 1958, planted the first seed for a

women’s athletic program when she created the Women’s AthleticAssociation in 1924. A two-year P.E. requirement preceded that.

The 1921 yearbook showed a picture of the girls basketball team.The nine coeds were wearing black dresses that covered the knees,white sailor blouses, and leather dress shoes.

The Women’s Athletic Association, launched during Hobo Week1924, sponsored a laundry list of activities that drew participation at an intramural level. The yearbook mentioned “new” sports such as volleyball, field hockey, roller-skating, and ice skating as well astraditional activities such as basketball, tennis, and hiking.

By 1929, the activities had expanded to include baseball, track,archery, and rifle teams.

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS SINCE TITLE IX

RABBIT TRACKS2

TRANSFORMEDBY A LAWWomen’s athletics remained as intramurals for decades until Title IX

1972Title IX passes.

1922Women in sportsdiscussed at NCAA’sannual convention

1973NCAA rescinds its rule prohibiting femaleathletes from competing in NCAAchampionships. A diver from Wayne State(MI) becomes the first female to compete.

1971The Association for Intercollegiate Athleticsfor Women is established with 280 memberinstitutions.

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS A NATIONAL LOOK

FROM LEFT: Miss Nellie Kendall, women’s P.E. teacher from 1914 to 1958; charter members of the Women’s Athletic Association, 1924; Marcia Taylor, left,and Myra Jean (Scholten) Tobin, seniors on the 1975 field hockey team

Miss Kendall kept the program active through the Depressionyears and World War II. In fact, in 1940 there was an intercollegiatewomen’s golf team. The Women’s Athletic Association’s most popularprograms were golf and tennis with archery drawing a large followingamong the sophomores, the yearbook reports.

Little changes through the yearsBut largely, the women’s athletic program of 1924 wasn’t much differentthan the program of 1963.

Things began to change in the mid-1960s. Records of the firstvolleyball matches and women’s basketball games date to 1966.

A field hockey and a gymnastics program also were beingestablished. The first women’s partial athletic scholarship was givento Lavone (Opitz) Nelson, a hurdler from Redfield in the mid 1970s.

It is Title IX that can get the credit for that.

Title IX’s purposeTitle IX, a federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in education,

was written to address such issues as LuciBaines Johnson, the daughter of PresidentLyndon Johnson, being refused readmissionto Georgetown University’s school of nursingafter her marriage: in 1966, the school didn’tpermit married women to be students.

Nowhere does the act mention athletics. However, as the rules for theact were written by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare,athletic activities were deemed to be part of the educational experience.

As retired Sports Information Director Ron Lenz says, athletics“quickly became the visible part of Title IX.”

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS SINCE TITLE IX

WINTER 2009 3

1974The NCAA is unsuccessful in its support ofan amendment that would have excludedathletics from Title IX legislation.

1976The NCAA sues the US Department of Health,Education and Welfare for the agency’sventure into intercollegiate athletics. In 1978the court rules that the NCAA doesn’t havelegal standing to sue.

1980Women’s athletics budgets have grown from 1 to 16 percent of men’s budgets.AIAW had grown to 971 institutions withforty-one national championships in nineteensports and a four-year contract with NBC.

“SOUTH DAKOTA STATE WAS AHEAD OF EVERYBODY

IN WOMEN’S SPORTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION.”

RETIRED ATHLETIC DIRECTOR HARRY FORSYTHE

LEFT: Lavone (Opitz) Nelson, a freshman in spring1975, practices her speciality, the 400-meterhurdles. She was the first SDSU woman toreceive an athletic scholarship. ABOVE: 1978Sprint relay team members from left, senior LunetteBirrenkott, junior Rose Warne, and freshmen Carrie(Fogelman) Bills and Denise (Peterson) Aamlid.

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS SINCE TITLE IX

RABBIT TRACKS4

Before Title IX there was AIAWThe 1972 act fueled an explosion in women’s athletics that was alreadydeveloping under the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

SDSU was among the 280 institutions that joined the AIAW, as itwas better known, when the women-run organization was foundedin 1971. Retired Athletic Director Harry Forsyth was an assistant toAthletic Director Stan Marshall during this era that paralleled thewomen’s rights movement.

Forsyth recalls going to AIAW meetings in which he and Marshallwere two of the five men attending among 250 women.

“South Dakota State was ahead of everybody in women’s sports andphysical education. When [coach and athletic director] Jack Frostcame in 1947, men and women were together [in the physicaleducation department] and we’ve been together in everything since,”Forsyth says.

“Because we were a combined department and because they [theAIAW] had their own rules and regulations, we had to know whatwas going on,” Forsyth says in explanation of his gender-breaking tripsto the AIAW conventions to places such as Orlando and Atlanta.

To give an idea of how committed Forsyth and Marshall were tokeeping abreast of the women’s movement, they also joined the feministNational Organization of Women and attended some of its meetings.

Not every school shared that commitment to women’s athletics.The NCAA fought Title IX rules in court. Some of the bigger

universities were more committed to the status quo. In states likeMinnesota, where separate women’s programs developed, arguingand administrative hassles grew behind the walls of separation.

An issue that wasn’t going awayBut the Department of Housing, Education and Welfare continued toadvance Title IX as the law of the land.

“I’ll never forget,” Forsyth says in introducing another recollection.A female bureaucrat from Washington, D.C., spoke at a meeting inOmaha, Nebraska, to explain the ramifications of Title IX. The lastquestion from the audience was “‘How are we going to pay for it?’‘That’s your problem,’” Forsyth remembers her saying.

Not everyone thought Title IX would truly become an issue.Among those attending the Omaha meeting was an athletic

representative from Nebraska. “After the meeting, he said, ‘Title IX

is like the bugle in the Army. Just ignore it and it will go away,’”Forsyth recalls.

The coach couldn’t have been more wrong.The Title IX bugle played taps on the old way of running a college

sports program. Gradually, the bugle announced equality in scholarships,facilities, travel opportunities, and participation levels. The developmentof cable sports channels put a megaphone on the Title IX bugle.

Now, women athletes put on a show that attracts a fan base builtby skill and seeds planted by people like Miss Nellie Kendall.

DAVE GRAVES

1981-82NCAA holds women’schampionships in fivesports at the DivisionII and III levels.

1988Congress passes the Civil Rights RestorationAct, which includes a provision requiringTitle IX compliance for any school receivingdirect or indirect federal aid. Consequently,the NCAA and member schools rethink theimpact of Title IX.

1982The Association for Intercollegiate Athleticsfor Women folds and unsuccessfully suesthe NCAA on antitrust grounds.

1981After failing by onevote initially, the NCAAvotes to hold nationalchampionships inDivision I.

FROM LEFT: Coach Ruth Marske with the 1972 basketball team; SDSU flight winners in the 1975 state tournament are, from left, Mary Vickery, PatBeschta, Cheryl Williams, and Dawn Johnson; a 1968 gymnast.

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS SINCE TITLE IX

Aaron Johnston undoubtedly will find his image on aJackrabbit Athletic Hall of Fame plaque some day after he retires. But the coach of the 2003 Division II nationalchamps and the currently nationally ranked Division I

women’s basketball team doesn’t hold the mark for best winningpercentage in the school’s history. In fact, he’s in third place behindpioneers Norma Boetel and Ruth Marske.

Boetel had a 35-1 record in her first four seasons (1966-70) beforeheading to graduate school in North Carolina.

Marske, who coached virtually every women’s sport during her yearsat State, compiled a two-year mark of 32-4 (.888 winning percentage).

Boetel came back for three more seasons (1972-73, 1974-75,1975-76). Both the wins and losses increased in her second stint (45-17), but her teams won two state titles in AIAW (Association forIntercollegiate Activities for Women) play and she finished with an.816 career winning percentage.

Boetel, who now runs an insurance agency in Bozeman, Montana,saw firsthand the development of women’s sports.

Women’s Athletic Association, Play DaysWhen she earned her bachelor’s degree inphysical education in 1956, State had anintramural program organized by theWomen’s Athletic Association instructor,which Nellie Kendall directed. “In the fall

we played volleyball or soccer once a week”for a couple hours in the evening, Boetel says.

In the winter, the sport was basketball.While participation was high, the thought of playing other schools wasunheard of.

After teaching high school physical education for several years,Boetel returned to State and earned her master’s degree in 1965. Awomen’s athletic program was just beginning to peck out of the shell.

“We had play days. We may have gone to Madison, which wasthen General Beadle College, or the University [of South Dakota] or Northern [State] and had what we called play days,” says Boetel,adding, “Sometimes rather than playing teams from another school,we would choose up teams on the spot.” Play days were about once a quarter and involved a variety of sports.

WINTER 2009 5

GRADUALLY DEVELOPINGEven before Title IX, the picture of women’s sports was changing

LEFT: Freshmen basketball players with State’sWomen’s Athletic Association in 1924. ABOVE:The 1971 volleyball team with coach Sue Yeager.

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS SINCE TITLE IX

RABBIT TRACKS6

Ruth Rehn, a 1966 graduate, says, “Afterwards, you would oftengather for refreshments, mingle, and get together with other athletes.”

While tea and crumpets may seem like a far cry from thePowerade and fist pounds of today’s athletes, players of both erasfound satisfaction in the participation and the opportunity. “We werethrilled we could do an event such as that,” says Rehn, of Pierre.

Intercollegiate games beginWhen State did begin to field intercollegiate women’s teams, theschedules were meager. The volleyball teamhad seven matches in 1966 and the basketballteam had six games in 1966-67, the firstyear for both sports. But both teams wonevery game.

“South Dakota State was ahead of thecurve,” says Nancy Neiber, who made a

name for SDSU women’s basketball duringher tenure as coach from 1984 to 2000, andthen spent seven years as women’s sportsadministrator before retiring June 30, 2007.

“In the state of South Dakota, South Dakota State, due to RuthMarske and Norma Boetel rallying the cry to give women theopportunity to play, was ahead of the other schools. The least of their[Marske and Boetel] worries were food and lodging and scholarships.

“That wasn’t even in the picture. It was just the opportunity to play,”says Neiber, who never had a chance to play high school or college sports.

Taking full advantage“It was such a thrill to be able to compete once we got to the collegelevel because [most girls] had never got that opportunity” beforecollege, says Jean Holzkamp, a 1974 State graduate whose only high

school sport experience was throwing shot, discus, and the softball atBrookings High School.

That was not an era when women were recruited for athletics.Holzkamp simply went to State out of convenience.

But when she got here, Holzkamp jumped into athletics like ateenager at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. She played field hockey,basketball (her last three years), softball, and track and field whilemajoring in physical education.

“I loved every minute of it because we never got the competitionin high school,” says Holzkamp, who is a teacher in Kadoka.

‘Thankful for opportunity’Most of her career was played before Title IX took effect. “It was neverequal at that time,” she says. “We were lucky if we had the vehicles to get to the games. I don’t ever remember taking a bus to anything.We never had big meals or anything like that. We took school vansor sometimes drove personal vehicles.”

So did she feel cheated?“I don’t think so. I was just thankful for the opportunity to

compete. I had never had the opportunity in high school and nobodyelse did either,” Holzkamp says.

ABOVE: Members of the first SDSU women’scross country team in 1975 with Assistant CoachMack Butler, left, and Jay Dirksen. RIGHT:Archery class members from May 20, 1950.

WOMEN’S ATHLETICS SINCE TITLE IX

WINTER 2009 7

Her first year of basketball (1971-72), the team won the regionalAIAW tournament and qualified for the national tournament inSpringfield, Illinois. “First time I had ever flown. It was the first time alot of them had ever flown,” Holzkamp says. They flew from SiouxFalls to Chicago and then to Springfield.

The team may have traveled like royalty, but they knew they weremore like Cinderella.

“We never had home and away uniforms. In fact, we wore the sameuniforms for basketball and volleyball,” Holzkamp says. Their warm-ups

were plain cotton sweat pants. With only the Barn available for practice,the women had to take a back seat to the men for practice time.

She went on to coach sixteen years at Kadoka. “I do tell the kids,they don’t know how fortunate they are,” Holzkamp says.

Opportunities grow with facilitiesOf course, she thought she was pretty fortunate too, especially whenFrost Arena opened up in February 1973. “The facilities were so muchgreater with the gymnasts and wrestlers having their own place. Weeven kind of had a locker room [even though it may have been small].

“At that time, we were thankful to get anything we got. We tookback doors into the training room, but we still had adequate coverage,”Holzkamp says.

A pioneer in the training roomOne of those providing coverage was Kathie (Demery) Courtney, whowas selected as an SDSU Distinguished Alumnus in 2005. In spring

semester 1973, she was a junior taking Athletic Trainer Jim Booher’sprevention and care of athletic injuries class. Booher asked her if shewould become a student athletic trainer.

Courtney quickly accepted and she became the first femaleathletic trainer.

This was before SDSU had its athletic training program, so mostof her instruction was from Booher in the training room, but Courtney,now at Northern State University, says she generally felt accepted byathletes and coaches.

Men’s basketball Coach [Jim] Marking wasn’t real sure at first. Hewould come in and watch me tape. When he became more confident,he left me on my own,” says Courtney, who notes that Marking alsomade her the team barber, sending some of the players in for a haircut.

“Coach Marking just thought their hair was a little too long,” soequipped with scissors and an electric hair trimmer Courtney addedgrooming to her training room skills.

‘I felt I could do anything’That summer Courtney remembers working at a high school boysbasketball camp sponsored by the Milwaukee Bucks.

“A Bucks player came into the training room and said, ‘I want tosee the man.’ I said, ‘The man isn’t here, but I am. Can I help you?’Finally, he let me examine him. He had a problem with his toe. I gavehim an exam and told him what he needed to do.

“Before the player had left, Jim [Booher] came back from lunch, gavehim an exam, told him almost exactly what I had told him. That wasgood for me. It reaffirmed me, and it was good for that guy to hearit,” Courtney says.

But she acknowledges that reaffirmation wasn’t a great need in her life.“I had more confidence than any sane person should have. I felt I

could do anything,” Courtney shares.DAVE GRAVES

“IT WAS SUCH A THRILL TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE ONCE

WE GOT TO THE COLLEGE LEVEL BECAUSE [MOST GIRLS]

HADN’T HAD THE OPPORTUNITY” BEFORE COLLEGE.

JEAN HOLZKAMP, A 1974 STATE GRADUATE

FROM LEFT: A girls rifle team was formed in 1923 and it won eight of nine matches; bowling in a 1956 P.E. class; the 1979 Aqua Bunnies pose for apublicity shot in advance of their March show “Fantasy.”

The ball usually came Ohio’s way and the end result was devastatingfor opponents. The right arm ofMackenzie “Ohio” Angner, a six-

foot senior from Cincinnati, was a busyweapon for the SDSU volleyball team during2008 and the numbers were impressive.

The outside hitter finished with anincredible 1,423 attacks in only ninety-nine

sets. What’s more, she tallied 504 kills—thethird most in Summit League history andnearly 200 more than anybody else in theconference in 2008. In addition, her 5.09 killsper set was the second-best ratio in NCAADivision I this past season.

Must make for one tired arm? “It does gettired,” admits Angner, whose Ohiomonogram became necessary to distinguish

herself from former teammate MackenzieOsadchuk. “I have an impingement syndromealong with bursitis.”

Angner, an all-conference and all-academicrecipient, was the go-to player for a youngJacks’ team. She was the only member of the defending Summit League championswith more than twenty career kills, and infact, the only returning offensive seniorperiod. The team’s two other seniors weredefensive specialists.

The Jacks, who advanced to the NCAADivision I Tournament a year ago losing toNebraska in the first round, matured as theseason progressed, finishing 10-17 overall and8-8 in the conference—a respectable showingconsidering a 1-12 start against a toughnonconference schedule. They came withinone win of returning to the four-teamconference tournament.

“We had a great race for fourth place andjust two important matches kept us out,” saysAngner. “We were doing great competing-wise and I’m so proud how the team, especiallythe underclassmen, came together.”

Overcoming determined foesAngner evolved herself as a player and in theprocess became the standout she is today. Shewas taught during precollege days to simply“bang away” when faced with two andsometimes three opposing players jumpingto block her shot.

“When you’re double and triple blockedyou can’t always do that so I had to learn to tip, roll, and tool the shot,” she explains. “I became more of a well-rounded playerbecause of it as opposed to a one-dimensional player.”

Indeed, and Angner added shots to her arsenal in other ways, including a deadly

“ONE OF THE GREATEST

FEELINGS IN THE WORLD IS

GETTING THE GAME WINNING

KILL OR BLOCK AND THE

ADRENALINE RUSH YOU GET

WHEN YOU HIT OR BLOCK THE

BALL STRAIGHT DOWN.”

MACKENZIE ANGNER

RABBIT TRACKS8

Angner’s armdoes the talkingfor Jacks Volleyball

back-row attack, and surprisingly she alsoled the Jacks in digs with 3.62 per set.

Ultimately, being given the ball onpractically every offensive series made for someinteresting accolades from opposing coaches.

“The other coaches know me and I’d sayto them, ‘hey, thanks for putting the doubleblock and triple block on me,’” she says.“They would say ‘all we did was try and stopyou!’ Well, that’s a nice compliment and veryfrustrating at the same time. It makes itmore difficult, but it also makes me a betterplayer, too.”

With a twenty-six-inch vertical jump,Angner was an intimidating presence at thenet, describing making a kill akin to havinga natural high.

“One of the greatest feelings in the worldis getting the game-winning kill or block andthe adrenaline rush you get when you hit orblock the ball straight down,” she says with agrin. “Those are the moments when you getso excited and jacked up.”

Unfortunately for Angner, those momentsare gone. She remarks her collegiate career is

over just when her game is “peaking” at theright time.

“I want to continue,” she says. “The nextstep would be if I’m good enough to try out and play for the USA national team or a professional team overseas, but I haven’tfinished my degree yet.”

Yes, Angner, who is majoring in biology,still has to hit the books and will notgraduate until December 2009 or May 2010.She has plans to be either an orthodontist ora physical therapist.

The attraction to StateAngner’s journey to Jackrabbit land wasn’t astraight line. Originally pre-pharmacy, shesent out numerous e-mails to Division Ischools, indicating she was interested in theiruniversity and was an outside hitter seekinga scholarship.

Accompanied by her parents, Dave andVictoria Angner, she went to Connecticut,Northwestern, Georgia, West Virginia, NorthCarolina, South Carolina, and, of course, thehome schools of Ohio State University andthe University of Cincinnati.

She wasn’t finding the ideal situationbecause coaches wanted her to be a right sidehitter when the outside position was her firstchoice. That all changed when she venturedto South Dakota.

“I came out to visit, and after beingevaluated, they said I would be a great girl tohave . . . and so, they offered me a scholarshipand I accepted,” recalls Angner.

Scholarship and education opportunitiesaside, important intangibles were key factorsin her decision to come to Brookings.

“It was my last recruiting visit, and I don’tknow, there was something about it—thepeople, the atmosphere, and the fact that Ihad never been part of a small town,” saysAngner. “It was all about something new, andexciting, and challenging. I have loved mytime here.”

KYLE JOHNSON

WINTER 2009 9

YEAR Senior

MAJOR Biology

HOMETOWN Cincinnati

POSITION Outside hitter

TOOLS 6-0, 26-inch vertical jump, strong right arm with a keen court sense

She’s a killer: For the season, Angner had 504 kills—third most in Summit Leaguehistory and nearly 200 more than anyone else in the conference. Her 5.04 kills per setranked second nationally. She accounted for 42 percent of the team’s kills. Those killswere the product of 1,423 attacks, which represents 38 percent of the team total.

For her career, Angner finished with 1,171 kills, good for 12th place in the Jackrabbitrecord book and entry as the 13th player to make the 1,000-Kill Club. She set a careerhigh with 31 kills against IUPUI (Indiana University/ Purdue University at Indianapolis) Oct.11 in Brookings. Set a school record for a three-set match with 25 kills.

Other stats: Led the team in digs (3.62 per set, 358 in 99 sets), 66 blocks (third most onthe team), and 15 sets. Twice had career highs of 27 digs in a match.

Honors: All-conference in the Summit League as well as October Female Athlete of theMonth in the league. An all-academic selection in 2007 and 2008.

Nickname: Ohio. While playing in the Buckeye State, her summer clubs placed tenthnationally in 2004 and fifth in 2002. Her high school team won the 2003 state championship.

THE MACKENZIE ANGNER FILE

Ryan Berry took his son to themovies a lot last fall, even thoughCarson didn’t spend much timelooking at the screen.

Like most three-year-olds, Carson was toobusy playing to care about what was beingprojected, especially when it wasn’t VeggieTales. While the films may not have capturedCarson’s attention, Dad gave rapt attention tothe game films being shown in the modularhouses by Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

Balancing the priorities of football,academics, and family life helped Berry attainunprecedented success, according to CoachJohn Stiegelmeier.

The senior quarterback led SDSU to a 7-5season while setting nine records and earningan $18,000-postgraduate scholarship.

It was the kind of year that some peopledream about; just not Berry. While he hopedto play at an all-conference level and improvehis stats from his junior year, Berry’s specificgoals were team goals—to win the conferencetitle and compete in the playoffs.

“If you had asked me after high school, oreven before this year having had experience,if I would be breaking records, I would havesaid, ‘No way,’” the 2004 Watertown HighSchool graduate says.

A team-first leaderThe team goals he had dreamed of fell shortwith a third-place finish in the MissouriValley Football Conference and only the toptwo teams were picked for the sixteen-teamplayoff field. But the individual accolades hereceived came from being a team-firstquarterback, according to favorite receiverJaRon Harris.

He says that Berry’s team-first thinkingwas the greatest asset that the 6-3, 205-poundpremed major brought to the field.

That attitude was exhibited as much whenBerry wasn’t on the field as when he was.During practices he could be found coachingthe other quarterbacks when they made awrong read or took the wrong steps, Harrissays. Berry was a “caring leader. He wantedpeople to do the right thing,” Harris says.

A fitting finaleThe quarterback had a great opportunity toshow his team-first attitude when he was

injured against North Dakota State in theNovember 22 season finale.

Berry suffered a first-quarter concussionthat kept him on the sidelines. “He was stillencouraging everyone else. He didn’t getdown on himself or anyone else,” Harris says.

And before the game was over, Berry wasback on the field for what may have been hiscrowning performance.

Early in the fourth quarter, Berry’sreplacement, Ryan Crawford, suffered abroken wrist.

With doctor’s permission, Berry reenteredthe game. The Bison led 21-17 and it soongrew to 24-17. On his second drive back incontrol, Berry engineered a sixty-eight-yard

drive that resulted in a one-yard TD pass toHarris and a game-winning two-pointconversion pass with 2:20 left.

It was, as Coach Stiegelmeier calls it, “astorybook ending.”

“He was told at halftime that he couldn’tplay anymore [because of the concussion].He had 120 relatives in the stands becausehis roots are from North Dakota. The injuryclears up, he’s able to go out, direct thetouchdown drive, and make the extra-pointpass. That’s a storybook ending. That wasspecial,” the coach says.

With the 25-24 victory, SDSU maintainedpossession of the Dakota Marker trophy forwhich the two rivals compete.

‘A rock solid young man’Berry rewrites record book, redefines meaning of leadership

RABBIT TRACKS10

Another proud performanceIt was the first time since 1963 that SDSU hasbeaten North Dakota State in consecutiveseasons and is one of the accomplishmentsof which Berry is most proud. The other, hesays, would be in the twenty-eight-point,second-half comeback at Stephen F. AustinSeptember 27.

In that game, the home field Lumberjackshad built a 34-6 lead with eight minutes leftin the third quarter.

In the next twenty-three minutes, Berrywould lead SDSU to six touchdowns and afield goal in the 50-48 win. It was the biggestcomeback in school and Missouri ValleyFootball Conference history, says Berry, whodirected four consecutive TD drives to tiethe score at 34.

SDSU had a chance to take the lead whenBerry threw a potentially momentum-killinginterception to end a sixty-six-yard drive.

The best yet to comeBut SDSU immediately got the ball back andBerry produced a twenty-nine-yard, go-aheadtouchdown that only reignited the thriller.Stephen F. Austin tied the game by returningthe kickoff for a touchdown. Berry thendirected a thirty-seven-yard drive resulting in aforty-two-yard field goal with 1:19 left to play.

But the lowly regarded Lumberjacks wereplaying the best game of their season.

SDSU’s 44-41 lead vanished when StephenF. Austin went sixty yards in only five playsto take a 48-44 lead with just thirty-eightseconds to go. Plenty of time for Berry, whomoved the Jacks fifty-six yards in five playswith Kyle Minett scoring from a yard out onthe final play of the game.

In those seven scoring drives, Berry threwfor 255 yards (nineteen for twenty-eight) andrushed for forty-eight yards on nine carries.

Earning national honorsBerry’s exciting efforts weren’t enough to gainhim conference player-of-the-week honors.That went to teammate Minett, who had threeTDs. But Berry would bask in the local andnational spotlight with his seven-touchdownperformance November 8 versus Illinois State.

Berry needed only seventeen completions(on thirty attempts) to garner the sevenscoring strikes.

That came on a cold, windy day atCoughlin-Alumni Stadium, where Berryonly expected to throw ten to fifteen passes.But with the running game hampered byinjuries to the offensive line, SDSU came outthrowing. Berry had three TDs in the firstquarter, five in the first half, and didn’t playmost of the fourth quarter.

The effort broke his own school record offive TD passes and earned him nationalplayer-of-the-week honors.

Not set back by adversityOf course, not everything Berry touchedturned to gold. He threw thirteen interceptionsin twelve games. Five of them were in onegame, the season opener against Iowa State.But how Berry handled adversity was one ofhis strengths, Coach Stiegelmeier says.

Recalling that game in Ames, Stiegelmeiersays, “He came off the field [after aninterception] and every time he told me itwas going to be alright. He didn’t hang hishead. He just knew he had to hang in there.A lot of guys just can’t do that.”

Berry says, “I’m good at not letting badthings affect me.”

Throwing five interceptions in front of acrowd of 46,617 could have put a youngman in a funk. But to Berry, “It seemed likesuch a fluke. I said I was just going to treat

Continued on page 12

WINTER 2009 11

Ryan Berry isn’t done throwing passes to JaRon Harris.The SDSU seniors are working out together this winter in the

hopes of gaining interest from scouts from professional teams.The 6-1, 200-pound Harris is considered an NFL prospect. Berrysays the NFL would be a long shot for him, but he hopes to playin the Arena or Canadian football leagues.

“I might as well try it. This will probably be the last chance Iwill have to do it,” Berry says.

His future certainly doesn’t depend on it. The 3.89 premedmajor has been named to all-academic teams at the conference,region, and national levels. He plans to apply to chiropractic andmedical schools as well as SDSU’s Accelerated Nursing option

before he graduates in May.By then, Berry will know if he will be reading playbooks or textbooks.

DAVE GRAVES

A FUTURE IN FOOTBALL?

YEAR SeniorMAJOR biology/pre-medicine, 3.89 GPAHOMETOWN WatertownFAMILY Wife – Caitlin, a member of the track and cross country team;Son – Carter, 4.

2008 Accomplishments• Finalist for the Draddy Award, theacademic Heisman Award;

• Recipient of an $18,000-postgraduate scholarship through the National Football Foundation as a Draddy finalist;

• All-academic selections by ESPNThe Magazine for District VII and bythe Missouri Valley FootballConference as well as the FootballChampionship Subdivision AthleticDirectors Association Academic All-Star Team;

• All-league first team selection;• Led league in passing yards,touchdown passes, and total offense;

• Set SDSU single-season records for completions, attempts, andtouchdown passes;

• Set school and conference recordswith seven TDs in one game;

• National player of the week followinghis seven-TD performance;

• Threw at least one TD pass in each ofthe last eleven games of the season;

• Set SDSU career marks forcompletions, attempts, passingyards, and touchdown passes.

THE RYAN BERRY FILE

it like a preseason game and not let it affectme. Fortunately, it didn’t affect me.”

Stiegelmeier calls that “calm leadership,”which produces dividends for teammatesand coaches alike.

Confidence doesn’t yield to arroganceThe coach saw an uncommon maturity inBerry when he recruited him at WatertownHigh School. The all-stater flashed brilliancein two starts as a redshirt freshman, includinga record-tying five touchdown passes againstGeorgia Southern in his first career start.

Berry became a full-time starter as ajunior and a record setter in his senior year.

As players become more successful,Stiegelmeier says “two things normally occur.You become more and more confident. Notonly can you make the plays, you believe youwill make the plays.

“Secondly, some guys get arrogant. Henever did. That’s a true sign of Ryan’s fiber;he’s just a rock solid young man.

“If you give a young man a chance, many times they will go far beyond what you estimate they will do. People say heoverachieved. I don’t know if you everoverachieve. He just used all of his God-givenability in a humble, team-first way.”

Berry says his early success at Statemotivated him to give 100 percent in practiceand in the weight room.

That same motivation and sense ofpriorities also produced a lot of father-sonoutings to the film trailer.

DAVE GRAVES

RABBIT TRACKS12

SDSU made a commitment to operatingas a first-class organization during itsjourney into Division I athletics.

But senior Ryan Berry earned an extratreat when he went with Coach JohnStiegelmeier and nine relatives to the Draddyaward ceremony December 9 at theWaldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Draddy Trophy is given to the topsenior scholar-athlete in college football.

“I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” Berry says afterwards.

He didn’t win the trophy and theadditional $7,000 scholarship, but as oneof fifteen finalists, he already earned an$18,000 scholarship. That evening Berrywas rubbing shoulders with some of thegame’s biggest names, including LouHoltz, Troy Aikman, and Thurman Thomas.

“The whole trip was just surreal. I didn’trealize all the coaches that would be there.Every major coach in America, hall of fameplayers, owners of professional sportsteams. I didn’t know it was that big of adeal,” Berry says.

While the Heisman Trophy that wasawarded four days later in New York Citygets the big headlines, the Draddyrecognizes an individual as the absolute

best in the country for his academicsuccess, football performance, andexemplary community leadership.

‘He should have won’While a center from California won theaward, Stiegelmeier says Berry “didn’t takea back seat to anybody.”

Berry is a 3.89 premed major who setrecords at State, participated in readingprograms at elementary schools, visitednursing homes and children’s hospitals, aswell as volunteered at youth footballclinics—all while balancing responsibilitiesas a parent and husband.

It is the first time SDSU has had a playeras a finalist for the award, which is open toplayers in all divisions.

The field included Heisman Trophyhopefuls Chase Daniel and Graham Harrellas well as the quarterback from Division IIIMount Union. But Stiegelmeier says all ofthem were in awe of the glitz, famousathletes, and first-class treatment.

“It just drew you to a different level. Beingin awe was appropriate. Did he [Berry] feelout of place? Not a second. In my mind heshould have won,” Stiegelmeier declares.

DAVE GRAVES

HELLO NEW YORK

“PEOPLE SAY HE OVERACHIEVED. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU EVER

OVERACHIEVE. HE JUST USED ALL OF HIS GOD-GIVEN ABILITY IN A

HUMBLE, TEAM-FIRST WAY.”

COACH JOHN STIEGELMEIER ON RYAN BERRY

WINTER 2009 13

From a walk-on to a scholarshipplayer for the Jackrabbits men’sbasketball team, Mackenzie Casey is living out his dream of playing

Division I basketball.Casey’s story is a shining example of hard

work and perseverance.

After starting for three years at RedCloud High School, Casey set his sights onplaying Division I basketball despite theprospect that he would have to walk-on.

“When SDSU made the move (toDivision I), I knew it was where I wantedand needed to be,” says Casey, a member ofthe Oglala Sioux Tribe from Wounded Knee.

He faced long odds of playing for theJackrabbits. In most Division I programs,walk-ons, at best, fill out the second andthird units. By staying focused and carrying apositive attitude, Casey earned the attentionof Coach Scott Nagy as he increased his roleon the men’s team.

In 2007, Nagy rewarded Casey with ascholarship. It was a move that surprisedthe 6-0 guard. “He was literally flooredwhen we told him about the scholarship,”says Nagy. “He earned it because of hiscontributions and the energy and spirit thathe brings to practice everyday.”

After he was notified about his change inscholarship status, Casey was presentedwith another character-building decision.Nagy asked Casey to sit out the 2007-08season in order to come back as the team’ssenior leader in 2008-09.

Casey understands the importance ofteam. For him, camaraderie amongteammates is as important as making a keyfree throw in the game’s final seconds. In ateam sport, trust and bonding amongteammates fosters the togetherness neededto deal with the grind of long road trips,academic pressures, and other challenges.

“It makes me proud that Coach Nagytrusts me and wants me as a leader on theteam. I am truly honored by that,” saysCasey, who has started nineteen games in hiscareer at SDSU.

Despite Nagy’s accolades, he doesn’t feelhe has been as successful as he would like.But the tireless senior guard isn’t about totake his foot off the pedal as the season andhis career enter the final stretch.

He won’t lose focus as he did as a seniorin high school, when his heavily favored RedCloud team lost in the district finals to PineRidge. “From that loss, I learned that youhave to stay aggressive. You can’t take thingsfor granted,” adds Casey.

Casey has learned that everyone faces theprospect of measuring up to variouspersonal challenges. When he was seven, hisparents broke up. Trying to find an outlet, hetook up basketball. His passion for the gamehas only intensified through the years.

Now the father to a two-year-old son,Riley, he has learned to balance the variousresponsibilities of his life. For that he creditshis father, Tom, who raised three children onhis own. “I can never thank him enough forwhat he has taught me,” says Casey.

As he contemplates a coaching careerfollowing graduation in May 2010, Caseyalso appreciates that he has become a rolemodel for his family and to the community.“I think no matter who you are, youinfluence somebody,” says Casey, who ismajoring in sociology. “I don’t think a lot of Native Americans get the opportunity thatI have had.

“I want kids from my home communityto see they can reach their goals. I am tryingto live a positive life and just trying to set agood example.”

DAN GENZLER

Fulfillinga dreamOglala Siouxmember takespride in earningscholarship

HOMETOWN Wounded Knee

POSITION Point Guard

2008-09 STATS 4.2 ppg. 1.8 apg. 1.5 rpg.

Career Highlights

• Scored 21 points against Idaho in 2006;

• Recorded seven assists vs. WayneState (Michigan) on Dec. 29, 2004.

THE MACKENZIECASEY FILE

“HE WAS LITERALLY FLOORED

WHEN WE TOLD HIM ABOUT THE

SCHOLARSHIP.”

HEAD COACH SCOTT NAGY

TEAM ROOMSbring “homey” feel to Frost Arena

RABBIT TRACKS14

Rachel Dahl understands the value that team rooms willserve in recruiting for Jackrabbit athletics. “These roomswill be incredibly valuable,” says Dahl, a Brookings nativewho has been part of the Jackrabbits’ highly successful

volleyball program for the last four years.“During my career, it always seemed like we (volleyball team) were

always moving around to watch film or something else. This will makefor a centralized location and a place we can call our home. It willmake coming to Frost Arena more of a homey, comfortable place.”

Team rooms are part of the facilities development that is takingplace in athletic programs around the country. To supplement lockerroom areas, athletic departments are adding team rooms for variouspurposes ranging from pregame and postgame meetings to filmstudy as well as a space for hosting social activities if needed forrecruiting or welcoming home alumni. More than that, these spaces,which will include both meeting and lounge areas, provide student-athletes a place to study and a location where they can bond.

As these areas are developed, they will be outfitted with couches,entertainment centers, wireless Internet, and more.

Construction of the team rooms began in late August. Space inthe room previously utilized for Jackrabbit Acceleration and Rehabwas designated for the women’s basketball and women’s volleyballteam rooms. The large men’s locker room open area along with theprevious men’s baseball locker room were selected as space for thenew men’s basketball rooms and the men’s and women’s swimmingand diving team were provided team room space in the new northwing addition on to the Stan Marshall Center. Four other teams arebenefitting from all this construction as well. Both women’s soccerand softball now use the locker rooms previously occupied byvolleyball and basketball while men’s swimming will now use theprevious home for men’s basketball, and baseball will get theprevious home for men’s swimming. All of these rooms are beingupgraded as well.

Called “eye candy” by head men’s basketball coach Scott Nagy, the team rooms will provide a significant benefit for recruiting.

“Quite honestly, you can get film work done in a lot of ways. Thisshows our current student-athletes and those looking at our programthat we have a university and athletic department that is supportiveof the student-athletes,” says Nagy, who’s men’s basketball team roomwas completed January 9. “Let’s face it, recruiting is everything. It isvery important as we try to sell the program to student-athletes thatwant to be here. It is important that they want to play for us.”

Associate Director of Athletics Rob Peterson points out thatinstitutions have to meet certain expectations in order to be competitiveat the Division I level. He said these team rooms add another benefitfor students. From academic areas to athletic development, it all fitsinto the mission and vision of President David L. Chicoine.

“We want to be a top institution in the region. That means wewant—we have—to do these things. The new Dykhouse Center andthe Wellness Center are other examples,” Peterson says.

What seemed to be a dream years ago is taking shape due tostrong administrative and alumni support. When the state of SouthDakota did a Title IX review in 2003, SDSU had a goal of improving

space for women’s athletics. Peterson says the vision of the AthleticDepartment was to enhance opportunities for women’s programs butas a result, both men and women student-athletes have benefitted.

“Our vision for developing the facilities was the right thing to do forour student-athletes and the right thing to do for the department anduniversity,” Peterson says.

Jackrabbit coaches are appreciative of the development. Volleyballhead coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer says perception is reality for recruits.It is important, she says, that colleges show they mean what they say.

“We want to be one of the elite programs in the region. We wantour program to be a program that student-athletes want to be partof. Therefore, these team rooms validate and confirm the notion thatwe are doing what we say in terms of building up the athletic

“THE NEW FACILITIES SERVE AS A PLACE TO EMBRACE

THE HISTORY OF SDSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AND

A PLACE TO MAKE NEW MEMORIES OF OUR OWN.”

JENNIFER WARKENTHIEN, BASKETBALL PLAYER

WINTER 2009 15

programs. It makes a difference in the eyes of the athletes and theirfamilies who come to campus.”

Increasing the comfort level of the student-athlete gives themincreased confidence in what they are doing. It builds pride in theathletic programs and the school.

“I feel the (team) room is more than just a place to hang out anddo homework. It is a place that allows our team to connect in wayswe never have before. I think the team room will be a place for boththe men’s and women’s team to further their academic, social, andintellectual bonds,” says senior men’s swimming standout Cade Roberts.

Each of the programs is responsible for the fund-raising to furnishtheir respective rooms/areas. Some of the team rooms are nearingcompletion, including women’s basketball, while others are in theearly/middle stages.

Ninth year women’s basketball coach Aaron Johnston noted thatas the women’s program developed their team room, they did so withan appreciation of the history of Jackr abbit women’s basketball. Thehistory of SDSU women’s basketball will be featured from the earlypioneers of the program to the Division II national title run to thecurrent top-25 ranking.

“I think when you talk about our success, it’s important to recognizeformer student-athletes and teams who have all played an importantrole. They are why we are experiencing success today,” says Johnston.

He loves what these rooms mean for his team. “For me, thisdevelopment is about recruiting and retention,” says Johnston. “Ithink it says to our student-athletes that they are a priority. It willalso play a role in attracting new recruits and keeping them here.”Jackrabbit women’s basketball player Jennifer Warkenthien is excitedabout the future of the program. “We are appreciative of the new

additions to our Jackrabbit home,” says Warkenthien, a senior fromWillow Lake. “It’s great having a familiar place to meet as a team towatch film, relax, and study. The new facilities serve as a place toembrace the history of SDSU women’s basketball and a place to makenew memories of our own,” she says.

Swimming and diving coach Brad Erickson reiterated the sense of bonding for the athletic teams. “These team rooms definitely buildcamaraderie. It gives student-athletes tremendous opportunities to bond.”

According to Peterson, the development of these facilities has agreater value.

“We know student-athletes are successful when they’re comfortablein the classroom and the field of play. It is important in that vein thatwe want to help them. We try to attract the best student-athletes so itis important for us to do what we can to make our programs, ourfacilities more attractive.”

DAN GENZLER

FROM LEFT: Volleyball players, Rachel Dahl, Ashley Kathol, and Ellyce Youngren pose outside the squad’s team room; women’s basketball Coach AaronJohnston reviews film with his team during a meeting in the squad’s new team room; the women’s swim team’s locker room.

RABBIT TRACKS16

You call him Boo if you’re his friend, otherwise it is Dr. Booheror Sir. In his forty-two years at SDSU, Jim Booher has notonly been the presence in the athletic training room, he alsohas been a national presence in the athletic training field.

He has been elected to six halls of fame, including the NationalAthletic Trainers Hall of Fame (1998). But in May, SDSU’s first full-time trainer will give his full time to retirement. “It’s just time,” saysBooher, who will turn 66 in February.

For parts of five decades, Booher has shouldered the responsibilityfor restoring ailing Jackrabbits.

And during most of those years he also has been teaching othersto follow him in the profession. To date, 300 students have graduatedfrom the University’s athletic training program, which first beganoperating as a minor in 1977 and became a major in 1982.

‘Long-term positive impact’Brad Pfeifle earned his undergraduate degree in athletic training in1986 and followed that with a master’s degree in 1988.

He was one of the first to earn a graduate degree in athletictraining from State and has gone on to become the director of sportsmedicine at the Orthopedic Institute in Sioux Falls. Pfeifle hasknown Booher from the time he was an intimidated 20-year-old tohis present status as a respected peer.

“I talk to him at least weekly . . . . You have a few people in yourlife that have a long-term positive impact on how you live your life,and he’s been one,” Pfeifle says.

In addition to their telephone consulting, Pfeifle and Booher haveattended national athletic training meetings together.

As the plaques began to accumulate on Booher’s walls, the mandidn’t change. “No ego. He’s never shown any ego,” says Pfeifle.

Greatness before his eyesRyan Brink, who works with Pfeifle at the Orthopedic Institute,earned his athletic training degree in 1997. His first experience withBooher came as a freshman football player. By the time he enteredthe athletic training program, Brink was like the kid playing dress upwith grandma’s pearls. He didn’t know what a treasure he had.

“I had no idea what he was in the profession of athletic training.Three of my classmates and I did a presentation at a regionalconference. Students from another school said, ‘We use the textbookthat your head athletic trainer wrote. What’s it like to learn fromhim?’ We thought, ‘It’s Boo.’

“We didn’t quite understand the magnitude of him. When hestarted getting inducted into halls of fame, then you started to realizehe was a pioneer in the field, no doubt about it,” Brink says.

Trainer no longer carried a whistleBooher came to SDSU in 1967 after completing a two-year postgraduateprogram from the Mayo Clinic School of Physical Therapy inRochester, Minnesota.

He was the first person that SDSU had hired specifically as atrainer. Previous trainers (Pete Torino, 1963-67) and Jim Emmerich(1946-60) had been head coaches in their own sports (gymnasticsand track and field, respectively) as well as assistant football coaches.

Most of their work as a trainer was with the football team, as itwas for Booher when he arrived.

“The first year I was here we had thirty-six players in for football.A few more came when school started, but I wasn’t that busy,” Booherrecalls. He had plenty of time to work as a physical therapist at theBrookings Hospital, which he did on a 50/50 basis for several years.

The arrangement allowed the Athletic Department to budget atrainer who also wasn’t a coach, Booher explains.

Gradually, he spent less time at the hospital and eventually justbecame a consulting physical therapist. Now Booher is one of sevenfull-time trainers on an SDSU staff that include seven graduatestudent trainers and thirty-one student trainers covering twenty-onesports and teaching up to thirty-six students.

BIDDINGGOOD-BYETO BOOLong-time athletic trainerwrapping up 42-year career

WINTER 2009 17

The academic experienceToday, students can enter the program in their final two years ofundergraduate education or as a graduate student.

Either way, only eighteen students are taken per year. The mosttime-consuming course in the sixty-four-credit major may be a one-credit class innocuously slugged “fall clinical experience.” What it meansis virtually living with the football team during the preseason camp.

Brink, who played football for four years at State, gave up his finalseason to be a student trainer.

“If I would’ve played my fifth year of football, it would have requireda sixth year of classes” because the fall clinical experience is, obviously,only available in the fall. “I didn’t want to wait and delay graduateschool. I knew I wanted to move on and get my master’s,” Brink says.

Pressure no bother for BooherIn leaving behind his gridiron buddies, he developed a workingrelationship with the man who adjusted his dislocated thumb fouryears earlier.

He recalls traveling to a football game with Booher against NorthernColorado. With the two of them assigned to more than fifty players,they had to work swiftly. But Brink says Booher “always maintainshis calm demeanor. He’s always even keel.

“He doesn’t get frantic in a situation when someone is injured.There’s no panic button.”

Pfeifle echoes that Booher is “unbelievably calm. He always hassuch a quiet confidence about what he does. He treated everybodywith really great respect and exudes so much confidence in what hedoes. I try to emulate that. In the health-care business and thetraining room, those are things that get lost.

“He never treated the star running back any different than he didthe fifth-team defensive back. You were an athlete whatever positionyou were.”

DAVE GRAVES

AGE 65

HOMETOWN Ashland, Nebraska

EDUCATION Nebraska Wesleyan, 1965; two-year certificatedegree from Mayo Clinic School of Physical Therapy, Rochester,Minnesota, 1967; master’s degree in health, physical educationand recreation, SDSU, 1969; doctorate in health science,University of Utah, 1976.

CAREER All forty-two years at SDSU as head athletic trainer;a professor since 1982.

FAMILY Wife – Kathy; children — Debra, stay-at-home motherin Lincoln, Nebraska; Jimmy, private consultant in Atlanta; andJeffrey, physical therapist in Lincoln; four grandchildren

HONORS Nebraska Wesleyan Hall of Fame (1980), the SouthDakota Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame (1990), the Mid-AmericaAthletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame (1996), the NationalAthletic Trainers Hall of Fame (1998), the South Dakota AmateurSoftball Association Hall of Fame (2002), South Dakota SportsHall of Fame (2008).

MISCELLANEOUS Son Jeffrey was a physical therapist andtrainer for the Professional Golfers Association.

RETIREMENT PLANS To stay in Brookings, spending moretime on the golf course, traveling, and working around the house.

THE BOOHER FILE

Today’s athletes, male and female, arebigger, stronger, and faster than theywere in 1967, when Jim Booher beganas athletic trainer at SDSU.

But the challenge to produce peakathletic performance also makesathletes more susceptible to injuries,Booher says. “The overuse injuries wesee today we weren’t seeing back then,”the hall of fame trainer says in aninterview during his final year at State.

In the 1960s and ’70s, “most athleteswere in-season athletes. They mightwork out some on their own, but therewasn’t this intense off-season training,”he recalls.

Booher isn’t critical of the increasedtraining; the results speak for themselves.But it does point to the need for bettertraining room facilities.

In his early days, the training roomfeatured a taping table, a whirlpool,cabinets, a counter, and a sink. Today, thesquare footage and equipment has grownand a rehab unit has been developed.

Rehab is the step between treatingan injured athlete and getting him backto working out with the strength andconditioning coach.

SDSU’s rehab unit, located in aformer racquetball room in the HPERCenter, will be housed in the Dykhouse

Student-Athlete Center when it opensnext fall. Treadmills, bicycles, therabandtubes, mini-tramps, and lifting machinesare used to restore ailing athletes.

As a trainer, Booher says he hasenjoyed the challenge of figuring out“what would work out best to get thatathlete back into productivity.”

Then, “there’s no better feeling thanstanding on the football field Saturdayafternoon when all the preparation is doneand all the athletes are performing,” he adds.

DAVE GRAVES

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER COMES WITH A PRICE

ABOVE RIGHT: Jim Booher with his wife, Kathy, at their Lake Campbellhome. In the background are Christmas wood carvings done by Booher.

If the fall season is any indication, the SDSU men’s golf team hasplenty to look forward to for the 2009 spring season. After notwinning a tournament in their first four years of being a DivisionI program, the Jacks claimed three first-place finishes in five

tournaments on their fall 2008 schedule.Leading the charge were seniors Trent Peterson, Geoff Mead, Tim

Kalil; and juniors Kyle Vandervoort and Justin Jenkins. Recordingthe scores with a smile on his face was Jared Baszler, elevated to full-time coaching status this season after serving as a part-time coachthe previous five years.

“We knew we had the talent to do this, but didn’t know it wouldgo this well,” says Baszler, whose team topped the field at the FairwayClub Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska; the Cleveland State Invitationalin Avon, Ohio; and the Santa Clara Invitational in San Jose, California.

“We had the pieces . . . just had to put them together,” he adds.“Thankfully, that’s what happened.”

SDSU takes its momentum into the spring schedule that culminateswith The Summit League championships April 27-28 in Kansas City.

The Jacks are ranked among the top-100 teams in the nation,which is considered a “benchmark in college golf,” according toBaszler, whose team is listed eighty-sixth.

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DRIVINGTO A NEW LEVELJacks look to take fall momentum into spring season

Seeking a national berthThe conference champion automatically qualifies for the NCAAregional and from there it’s on to the NCAA Division I Tournamentin Toledo, Ohio. If the Jacks win the league crown, “things are takencare of,” notes Baszler, who points to another possibility.

“If we can improve our ranking we have an opportunity to get anat-large berth in the NCAA regional,” he says. “The last team to getin last year was seventy-third so I feel we have a decent shot.”

Peterson likes the odds, too. A senior biology major from Eagan,Minnesota, he recorded four top-three finishes and was second threetimes during the fall campaign.

“My goal for every tournament is to shoot under par and help theteam,” he says. “We are really looking forward to the conferencetournament.

“We feel that we’re one of the top teams in the conference,” headds. “We had a very successful fall, beating some of the best teamsin the country.”

Peterson, who won the Minnesota State High Schoolchampionship as a senior and was named a Cleveland All-AmericaScholar Athlete last year, is considering dental school aftergraduation in May. He has not missed playing in a tournament sincearriving as a freshman.

“There aren’t a lot of people who get that opportunity in collegegolf,” points out Baszler, who worked for a software developmentcompany in Brookings until August 1 when he took full control ofthe golf program.

“When Trent came in he was far and away our best player. I knewhe was going to play right away and has certainly been our mainstayever since,” he adds.

Growing success storyHaving Baszler full time falls in line with a growing Jackrabbit golfprogram that is getting a nice return on a minimal investment.

Up until this year, 25 percent of one scholarship ($12,000) wasdivided up between ten team members. The program will increase totwo scholarships next year, followed by two-and-one-halfscholarships in two years. In three years, the program is projected toreceive three-and-a-quarter scholarships.

As for the competition and perks? Well, they are in stark contrastfrom the Division II era, according to Baszler, who grew up in DeSmet, attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, and worked at theBrookings Country Club starting when he was sixteen, which led tohis connection to SDSU.

“Every facet of the competition, from tournaments to travel, isn’tcomparable,” he says. “We used to drive to places. Now we fly andplay against some of the best teams on the best courses the countryhas to offer.”

The same goes for the players, too, who get a big boost competingin American Junior Golf Association summer tournaments in highschool. And, they enhance their skill level even more competing inamateur summer tournaments in college.

“Just like in the other sports, we are getting a way different caliberof student-athletes than we used to,” adds Baszler. “The talent levelhas gone way up.”

KYLE JOHNSON

WINTER 2009 19

“JUST LIKE IN THE OTHER SPORTS, WE’RE GETTING A WAY DIFFERENT CALIBER OF STUDENT-ATHLETES

THAN WE USED TO. THE TALENT LEVEL HAS GONE WAY UP.”

HEAD GOLF COACH JARED BASZLER

ABOVE AND LEFT: Trent Peterson, a senior from Eagan, Minnesota,practices his game at Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings last fall. Hisconsistent play and developing skills has helped raise the level of histeammates’ performance.

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History comes to South Dakota in March and SDSU isleading the moment. NCAA Division I postseason actionhits the state for the first time when Sioux Falls hosts theSummit League Basketball Tournament March 7-10 at the

Sioux Falls Arena.The event consists of fourteen games over four days with the men’s

and women’s champions earning an automatic berth in the NCAATournament. The men’s final will be aired on ESPN2 and thewomen’s title game on ESPNU.

“The people of Sioux Falls and the state of South Dakota aretremendously excited about the Summit League and the firstDivision I basketball tournament ever held in the state,” says MikeSullivan, executive director of the Sioux Falls Sports Authority, whichis cosponsoring the tournament with Sanford/First Premier Bank.

“We are looking forward to hosting the Summit League and thefine universities that make up the league,” he adds.

Tickets have been on sale since August 28 and so far about 2,500all-session reserved tickets have been sold; that’s twice as many all-session reserved passes as were sold all together for last year’stournament, which was held for the fourth year in a row in Tulsa,Oklahoma—home of fellow Summit League member Oral Roberts.

“Ticket sales are going very well,” says SDSU Assistant AthleticDirector-Ticket Operations Christi Williams. “Having a Division Itournament is such a wonderful opportunity for our student-athletes,our fans, and the whole state of South Dakota. The people of SiouxFalls are doing an outstanding job in hosting a first-class tournament.”

Creating a connection to SDSUThe Jackrabbits will be on somewhat familiar ground. They competedin the Arena many times as a North Central Conference school,although not recently. The men have played only one time there sinceleaving Division II, while the women haven’t seen action in the placesince moving to Division I.

However, being eligible to advance to the NCAA championshipsfor the first time does mean history is in the making for both programsalong with showcasing the excitement of Division I basketball tocasual fans across the state.

“Hopefully, that type of fan will become more connected to SDSUand The Summit League,” says SDSU women’s coach AaronJohnston. “Hosting the tournament in Sioux Falls will be a greatsporting event for the entire state. Having our home fans pulling forthe Jackrabbits will be a big advantage for the team.”

The fact the Jacks aregetting their first crack atqualifying for the NCAAfield is a “very big deal,”according to SDSU men’s coach Scott Nagy.

“The players know they are basically three home games away frombeing in the NCAA Tournament and that should provide them with agreat deal of motivation,” he says. “It helps with recruiting, too, becausepotential recruits know this (tournament) is an advantage for us.

“It’s great for our fans to be able to watch high-level collegebasketball, not only our teams but all the teams from the league,”adds Nagy. “We couldn’t be more pleased that The Summit Leaguehas chosen Sioux Falls for the conference tournament.”

And, it’s not a one year deal either with Sioux Falls selected tohost the 2010 tournament March 6-9.

Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple calls Sioux Falls “ahuge college basketball area” that supports basketball at the NCAADivision I and II levels, and the NAIA.

“There’s just a lot of interest in college basketball, men and women,in that region,” he says. “By bringing the tournament to Sioux Falls,we think we can create a regional event with a great deal of appeal.”

KYLE JOHNSON

All-session reserved tickets for the Summit League Basketball Tournament are $90 and $75 forgeneral admission. Only a limited number of tickets remain available in the 6,300-seat building.Single-game tickets are on sale now, according to Sioux Falls Arena officials. Reserved and generaladmission tickets for all sessions can be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, andthe Sioux Falls Arena Box Office. For ticket information call (605) 367-8460.

ticketson sale

SIOUX FALLS ARENA TO HOSTSUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENTJacks set to showcase Division I basketball to state

After serving SDSU for nearly three decades, Fred Oien hasannounced his retirement as director of athletics.

His legacy will go down as the individual who helped spearheadthe movement from Division II to Division I. Under his watch, the Jackrabbits achieved many remarkable things and have givenJackrabbit fans a reason to walk tall and hold their heads high.

He will be remembered as one of the great athletics directors ofSDSU and will be likened with the names of Stan Marshall, JackFrost, Harry Forsyth, and the other great visionaries that set thegroundwork for today’s success stories.

Perhaps one question remains: What was Dr. Oien’s number oneaccomplishment in his tenure at the SDSU?

Debating his best accomplishment is like choosing your favoriteflavor of SDSU ice cream—nearly impossible to choose and withseemingly endless great options.

Some may argue that Dr. Oien’s most coveted accomplishment would be the 2,500-plus victoriesthat the athletic teams chalked up under the direction of the coaches he hired.

Staff members may argue that his smile while walking down the hallways of the HPER Center iswhat was most special.

Long-time fans might treasure the ten North Central Conference all-sport titles. Jackrabbit newbie’s might hold dearest in their hearts the recent NCAA postseason appearances by

the volleyball and soccer teams. How about the nineteen NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients or the thirty-three CoSIDA

Academic All-America recipients? The numerous academic awards—including the women’s basketball team’s three straight national

team titles for grade point average? Title IX proponents may argue that reinstating women’s golf or women’s tennis was Dr. Oien’s most

significant feat. How about adding women’s soccer in 2000 or adding women’s equestrian in 2004? One could say the facilities upgrades had the largest impact or tripling scholarship offerings for

women’s athletics would rank amongst the best. Okay, you get the point.The list of achievements goes on and on, but possibly most notable is the fact that Oien maintained

that all focus must remain on the student-athletes and that SDSU athletics remain a premier student-centered collegiate athletic program. He has served many roles for SDSU, including golf coach, associate professor, research coordinator,

ticket manager, business manager, department head of physical education, and ringleader of the entireathletics show. His commitment to the University runs deep, and his impact will be felt by all futureJackrabbits. His stories are endless and his mind serves as a vault of Jackrabbit knowledge. Not surprisingly, his

stories all circle back to common themes that are recognized by those that have worked under him andby Jackrabbit fans far and wide. Oien stressed the importance of sportsmanship, honesty, equity, academic integrity, fiscal integrity,

social responsibility, and what it means to wear the yellow and blue. He preached that student-athletesshould be passionate; that they should be relentless; and that they should be champions. One of the truest Jackrabbits and a special piece of history, we salute you, Dr. Oien. Congratulations

and best wishes!Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.

SDSU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT STAFF

Hats off to Dr. Fred Oien

It’s often said that what goes around, comes around. I mustsay it’s both fun and rewarding to witness firsthand how generosity exudes within the Jackrabbit family. The first people that naturally come to mind when we talk

about giving are those members of the Jackrabbit Club that goabove and beyond their personal lives to donate finances insome shape or form to help SDSU athletics. SDSU’s leadership uses these resources in their mission to

give student-athletes the best possible experience—both on andoff the field of competition—and to develop individuals intolifelong champions—to be PASSIONATE; to be RELENT-LESS; to be CHAMPIONS. The munificence and commitment of those donors to the

University allow SDSU to compete amongst the nation’s greatest—academically, athletically, socially, in research, and

in creating tomorrow’s leaders. The young men and women who benefit from donor generosity aresome of the brightest and best student-athletes that exist, and we’re proud to call them Jackrabbits.In addition to those that are gracious enough to give financially, we are also blessed to have

individuals that commit their lives to the betterment of the University. Ranging from professors to the Board of Regents and from alumni to undergrads, SDSU is lucky

to have advocates that fit the Midwest stereotype. Y’all know ’em . . . those people that possess anever-quit work ethic, that go above and beyond, that do the little things for others, the genuineindividuals that do the right things for the right reasons. As an employee of the University, it’s pretty special that SDSU is one of those “right reasons.”

It’s a place where high morals are expected, an avenue by which lifelong friends are made, aUniversity with big promise and a bold vision, and a place you can call your own. We thank you—the best fans around—for your support of the University. As the giving snowballs, we can see things come full circle as our student-athletes pour their

hearts into your program. Going the extra mile and shedding blood, sweat, and tears while wearinga Jackrabbit uniform is something that we can all admire. More impressively, however, is that the buck doesn’t stop there. The giving these young men and

women do outside of athletic competition and the commitment they make to others is what reallymakes them champions. Volunteering for Special Olympics, visiting area retirees or elementary students, working for

the children’s hospital, helping to serve a warm meal to those in need, and numerous other acts of kindness are all everyday occurrences and serve as a way for Jackrabbit students to give back. To have such selfless and kind-hearted student-athletes is truly a blessing. It becomes clear that the Jackrabbit family helps to make our world go round. Thanks kindly for

both the “go-arounds” and the “come-arounds.” You make it a great day to be a Jackrabbit.

Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks. Mark BurgersASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Contributions of Jackrabbit familygoes full circle

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SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITYAthletics DepartmentBox 2820Brookings, SD 57007-1497

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RABBIT TRACKSSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

WOMEN’S ATHLETICSFROM INTRAMURALS TO TITLE IX

VOLUME 14 NO. 1 \ WINTER 2009

ABOVE: Dana, LaDawn, Alana and Dan Dykhouse attended the September 13, 2008, groundbreaking for the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center just north ofCoughlin-Alumni Stadium. The training, academic, and office complex is slated for completion in August.