RABBIT TRACKSSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

FACILITY FLASHBACK

VOLUME 16 NO. 1 \ SPRING 2011

HUETHER FIELD AND THEJACKRABBIT SOFTBALL STADIUM

Greetings to the Jackrabbit family!We have had another great year, and I can really feel the momentum of our successas a program and a University. As I reflect on this year, here are some noteworthyachievements of our student-athletes and our department:

• Our student-athletes have a cumulative GPA of 3.21. In the fall we had sixty-twoperfect 4.0s, 172 at 3.5 or higher and 310 with a 3.0 or better. Perhaps moreimpressive is that we are spread over seventy majors, with many in biology,engineering, pharmacy, nursing, and economics.

• SDSU won the Summit League Academic Achievement Award for the 2009-10 academic year. Football received asecond consecutive Missouri Valley Team Academic Award.

• Our men’s cross country team brought home a second consecutive men’s Summit League Championship and RodDeHaven was named Coach of the Year.

• Volleyball and soccer qualified for the Summit League Tournament. Kelli Fiegen was named the Summit Player of theYear in volleyball and Danni Healy was named the Summit Offensive Player of the Year in soccer.

• Ten Jackrabbit football players were named to the All-Missouri Valley Football Conference Team. Kyle Minett and RyanMcKnight were All-Americans.

• Women’s swimming placed second and men’s swimming placed third (an all-time high) at the Summit LeagueChampionships. Brad Erickson was named Women’s Coach of the Year.

• Women’s basketball won the Summit League Tournament and made a third straight appearance in the NCAATournament. SDSU is the only school in NCAA history to make the tournament three times in its first three years of eligibility.

• Men’s basketball had nineteen wins, its best Division I showing.• Men’s indoor track and field placed second (an all-time high) at the Summit League Championships.• The baseball team had four players establish new school records: Billy Stitz (most hits), Jesse Sawyer (most home runs),

Trever Vermeulen (most saves), and Joel Blake (most doubles).• Jackrabbit student-athletes spearheaded and/or contributed to more than forty-five community-service activities during

the past year.• We rebranded the Stan Marshall Scholarship Auction and secured a matching donation to generate some $300,000 for

athletic scholarships.• We partnered with Learfield Sports to complete a ten-year, $13 million contract for exclusive marketing rights as well as

adding six new radio affiliates and six new corporate sponsors.• We started the Letterwinners Club to recognize and connect with former student-athletes.• We completed the Athletic Facilities Master Plan (October 2010) and completed a “key projects” update to the master

plan (March 2011).

These are a few of the highlights from the past year. We are continually making plans for the future to ensure the successof our program for years to come.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you, the best fans in the nation, for your support of Jackrabbit athletics. There are countlessnumbers of people who are contributing to the success of our wonderful student-athletes on a daily basis. Our future isbright because of you! We are proud to represent SDSU and the state of South Dakota!

Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.

JUSTIN SELLDIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

Reflections Reveal Vast Success

Jackrabbit shortstop Ashley Durazo, left,completes a play at the Jackrabbit SoftballStadium. Durazo, a senior from Mission Hills,California, was a second-team, all-conferencepick last year and is leading the team in almostevery offensive statistic this season. All herhome games are played on campus. Thathasn’t always been the case. See page 18 for a history on the team’s home fields.

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.

1450 copies printed by the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State of South Dakota. PE069 5/11

FACILITY FLASHBACK — A SERIESAthletic facilities then and now, and plans for the future.

PRESIDENT David L. ChicoineDIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Justin SellSENIOR ASSOCIATE AD/EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Leon CostelloASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, SPORTS INFORMATION Jason HoveSDSU SPORTS INFORMATION

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Ryan SweeterEDITOR Andrea Kieckhefer, University RelationsCONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dave Graves,

Dana Hess, Kyle Johnson, Cindy Rickeman, University Relations

DESIGNER Nina Schmidt, University RelationsPHOTOGRAPHER Eric Landwehr,

University Relations

Athletic Department South Dakota State UniversityBox 2820, Brookings, SD 570071-866-GOJACKSFax: 605-688-5999www.gojacks.com

2 WHY GO ELSEWHERE?Brookings High School grads say“There’s no place like home” when itcomes to choosing a college.

5 JACKS ATTEND SPORTSENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT

Alexandra Hoffman and Teddy Shonkaattend a star-studded career fair in L.A.

6 FOOD FIGHT!Student-athletes go to the public forhelp with their food fight and get a piein the face in return.

7 COACH SPOTLIGHT:RITCHIE PRICE

Baseball mentor developed a blue-collar reputation while playing for hisfather at the University of Kansas.

8 SARGENT SETS SHOOTING RECORDS

Clint Sargent breaks the career three-point mark set by his assistant coach.

10 SEAN BURNS THROWING RECORDS

Former high school soccer goalie eyes200-mark in the hammer throw.

12 BEHIND THE SCENES: TIM DEWITT

After twenty-six years, equipmentmanager has become a fixture.

14 WHERE ARE THEY NOW?THE EBNETS

Sisters Rose, Annie, and Joan carve aunique spot in SDSU volleyball history.

16 FACILITY FLASHBACK:HUETHER FIELD

In a new location, the campus field stillbears the former coach’s name.

18 FACILITY FLASHBACK:SOFTBALL COMPLEX

Since 2007, softball has been back oncampus, and in a prime location.

20 DONOR SPOTLIGHT:O’CONNERS

Ryan O’Connor and his father, Bob,are funding a wrestling scholarship.

22 SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT:DAKTRONICS

The $3 million scoreboard packagebrings fans more than just the score.

ABOUT THE COVER

CONTENTSRABBIT TRACKSSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

VOLUME 16 NO. 1 \ SPRING 2011

16

226

STAYING HOME

RABBIT TRACKS2

Brookings is the fourth-largest city in South Dakota and home tothe largest university in the state.

For city high school graduates seeking to extend their educationand athletic dreams, that kind of size means social amenities are inplace like shopping, dining, and entertainment.

Of course, the most important is obtaining a quality degree andcompeting athletically at a high-level Division I institution.

With so many superlatives, more and more grads are electing tostay home. After all, why go anywhere else when everything theyneed is right here in their own backyard?

There are currently seventeen former Brookings Bobcats on theSDSU campus who are enjoying the comforts of home. What followsis a sampling of the benefits they are enjoying:

Why did you want to stay in Brookings and attendcollege at SDSU as opposed to going elsewhere? Whatmotivated you to play for the Jackrabbits?

BRAYDEN CARLSON: “In comparison with the other colleges I waslooking at, SDSU had many advantages. It’s a Division I college witha historically successful basketball program that is on the rise. Theyalso had a great coach, great facilities, and tremendous academics. Aunique advantage SDSU had was being in my hometown. In the end,I was motivated by the challenge that Division I athletics had to offer.”

ELLIE HENDRICKS: “SDSU was a natural fit for me. I have grown upwatching Jackrabbit athletic events with my family—swimming,football, basketball, baseball, track—and I had always looked up toSDSU athletes with great respect. SDSU has a great pharmacy schooland I was motivated by the opportunity to pursue a doctor ofpharmacy degree while competing in swimming at the college level.”

ALEX PARKER: “The chance to compete and win at a high level wasthe first draw for me to stay in Brookings. The football team washaving good success since moving to Division I, and I wanted to bepart of it.

“Also, having my dad (Jay, 1984-’87) play here made me want todo the same. During the recruiting process you get the opportunityto meet many coaches, and there are no other coaches like CoachStig and his staff. You won’t find a better administration and coachingstaff around.”

MASON WINTERBOER:“It would have beenhard to play footballsomewhere elsehaving grown upnever missing a homegame, tailgating in TheBackyard, Hobo Dayparades, and, in myyouth, being a JuniorJack. It only madesense to trade in my Bobcat Red and Black and put on the Yellowand Blue that I grew up loving.

“I was still considering all my options, looking at a few differentplaces, when I sat down in a one-on-one meeting with Coach LukeMeadows and he asked me, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat if you finished yourfootball career at the place where it started, playing all your homegames at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium? Not many players have thatchoice.’ I remember thinking this is really where I am supposed tobe, and now here I am pursuing my dream and loving being aJackrabbit everyday.”

What are the advantages of staying close to home for college?

BRAYDEN CARLSON: “The support I receive from my family couldnot be matched if I went to college away from Brookings. For me,it’s a quick trip home to spend time with my family. Being with myfamily refreshes my body, mind, and spirit. My family’s supportkeeps me going during hard times throughout the year.”

Why goelsewhere?

Brookings grads seeadvantages of staying

home for college

“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD TOPLAY FOOTBALL SOMEWHEREELSE HAVING GROWN UPNEVER MISSING A HOME GAME,TAILGATING IN THE BACKYARD,HOBO DAY PARADES, AND, IN MYYOUTH, BEING A JUNIOR JACK.”

MASON WINTERBOER

BRAYDEN CARLSON(basketball, redshirt freshman)

ELLIE HENDRICKS(swimming, junior)

SPRING 2011 3

ELLIE HENDRICKS: “South Dakota schools offer a great educationfor the cost, and many out-of-state students come here because ofthe high-quality education and great value.

“Another advantage is having a close connection to communitymembers outside of campus. I have been involved in teaching andcoordinating a swimming lessons program in Brookings, and I’vereally enjoyed staying connected with those parents and children inthe Brookings community. Community service projects I participatedin as a Jackrabbit athlete and Student-Athlete Advisory Committeemember are extremely meaningful and enjoyable because I havepersonal connections to people and organizations we support.”

COURTNEY HIGGINS: “Some of the advantages are getting to go tochurch with my family on Sundays, going home for a meal or laundryif I want to, and having a short drive home whenever I want to govisit my family.”

MASON WINTERBOER: “I go home a couple times during the week toplay with my dogs, and best of all, I get a good home-cooked freemeal. Although it’s sad to admit, my mom spoils me and does mylaundry every week. I am twenty years old and still have never donemy own laundry. I think it’s just her way of making me come homea few hours a week so she gets to see me, which I don’t mind at all.”

What are the disadvantages of staying in Brookingsfor college?

COURTNEY HIGGINS: “For me, there are no disadvantages of stayingin Brookings for college, I love it!”

ALEX PARKER: “There really isn’t a disadvantage. Sometimes youwonder how you would react going to school in a different stateand not being so close to home.”

MASON WINTERBOER: “One disadvantage is going to Wal-Martwith teammates who are not from Brookings and hear them say

they will never go there again with you because they don’t likehaving to stop and talk to twenty different people when you arethere just to buy toothpaste.”

Do you feel staying in Brookings to attend SDSU willmotivate Brookings High School students to also stayin town and someday compete for the Jackrabbitsand earn a degree from SDSU?

BRAYDEN CARLSON: “Because of the success of SDSU’s student-athletes who are from Brookings, I do believe it will motivate morestudents from Brookings to come to SDSU. I believe that manystudents from Brookings High School will realize that there iseverything they need to succeed right in their backyard.”

ELLIE HENDRICKS: “I have shared my positive experience at SDSUwith many students starting to look into colleges. Several of myformer teammates have been more interested in SDSU because ofmy involvement in Jackrabbit athletics. I have shared with themhow it really is a great experience to stay in Brookings to attendSDSU and still be able to have an entirely different experience thanin high school.”

COURTNEY HIGGINS: “By seeing Brookings athletes playing for theJacks and being successful, they’ll be more interested in staying hometo do the same.”

ALEX PARKER: “It helps having Brookings kids stay in town and compete for theJacks. I remember growing up and watching Chris Wagner, ChrisDoblar, Nash Simet, Jordan Paula, and Tyler Duffy in high school,and then watching them have great success for the Jacks.

“Seeing that, you can’t help but want to follow and do the same.Going to SDSU you can play at a high level and get a greateducation. I think that’s enough to sell a kid to stay in Brookings.”

COURTNEY HIGGINS(soccer, sophomore)

ALEX PARKER(football, redshirt freshman)

MASON WINTERBOER(football, redshirt freshman)

STAYING HOME

RABBIT TRACKS4

By staying in Brookings for college, do you feel it affectsyour fan following in one way or another?

BRAYDEN CARLSON: “Since the SDSU student-body is so diverse, I actually believe that there is no difference in fan following withstudents. However, I do believe that SDSU’s adult fan base is moreaware of Brookings athletes attending SDSU. Regardless, if you are asuccessful student-athlete at SDSU, people will notice.”

ELLIE HENDRICKS: “I have several family members and friendswho are consistent followers of SDSU swimming, and the otherathletics programs due to my involvement with the team. My parents,younger sisters, and other friends are excited to have me here inBrookings, where they can easily attend all my home swim meets.”

COURTNEY HIGGINS: “I think SDSU has good support from thefans overall, but it’s definitely nice that fans know who you are fromhigh school and may have seen you compete before.”

ALEX PARKER: “The fan following at Brookings High School wastremendous when I played, and to have the same fans keep cheeringyou on in college is great. It’s great seeing those familiar faces atJacks events after growing up and having them support you at allthe high school sporting events.”

MASONWINTERBOER: “Thefan following is a littlebit larger than sayyour typical kid notfrom Brookings.Younger kids in thecommunity came toall my high schoolgames and know Iplay for State, andwhen I see them outin the community they almost always come up and ask all sorts ofquestions about being a Jackrabbit. I can only hope that I am apositive role model to them.”

Generally speaking, how rewarding and gratifying isit for you to stay in Brookings and be enrolled in thelargest college in the state and be a Division I athleteat the same time?

BRAYDEN CARLSON: “Attending school here is most gratifying forme because I can continue to build old relationships with friendsand family, find new friends and acquaintances, work for a degree ata well-respected university, and reach goals athletically all at SDSU.

“When I was looking at schools two years ago, SDSU became anopportunity that included great challenges in the future, while allowingme to build off of relationships and achievements of the past.”

ELLIE HENDRICKS: “The College of Pharmacy is one of thehighest-rated pharmacy schools in the nation, and I am honored tobe a professional student, and at the same time, swim with aDivision I athletic program. I have enjoyed growing up inBrookings, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue myeducation in this great community as a student-athlete.”

COURTNEY HIGGINS: “SDSU is a great University to attend andcompete for. It is very gratifying to be able to play Division Iathletics in the small-town atmosphere that I have grown up in.”

COMPILED BY KYLE JOHNSON

JUMPING TO THEJACKRABBITS FROMBROOKINGS HIGH SCHOOLMEN’S BASKETBALLBrayden Carlson, guard, Redshirt freshman, Economics

FOOTBALLTyler Duffy, running back, Senior, Electrical EngineeringAlex Parker, offensive line, Redshirt freshman, Pre-economicsMason Winterboer, running back, Redshirt freshman, Pre-economics

WRESTLINGTyler Palmer, 149 pounds, Sophomore, Nursing

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELDEvan Bunkers, sprints, Junior, General StudiesJustin Carson, sprints/hurdles, Freshman, HPERDustin Gibbons, sprints, Junior, Mechanical EngineeringRyan Jorgenson, jumps, Freshman, MathematicsRyan Schaefer, pole vault, Freshman, Pre-Nursing

WOMEN’S GOLFMorgan Fitts, Sophomore, Psychology

SOCCERCourtney Higgins, forward, Sophomore, Health Promotion

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVINGEllie Hendricks, freestyle, sprints, Junior, PharmacyMelissa Mielke, distance freestyle, Sophomore, Pre-medicine

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELDAshley Odegaard, Jumps, Freshman, Consumer Affairs

VOLLEYBALLErinn Osborne, outside hitter, Freshman, General StudiesEllyce Youngren, outside hitter, Junior, Journalism

“SDSU IS A GREAT UNIVERSITYTO ATTEND AND COMPETE FOR.IT IS VERY GRATIFYING TO BEABLE TO PLAY DIVISION IATHLETICS IN THE SMALL-TOWNATMOSPHERE THAT I’VE GROWNUP IN.” COURTNEY HIGGINS

SPRING 2011 5

SUMMIT EXPERIENCE

Sports,entertainmentsummit eye-openingexperiencefor two Jacks

Star-studded isn’t usually a word used todescribe a career fair. But that’s just oneword for the inaugural NCAA Sports and

Entertainment Summit held in Los Angelesin March.

Two of SDSU’s student-athletes wereamong the 100 selected from across the nationto attend the event where professionalsinvolved in sports marketing and events,social media, sportswriting, television andradio sports reporting, and the music andmotion picture industries spoke about therealities of what it takes to break into a careerin sports and entertainment.

Senior swimmer Alexandra Hoffman andjunior wide receiver Teddy Shonka attendedthe weekend event, chosen based on thestrength of the resumes they submitted. Theycame away enlightened about the possibilitiesfor their future careers.

“I learned important lessons aboutnetworking, interview skills, resume tips, andlanding the job of your dreams,” Hoffman says.“It was one of my most treasured memoriesas a student-athlete at SDSU.”

The summit got high marks from Shonkaas well.

“It was great meeting so many peoplewho are just like you from all over thecountry,” Shonka says. “I made 100 new bestfriends there.”

Offering guidance to the student-athleteswas a Who’s Who of sports and entertainmentfigures including ESPN correspondentShelley Smith, Sports Illustrated senior writerLee Jenkins, music producer Harvey Mason,motion picture executive Shannon Gans ofNew Deal Studios, and ESPN columnist J.A. Adande.

With the NCAA picking up the student-athletes’ expenses for the summit, they werefree to concentrate on finding out as muchas they could about careers in sports andentertainment.

Career-shaping messages“The thing that really resonated with me wasto find out what you are passionate about inlife, and then find a way to make a career outof it,” says Hoffman, a former Miss SouthDakota who’s majoring in broadcastjournalism and sociology.

Shonka, a health promotions major withminors in business and Spanish, was assurprised as he was delighted by the way thesummit put a detour in his career path.

He was drawn to Mason, a formerstudent-athlete who played on Arizona’s 1988basketball team that made it to the FinalFour. During his music career, Masonproduced the soundtrack for the motionpicture Dreamgirls and wrote and producedsongs for Aretha Franklin, Elton John,Whitney Houston, and Justin Timberlake.

After a standout collegiate basketballcareer, Mason was looking forward toplaying in the NBA when an injury changedhis plans.

“He kind of fell into the music industryand worked his way up,” Shonka says. “Nowit’s exactly what I want to do. Something inthe entertainment field.”

If Shonka has his way, he’ll be interningfor Mason this summer, meeting people inthe music industry and developing contacts.

Community service a highlightIncluded in the summit’s packed agenda of meetings and workshops was acommunity-service project that had student-athletes working alongside urban youngpeople as they made bicycles forunderprivileged children.

Organizers had the student-athletes andthe youngsters play a game to break the ice.Shonka admits to being intimidated at first.

“Half the kids were bigger than us,” saysShonka, who’s listed in the Jacks’ mediaguide as 6-1, 195.

Once the project started, however, bondswere quickly formed.

“I feel like I made an impact on them,”Shonka says. “It was one of the bestexperiences of my life.”

Hoffman agrees.“In my opinion, the best event was the

volunteer opportunity that we participatedin,” Hoffman says. “It was an eye-openingexperience and something I will never forget.”

DANA HESS

Alexandra Hoffman, center, joins with otherathletes at a community-service project at theLos Angeles Expo Center. The athletes playedgames with kids from Los Angeles and thesurrounding area, and then formed teams tobuild bicycles for underprivileged kids.

RABBIT TRACKS6

COMMUNITY SERVICE

to win,” says Fritz, a senior health promotionsmajor from Colman.

Collecting the equivalent of more thanfour tons of food took quite a bit of effort.During a two-week period, January 18-31,collections took place:• At men’s and women’s basketball games.• During door-to-door collections in the

Brookings community conducted bystudent-athletes.

to pie their teachers and some of our SDSUathletes and coaches in the face.”

For Fritz and the council’s other members,a pie in the face is a small price to pay forknowing that hungry people in the communityare benefiting from their efforts.

“The food we gather helps people righthere in our own community,” Fritz says. “It’s agood way for us to give back to our fans andlocal supporters.”

DANA HESS

Student-athletes helpthe hungry with

Here’s some good advice: If you’re everthinking about starting a food fightlike the one in Animal House, look

around carefully to make sure that Jill Fritzisn’t in the room.

When it comes to food fights, Fritz measuresher arsenal in tons. That’s right, tons.

As a track athlete and president of theStudent-Athlete Advisory Council, Fritz isleading SDSU’s effort to repeat as championof the Summit League Food Fight.

In the Food Fight, each of the SummitLeague’s ten schools has a designated timeduring the basketball season to collectdonations for a local food bank. SDSU wonlast year’s contest by collecting nearly 6,900pounds of food for the Brookings Food Pantry.

According to Laurie Melum, assistantathletic director for academic advising,collections in the Food Fight can take twoforms: nonperishable food items or monetarydonations.

For this year’s contest, student-athletescollected 3,698.2 pounds of food and $1,794.81in donations. In the contest, every $5 counts asthirteen pounds of food, so those donationswere the equivalent of 4,666.51 pounds of food.

The 8,364.7 pounds collected this year issignificantly more than last year.

Part of SDSU’s ongoing success may be dueto the nature of the people doing the collecting.

“I think that with all of us athletes’competitive nature, it gave us the motivation

FOODFIGHT!

Golf Coach Jared Baszler takes a pie in the face. Volleyball player Emily Palmer (Page 1) wasamong those who also took a shellacking with whipped cream for a good cause.

• At Hillcrest Elementary School, whereparticipating students were awarded freetickets to a basketball game.

• During an Athletic Department staff contest.• At a Fast Break Basketball Clinic for younger

children where the price of admission was acan of food.

• At Mickelson Middle School, wherewinners in a homeroom contest won apizza party and an ice cream party.

“After the competition,” Fritz says, “theythrow a pep rally and the winning class gets

Baseball is a sport top-heavy with statistics. With a player’s everyaction recorded in a box score or a record book, over time thenumbers can add up to a definitive portrait.

Consider the University of Kansas baseball career of Ritchie Price,the Jacks’ head baseball coach. Price was all over the Jayhawks’ recordbook, setting career highs in games played, 255; at bats, 1,022; hits, 312;runs scored, 204; and sacrifices, 35.

Two other numbers, however, add some clarity to Price’sstatistical portrait.

In a stat-happy sport like baseball, for some reason theNCAA doesn’t keep track of consecutive game streaks, butPrice’s 252 consecutive games played at shortstop is likelyamong the best in college baseball.

The other number that distinguishes Price is 53—hismost painful school record—the number of times in hiscollegiate career that he was hit by a pitch.

Price explains the numbers this way: “I’m a blue-collarguy. I learned to play through the injuries.”

That attitude is one that Price brought to his coachingcareer, hoping to instill it in his players. He found thatphilosophy isn’t a hard sell at SDSU.

“South Dakota State is the kind of school that attracts those kindsof kids, anyway,” Price says.

Following family lines to LawrenceFamily ties attracted Price to Kansas where his father, Ritch, was andstill is the coach. His younger brother, Ryne, a power-hitting utilityplayer, joined Price on the team. Ryne went on to play in the SanFrancisco Giants organization and currently plays professionally inAustralia. Their youngest brother, Robby, followed them to Kansasand now plays in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

Sons and a father on the same team can be a recipe for disaster,but Price calls his time in his father’s line-up “a positive experience.”

The shortstop’s ability on the field quieted any critics who mighthave wondered about favoritism.

“No one was asking, ‘Should he be playing?’” Price recalls.Displaying an aptitude for understatement he adds, “We had somesuccess as well.”

Price’s graduating class owns the most wins in Kansas historyincluding a Big 12 Conference title in 2006. Price was a four-time all-Big 12 selection and Baseball America designated him theconference’s top defensive shortstop in 2004.

While he was excelling as a player, Price was learning how to be acoach. From his father’s example, he learned the importance ofpatience and the value of a positive attitude.

“You have to stay positive,” Price says. “There’s so much failure inthis game.”

On to the minorsPrice’s stellar collegiate career led to another highlight, gettingdrafted by the New York Mets. He played rookie ball with theKingsport Mets of the Appalachian League before a stint with theClass A Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York – Penn League.

While in the minors, Price learned about another side of thegame he loves.

“It’s definitely a business,” Price says. “You’re paid to play.”More than just a fond memory from his playing days, Price’s

experience in the minors still serves him well.“I think it makes me a better coach,” Price says, noting that his

experience can allow him to prepare players for what they’llencounter in the minors.

As he heads into his third year as head coach, two of Price’splayers have already made the trip to the minors. Pitcher CalebThielbar was taken in 2009 by the Milwaukee Brewers and pitcherBlake Treinen was drafted in 2010 by the Florida Marlins.

As happy as Price was to be drafted, he harbored no expectationsabout a long career in the pros. He chose his career path when hewas 10 years old.

“I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a coach,” Price says.DANA HESS

SPRING 2011 7

COACH SPOTLIGHT

Ritchie Price makes a snow cone grab while playing for Kansas.

RITCHIE PRICEPrice’s playing days shapedapproach to coaching

Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Kansas Athletics.

Natural shooterSARGENTsets Jacks’ long-distance mark

The moment the ball ripped throughthe net in a career filled with a host ofsuccessful long-range bombs, Clint

Sargent instantly realized he had the record.The only problem was he had just a

second or two to savor the moment as hewent back on defense during SDSU’s 102-73rout of Summit League foe CentenaryFebruary 5 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“I knew I broke it, that was basically theextent of it,” says Sargent, recalling the nightwhen he became the Jackrabbits’ all-timechampion in three-point field goals made.Sargent, who finishes his career with 252three-pointers, surpassed the recordpreviously held by SDSU Assistant CoachAustin Hansen.

“Coach Hansen helpedme so much with myshooting since he’s beenhere, so I give a lot of thecredit to him,” says Sargent.“It’s quite an honor to have arecord like that and it meanseven more just because hehad it. I’ve been blessed towork with not just him, butthis entire coaching staff.”

Hansen, who works on allaspects of the game with theJacks’ perimeter players,notched 235 three-pointersfrom 1999 to 2003 whenSDSU was a Division II school in the oldNorth Central Conference.

“I think it’s kind of neat for Clint to breakthe record against some of the top teams inall of Division I in the country,” says Hansen.

“It says a lot about how good of a playerhe is and what he has been able to do againstthat type of competition.”

Sargent the one to do itHansen was an assistant coach at MinnesotaState-Mankato prior to SDSU, and hisrecruiting list included Sargent, who was

starring for Bishop Heelan High School inSioux City.

He says, without hesitation, that if he hadto pick someone to break his record, itwould be Sargent.

“Clint is very deserving of the record, andhe’s worked very hard for it,” cites Hansen,

who points to his growth as a player duringthe last four years.

“When he came in as a high school kid,he really didn’t understand the work ethicand commitment that it takes to be a greatplayer at this level.

RECORD SETTER

RABBIT TRACKS8

“Clint turned himself into a very goodcollege basketball player, and one of the all-time greats at SDSU through just his hard workand drive to become better,” Hansen adds.

A four-year starter, the 6-foot-4 native ofSouth Sioux City, Nebraska, stood the test oftime, missing only five games during hisSDSU career, that being as a sophomore witha sprained ankle.

“Clint’s one of the best shooters I’ve evercoached,” says Head Coach Scott Nagy. “He’sa tremendous player who has done it againstthe best competition SDSU has ever playedagainst.

“When you watch him shoot, he’s one ofthose guys where it looks just effortless. Itlooks like it’s going in.”

Continue career overseasWhile Sargent credits Hansen for impressingon him how to “find shots on the floor andways to be a better and smarter basketballplayer,” history indicates his work ethicduring the years has been the true source ofany achievement.

“It isn’t so much with my shootingtechnique, but a matter of finding a place toscore on the court,” he says. “I grew up in abasketball family so I’ve always been aroundthe game.

“As I grew up, I got stronger and developedmore of a jump shot. It evolved since I got tocollege because I’ve really put in a lot of timein my shooting and my game overall.”

Sargent will graduate in May with adegree in psychology. He eventually wouldlike to teach and coach basketball, but firsthe has his sights set on playing professionallyin a league overseas, pointing out, forexample, that Kai Williams, a formerteammate, is playing for a league in France.

“I’ve always thought that if there is anopportunity, I’d like to try it,” he says. “I haveto start the process of finding an agent forhelp in getting my name out there.”

According to Hansen, it’s a good niche fora program to bring in players who look toextend their playing careers beyond SDSU.

“It tells you that you have a pretty goodplayer, and I think Clint will have that

opportunity,” he says. “His game fits some ofthose international leagues, and I think hewill get a shot.”

Leaves on winning noteSargent not only leaves on a personal high,he was a key figure in leading SDSU to a 19-11 record, the most wins for the Jacks at theDivision I level and their first winningseason since making the move.

“It’s been a gradual building process anda learning experience,” he says. “We wentthrough some tough times, but we managedto keep it going. The program hasestablished a winning mentality.

“I’ve been very blessed that I ended up atSDSU. I have improved myself not only as a

basketball player, but also as a person, I’mthankful for Coach Nagy and what he’s beenable to do for me.

“I’m also thankful for this wholeUniversity because I feel everything is donethe right way,” adds Sargent. “There are somany good people—all the ones inadministration are so friendly—they lookout for the student-athletes, and for us, weare first in line.”

KYLE JOHNSON

SPRING 2011 9

SARGENT’SNUMBERS SPEAKFOR THEMSELVES• Finishes SDSU career with a record

252 three-pointers in 659 attempts, also a school record. His eighty-threethree-pointers this year is the second-best single-season mark behind AustinHansen’s eighty-five in 2003 and equaledby Andy Moeller in 2004.

• Ranks fifth all-time with 1,505 points,which is the most by any Jackrabbitplayer to score all their points at theDivision I level.

• Nationally this season, ranked thirty-seventh in three-pointers per game (2.7) and thirty-ninth in three-pointpercentage (.397).

• As a freshman, led the Jacks in assistswith eighty-one. Hit sixty-eight three-pointers as a sophomore, and as a junioragain made sixty-eight, while toppingthe 1,000-point mark and earning all-conference honors.

With Assistant Coach Austin Hansen, whose three-point record Sargent broke.

Tossing the record bookBurns hammers at state collegiate mark in his final season

RABBIT TRACKS10

On today’s college campus, video junkies are as common as theiPod. But there aren’t many video junkies like Sean Burns. For

starters, the senior health, physical education, and recreation majoris six-foot, eight-inches tall and weighs 311 pounds. Plus, you shouldsee the things he watches, like the world-class throwers from Europe.

Not many of his classmates get excited about watching YuriySedykh spin three times in the hammer throw circle.

Burns, however, “studies harder than anybody I’ve coached,” saysSDSU throwing coach Tyg Long. “It’s a good thing YouTube is freebecause Sean would have quite a bill. He doesn’t leave many stonesunturned when he is trying to learn about his event.”

His events are the hammer and weight throws and the shot put.In the weight throw, an indoor event, competitors grab a handle

that is attached by a six-inch chain to a thirty-pound weight thatlooks like an oversized shot put. His throw of 64-8 ¾ at VermillionJanuary 15 set a school and South Dakota collegiate record.

He upped the school mark to 65-7, reaching the distance twice intwo weeks at Ames, Iowa,—January 29 and February 12.

In the hammer throw, an outdoor event, competitors grab ahandle that is attached by a four-foot wire to a sixteen-pound shotput. Last spring, he won the hammer throw six times and broke theSDSU outdoor record five times, the final time being 188-9 at theSummit League championship.

In the shot put (sixteen pounds) his indoor mark is sixth inschool history and his outdoor mark ranks ninth.

Goals go beyond collegeHis favorite throw is the hammer throw, and his goals for his finalseason stretch the measuring tape. He wants to repeat as SummitLeague champion and place in the top twelve at the NCAA regionalmeet so he can compete at the NCAA national championships.

Distancewise, Burns wants to first break the 200-foot mark andthen top the state record of 215 feet held by Eric Flores.

Will he be able to add more than twenty-six feet to break the mark?If anybody would be able to offer an educated answer, it’s Coach

Long. He mentored Flores when the Custer thrower was at BlackHills State and now is in his second year at SDSU.

“I don’t know who is ultimately going to be the best. Sean iscatching up to him in a hurry. I would say even he is surprised howfast it is coming. This is an event that they say takes ten years to learn.Sean is really on year two of learning the technique of the event,”Long says.

When Burns’ throwing days are over at State, he hopes histhrowing days at State aren’t over.

Burns has applied for graduate school here and wants to be avolunteer coach, training and competing unattached in an effort to

RECORD SETTER

Sean Burns competes in the hammer throw (top) at the 2010 SummitLeague Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Toledo, Ohio, and inthe shot put at the SDSU Twilight meet in 2009 in Brookings.

CONFERENCE TRACK TO BE IN SIOUX FALLSSDSU, in conjunction with the Sioux Falls Sports Authority, will serveas hosts for the 2011 Summit League outdoor track and fieldchampionships May 12-14 at the Sanford Health Sports Complex’sLillibridge Track, which is the home track for the University of SiouxFalls and is located at the intersection of Cliff Avenue and 69th Street.

More than 350 student-athletes are expected to compete in thetrack and field championships as seven men’s squads and eightwomen’s teams will vie for titles in the three-day event. North Dakota State is the defending champion in both the men’s andwomen’s divisions.

“We are looking forward to hosting the Summit League Track andField Championships in Sioux Falls,” SDSU track and field coach

Rod DeHaven says. “It will feature some of the top athletes inDivision I track and field. Our student-athletes are anxious for theopportunity to compete for The Summit League championships onSouth Dakota soil.”

Because the event is the same weekend as the BrookingsMarathon, holding the event in Brookings would have created a motelroom conflict.

Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls was considered as a venue, butit also had a scheduling conflict and it lacked the javelin amenitiesrequired by NCAA Division I.

Ticket prices are $5 per day or $10 for all three days.

SPRING 2011 11

qualify for the USA Track and Fieldchampionships in 2012, which also will serveas the Olympic trials that year.

“That’s a far goal to shoot for,” he admits.

A soccer goalkeeper?But it’s not near as far as it was when heenrolled at State in fall 2006 from Rapid CityCentral, where he was on the basketball andtrack teams. His favorite sport was soccer.The Cobblers took advantage of his 6-8, 240-pound frame to guard the goal.

In track, he finished fourth at state in thediscus his senior year, but he didn’t havecollege track in his sights.

“My friends came here. (Jumper) BenJasinski said there were only a couplethrowers out and I should try out,” Burnsrecalls. Jessica Summerfield, the throwingcoach then, gave him permission to walk on“and I’ve been fighting for every foot I couldsince then,” he says.

His first year he was a smorgasbordthrower—trying a little of everything: shot,discus, hammer, javelin, and discus.

Combining strength,technique In 2008, his sophomore season, Burnsimproved his shot put by two feet and hisweight throw by twelve feet during theindoor season. But an injury kept him fromcompeting during the outdoor season.

The turning point was his third season.His weight throw set a school mark of

58-10 ¾ while he also made big gains in thehammer and shot.

“My freshmen and sophomore years, wewere constantly tweaking things. There wasno stability,” he says. By his junior year, hehad settled on a technique and focused onimproving that movement.

“I definitely use my height to myadvantage, and I’ve slowly become strongerthrough the strength and conditioningprogram here. I’ve always been patientenough with the hammer to let it follow merather than just pull it and muscle it.

“The hammer throw takes a while for youto understand how fast you can go withoutmessing up the throw,” Burns says.

As an example of his improvement instrength, Burns says in high school hesquatted 350 pounds. Last year that was upto 465 pounds. This year, doing a safetysquat, which includes an attachment for thehands and requires less balance, he squatted700 pounds.

“Sean is just a massive guy. A thirty-five-pound weight doesn’t slow him down much,”Long says.

Overcoming adversityEven reinjuring his knee at the SummitLeague Indoor Championships in Fargo,North Dakota, February 27 wasn’t enough toknock him off the winner’s platform. Heoriginally injured the knee when throwing inDecember. He came back strong and wasseeded No. 1 for the conference meet.

But during warm-ups, his knee gave outand he fell backwards. Burns wanted tocontinue, but couldn’t do a three-turn spin.

“I had to one-turn to win. . . . I said tomyself, ‘I want this.’ That one turn wasprobably more brute strength thantechnique, but it got the job done,” Burnssays of his first-place, 62-11 ½ throw. Evenwith a gimpy leg, he was within three feet ofhis personal mark.

The next day, with his knee still ailing, hefinished second in the shot put with apersonal best of 53-4 ¾.

Adversity also propelled Burns at theSummit League Outdoor Championships at

Southern Utah in 2010. After a disappointingthird-place finish in the hammer throw,Burns finished second in the shot bybreaking his personal best by five feet.

“I got a little angry at the hammer andjust vented it through throwing the shot put,”the normally mild-mannered Burns says.

Fans will be able to watch Burns’ defenseof the league honors when the conferencemeet is held in Sioux Falls May 12-14.

DAVE GRAVES

Position: Thrower

Year: Senior

Height: 6-8

Weight: 311

Major: HPER

Records: Hammer throw (outdoors), 188-9;weight throw (indoors) 65-7. Also ranked sixth(indoor) and ninth (outdoor) in the shot put.

High School: Rapid City Central

Family: Parents, Mike and Margie Burns;sister, Samantha, 24; Steven, 20.

SEAN BURNS FILE

RABBIT TRACKS12

BEHIND THE SCENES

Tim DeWitt is so far behind thescenes that in the comprehensive,140-page football media guide, the

only reference to him is the two-word titleequipment manager.

But the players and coaches know thislong-time equipment manager, who hasbeen handing out jocks and jerseys since1985. His responsibilities extend far beyondkeeping the Jackrabbits in clean clothing,and, with twenty-one varsity sports, that initself makes every day a laundry day.

The equipment manager also ordersevery single item used by a varsity sport,and makes sure all equipment preparationsare in place for practices and games.

Consequently, DeWitt’s post at the HPERCenter makes him like a one-man toll-bridge operator, always on duty. He claimsa weekly schedule of forty hours to sixty-five hours (when hosting a tournament) witha lot of fifty-hour weeks during seasons.

Of course, with sports from Augustthrough May, most of the year is in season.

Not that you will find DeWittcomplaining.

“I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I’menjoying the people I have around me. Tohave the opportunity I’ve had here atSouth Dakota State is far and aboveanything I could imagine,” says DeWitt,who grew up in the Brookings area.

He started as a teacher and a coach,spending three years in Groton and two inKimball after graduating from Dakota Statein 1975.

A look behind the scenes

Tim DeWitt – equipment manager

SPRING 2011 13

DeWitt began work at SDSU in 1980 atthe research farm and then spent three yearswith the physical plant until the equipmentmanager post opened up, giving DeWitt achance to be involved with athletics again.

An unparalleled personalityObviously, every athletic department has anequipment manager. What makes DeWittunique, other than his twenty-six years inthe position, is his personality.

While he could hide out behind thecomputer or not lift his gaze from foldingclothes, that just isn’t DeWitt’s personality.Whether it was the star player or acommunity member using the locker room[in the days before the Wellness Center], a smile and a “how ya doin,’ man?” is asguaranteed as the sunrise.

“I’ve been told so much, ‘I don’t knowhow you maintain your smile.’ He explainsthe key: “Enjoy each day when you have it,and the next day, enjoy it again.”

Football coach John Stiegelmeier says itis an expression of DeWitt’s servant attitude.“He’s truly happy when he’s serving ratherthan being served.”

From recruit to lifelong friendMichael Torrence ’99/’01 started afriendship the day he met DeWitt in July1996, and they continue to connect.Torrence had spent three years in themilitary and was looking to play collegebasketball when he made a recruiting visitto campus that supported 8,350 students.

But during the summer, SDSU “waspretty barren” of student activities. “All thestudents were gone,” recalls Torrence. “Noone was on campus except coach and (fellowplayer) Jason Sempsrott.”

Of course, DeWitt also was there. Meeting with DeWitt was like talking to

“someone like you’ve known them all yourlife. You just pick up a conversation andtalk about your interests,” Torrence says.

In that initial conversation, Torrencerecalls DeWitt saying, ‘We’re going to bereally good. You’ll be a good addition,’ and heasked about my family. I’d been on severalrecruiting visits before and no one hadasked about my family. I found that warm.

“I thought, if there is one person likethat in Brookings, there is probably goingto be more.”

‘Someone I confided in’Torrence says that hunch proved right asdid his assessment of DeWitt.

“Tim was a great sounding board for me.Tim was someone I confided in. He kept mycomments and his comments to himself.In today’s world, that’s really hard to find.

“Sometimes a guy just needs a pat onthe back, a hug or a good ribbing. Tim wasalways good on that,” says Torrence, whois an academic dean at Lehigh-CarbonCommunity College in Allenstown,Pennsylvania.

Part of DeWitt’s success in enjoying eachday at work can be attributed to the familyfeeling within the Athletic Department.

“The total support of the administrationand the Athletic Department is incredible.We are one large family that helps each otherevery day. If you don’t have the support ofthe administration, it’s hard to do the job. I look forward to coming to the job everyday,” DeWitt says.

An important part of his family is full-time assistant Sonja Anderson and hisstudent helpers.

Favorite memoriesHis job puts him in contact with sports-page headline makers as well as allowingsideline glimpses of all the home games.One of his strongest memories also is oneof his first as equipment manager—the 24-12 1985 defeat of the No.1-rankedUniversity of South Dakota at Coughlin-Alumni Field on Hobo Day.

“The atmosphere and the crowds[16,193] and the anticipation were justamazing,” DeWitt says.

He also fondly recalls the Division IInational wrestling championship in 2000.“We had tremendous crowds. To be able tovisit with coaches from all those other teams,the athletes, the fans, was an upliftingexperience. Time just flies.

“I thought, ‘This is great talking to thesepeople,’” DeWitt says.

‘A great ambassador’His cordiality extends to the game officials.

Stiegelmeier notes, “He takes care ofthe officials. He’s got to meet them Fridaynight. You drive up to the HPER center andhe’s waiting on the bench for the officials

to come. That’s their impression of SouthDakota State.

“I can’t tell you enough how officialshave praised him about his care of them.He’s a great ambassador.”

The confidence and twenty-five-yearrelationship he has with some officials is anexample of “another relationship that manypeople may not get to have,” DeWitt says.

Stiegelmeier, who has worked withDeWitt since 1988, adds, “He loves to hearwhat’s going on in your program and havean opportunity to share what’s going on hislife. He’s an avid hunter. I’m jealous aboutall his stories of geese and pheasants.”

And the future?DeWitt’s demanding job hasn’t left himmarried to his job. He enjoys hunting,fishing, and being with his grandchildren.

“I’m a 100 percent family man. Marriedthirty-eight years. I want to be at [thegrandchildren’s] birthday parties and gamesas much as I can,” he says.

The 58-year-old DeWitt has been eligiblefor state retirement for several years andadmits he has thought about it, “maybethree or four years down the road.” He notesthat his job will make it more difficult tomake the grandkids’ games as they age.

“Right now, with the change in theeconomy and how I enjoy my job and the support I have from the AthleticDepartment, retirement is only in the back of my mind.

“It’s hard to quit something you enjoy.”DAVE GRAVES

“WORKING WITH THE ATHLETESDAY BY DAY, YOU GET A CLOSERELATIONSHIP AND MUTUALRESPECT.” TIM DEWITT

Age: 58

Family: Wife: Deb. Children: Brandon,of Colton; Derrick, of Sioux Falls;Shondra, of Burnsville, Minnesota;three grandchildren.

Years at SDSU: thirty-one

Years as equipment manager:twenty-six

Number of people overseen: Twelve,ten of which are part-time studentworkers.

Number of athletes working withannually: about 500

INSIDE DEWITT’S LOCKER

TIM DEWITT

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? THE EBNETS

The “E” section of the all-time letterwinners’ page of theSDSU volleyball media guide contains a unique piece ofhistory.

That’s because the three people listed are sisters!Yes, the Ebnets of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, have a special place

all to themselves in the Jackrabbit record book. Rose starredfrom 1997 to 2000, while Annie lettered in 2001 and 2002,and Joan in 2002.

“That’s very interesting, I didn’t know that,”replies Annie, when told of the trio’s letterwinnerdistinction.

What’s not strange is their role in SDSUvolleyball lore and their place in a program thattraces its beginning back to 1966.

For Rose, she probably put together the finestindividual season ever by a Jackrabbit. In 2000, sheearned North Central Conference most valuableplayer honors, leading the league in kills, while settingSDSU single-season and career records for kills as the Jacksadvanced to the regional finals.

She is one of the most decorated volleyball players in schoolhistory, too. In addition to most valuable player honors, she receivedthe following honors as a senior:• NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship.• Daktronics Division II All-America first team.• Daktronics All-Region first team.• Successful Farming All-America Farm Team.• American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II All-America

first team.• American Volleyball Coaches Association All-North Central Region.• GTE/Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District.• NCC All-Academic Team.• American Volleyball Coaches Association/Sports Imports

Division II National Player of the Week (two times).• NCC Player of the Week (three times).

Milestones achievedRose tallied her 1,000th kill against Nebraska-Omaha as a junior—a number that didn’t register at the time, she recalls. “I didn’t knowI was close to getting it. It was a pretty cool feeling.”

It was “real neat” to break the all-time record as a senior,remembering the congratulations letter she received from WendyWindschitl, who held the record since 1988.

She has three engraved volleyballs that are “my wall plaques,”referring to the game ball when she broke the record, one showing1,724 career kills, and a third indicating 564 season kills.

Fittingly, Rose’s e-mail address opens with Jacksspiker12, whichappropriately refers to her skill set and uniform number.

“I could put the ball down if I needed to!”Indeed, she could. Rose’s record stood for seven years, before

Kristina Martin (2004-’07) accumulated 1,765 kills. In addition,Rose is one of only five players in SDSU history with 1,000 kills

and 1,000 digs.A three-time all-conference performer who led

the Jacks to three regional tournaments, Rose admitsthe competitive fire still burns, indicating workouts

Ebnets play big rolesin Jacks’ volleyball lore

RABBIT TRACKS14

Rose Ebnet ’00, inset and below

these days consist of keeping up with her two young boys, Shane, 4,Wyatt, 2 and maintaining household chores.

“I’m a very competitive person,” she says. “Volleyball is such amental game. I miss the competition.”

Returns when she canRose earned a degree in health promotions and a minor in chemistry.After SDSU, she enrolled in the College of Chiropractic atNorthwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minnesota,where she graduated in 2004 with a doctorate of chiropractic.

She lives in Mobridge with her husband, Josh Henderson, whomshe married January 1, 2005. A doctor of internal medicine, he earnedtwo degrees at SDSU, range science in 1997 and biology in 2002.He went to Denver for medical school and Ohio for his residency.

Rose, who will be doing part-time chiropractic work inMobridge, played for Coach Mary Byrne, starting as a right sidehitter before moving to the left side.

“I loved SDSU, it’s a great school,” she says, mentioning that shegets back to campus as often as she can. “I played in the springtournament last year. It’s fun to come back and see boosters, whocheered you on as a player, and they still remember you.”

History-making seasonAnnie’s time was memorable, especially the 2001 season. The Jackscaptured their first region title to earn a berth in the NCAADivision II Elite Eight Tournament in Allendale,Michigan, where they claimed a nationalrunner-up finish.

The region championship was sweet,according to Annie, because it came inFargo. After outlasting Augustana in theopening match, three games to two,SDSU upended North Dakota State inthe title match in five games on NDSU’shome floor in the Bison Sports Arena. Itwas even more special for the Jacks, whowere swept twice by NDSU during theregular season.

“That was an awesome year,” recalls Annie, who was a junior outside hitter. “We had a great time and a great team. Beating the Bison to go to nationals was something I’ll never forget.”

Annie again led the Jacks to the regional tournament as a seniorin 2002, earning all-academic and all-conference honors. She wasalso named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District third-team.

Looking forward to college and playing volleyball after highschool, Annie elected to attend Jamestown College in North Dakota.Calling Jamestown a stepping-stone to a bigger school, she transferredtwo years later to SDSU.

“SDSU was a good educational move for me, and I wanted to goto that next level of volleyball,” she explains.

Sister comes, nursing careerDuring Annie’s last year it became a true sister tandem when Joan,who ended up transferring to Minnesota-Crookston after oneseason with the Jacks, arrived as a freshman.

“It was fun as sisters to play on the same team at the sameschool,” she relates. “We had another good team and it was good

to experience it with Joan.”Annie graduated in 2003 with a degree in biology, followed by a

nursing degree in 2006 from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing inMaryland.

She took her first job in Annapolis, Maryland, at Anne ArundelMedical Center, where she worked in the emergency room. Twoyears later, she was on the oncology cancer floor at Franklin SquareHospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

After eight months in Baltimore, Annie and her husband PhilGilotte, whom she met in Maryland, moved to Pequot Lakes. She isa school nurse in nearby Crosby, Minnesota, while he is a physicaleducation teacher and runs an Elite Performance Sports Camp duringthe summer.

They have two daughters, Alexis, one and one-half years old,and Samantha, five weeks.

KYLE JOHNSON

SPRING 2011 15

Annie Ebnet ’02 inset and above

FACILITYFLASHBACKA

S

ER

IE

S

RABBIT TRACKS16

It’s not like squeezing into the Barn orstretching out in Frost Arena for heatedhardwood action, or basking in a golden fallafternoon to cheer the home team at oldState Field or Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

No, making plans to attend a springbaseball game here is like planning a visit toan estranged sibling, you’re never sure if itwill take place or what it will be like whenyou’re there.

Despite the uncertainly, there’s somethingmystical about stitched cowhide popping intoa leather ball glove, and men no bigger thantheir fans turning a fastball into a home run.

1947: “Play ball”Since 1947, SDSU student-athletes and loyalfans have been observing the local practiceof Abner Doubleday’s creation. For the vastmajority of those sixty-four years, that hastaken place at Huether Field. Through theyears it’s gone from an unnamed ball fieldand moved locations.

But throughout the decades, it hasconnected campus with the “Boys ofSummer,” even when it felt more like anextension of winter.

Hurler Bob Ehrke ’54 remembers that itwas 29 degrees for the opening-day game hissenior season. That was actually when Stateplayed on the city field at Hillcrest Park.That was the only baseball field in town andit was then the edge of town.

Ernest Wingen was on that first team whenbaseball arrived at South Dakota State in 1947.

He recalls being part of a large contingentof veterans that came back to college in 1946after serving in World War II. “A bunch of us

wanted to play baseball. We gathered in theBarn and started playing catch, and pepper”in late fall 1946, Wingen says.

Games at the Hillcrest field had a sandlotfeel to them. Instead of a fence, there wasshrubbery. Beyond that was a farm field.

A home of their ownBut by 1957 the game had moved to campus.A field was built at what now is the parkinglot north of Frost Arena. In 1957 that areawas open space with the nearest buildingsbeing married student housing units thatwere just north of where Caldwell Hall is now.

The diamond didn’t become known asErv Huether Field until 1974, when it was

named for the man who coached SDSUbaseball from 1950 to 1983.

The well-manicured diamond hosted SDSUbaseball games through the 2001 season.

Construction of the Performing Arts Centerto the east of the field meant a need foradditional parking, and SDSU players foundthemselves hosting games at Bob Shelden Field,a municipal field on South Medary Avenuewith better seating than at Huether Field.

Settling in for a spring baseball game in Brookings, SouthDakota, can be an act of bravery—for players and fans.

Huether FieldHome of SDSU baseball for generations

April 2, 1962, and there’s snow on the field when Coach Erv Huether (with jacket) has his team outpracticing on what would become known as Huether Field. Before Huether Field, State played itsgames at Hillcrest Park, such as this game in 1952 against Gustavus Adolphus College. Note thelack of dugouts or helmets. Right page: Huether Field during pregame warmups in the mid-1990s.

SPRING 2011 17

Erv Huether Field IIBut SDSU administrators wanted the Jacksto play on campus. A field was identifiednortheast of the football practice field.

Sitework was begun in spring 2006. Theoutfield walls and backstop were constructedin fall 2007 with the batting cages anddugouts completed in spring 2008.

Tiny Presentation College in Aberdeengains a footnote in SDSU baseball history asthe first opponent to play on the field, a 22-3win for the Jackrabbits April 21, 2008.

In three seasons at the new Erv HuetherField, the Jackrabbits have a 28-13 record,including a win over Minnesota.

SDSU has had its way with the Gophersin recent years, winning five out of the lastseven meetings in the three prior seasons.But the 12-11 win April 20, 2010, was thefirst time the Big Ten school had traveled toBrookings since 1962. A 2009 game scheduledfor Brookings was cancelled.

Snow a common bond for decadesFor years, Jackrabbit teams headed south fornonconference games during spring breakwith the hope of being able to play at HuetherField upon their return.

Sometimes it required extraordinary effort.“I remember getting back from that

southern trip and our conditioning was toshovel the field,” recalls Dean Krogman ’72.“My freshman year and my junior year we gotall the games in because we had great weather.

My senior year we played ten conferencegames. The weather was bad the whole season.”

While weather patterns have always beenhit and miss, the direction of the SDSUbaseball program has been one directionsince becoming a Division I school in 2005.

The team plays more games—sixty in2010. That means starting earlier—mid- tolate February—with a schedule that has a lotmore road games than home games.

When the team does get a chance to puton the white uniforms and host a team atHuether Field “The players really enjoygetting to play on campus at Erv HuetherField. It gives them the opportunity to playin front of their friends and fellow students,”Coach Richie Price says.

Field a work in progressThe home confines are to become even morecomfortable in the future. The AthleticDepartment master plan calls forconstruction of a grandstand, a permanentpress box, and storage facilities. However,there is no timetable for the work.

In 2011, the Jacks have twenty-one homegames scheduled from April 5 to May 21.

Many of those days figure to be cold andblustery, an undeterred north wind leavingthe game to only the most hardy. But at somepoints during those seven weeks, the sun willshine, the earth will offer the smell of spring,the cowhide will pop in leather gloves, andHuether Field will be the place to be.

Hope, and baseball, spring eternal.DAVE GRAVES

HISTORIC GAMESAT HUETHER FIELD� First game – 1957* – Omaha

University 5, State 4

� First win – 1957* – State 9,Augustana College 5

� First postseason game – May 15,1961, a 5-1 NCC Northern Divisionplayoff loss to North Dakota.

� First win over a Big Ten school –April 13,1962, a 6-3 win over Minnesota.

� First time to host an NCAA Division II Midwest Regional playoff game – May 1975,* a 16-10 loss to Missouri-St. Louis.

� First NCAA Division II MidwestRegional playoff wins – May 18-19,1984, winning two of three versusMissouri-St. Louis to advance to theDivision II World Series.

� Host for the NCC Tournament –1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993.

� First game and win at new HuetherField – April 21, 2008, a 22-3 win overPresentation College.

� First win over a Big Ten team at newHuether Field – April 20, 2010, a 12-11 win over Minnesota.

*Dates not available

RABBIT TRACKS18

FACILITYFLASHBACK

SOFTBALL STADIUMA work in progress

The field where SDSU has played since2007 is dubbed Jackrabbit Softball Stadium.The facility now has one set of bleachers and

a listed capacity of 500, making it a work inprogress. But the vision is there.

When completed, the stadium will havepermanent seating, concession stands,bathrooms, and an on-site locker room withmeeting space.

SDSU Coach Joanna Lane says the facilityalready has the best playing surface in TheSummit League. There are two battingcages—one beyond the left-field line and onebeyond the right-field line. Metal outfieldfencing with blue screening provides a goodhitting background, and decorative blockdugouts twice as large as other fields.

On top of that, the field is on campus,just northeast of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

“The commitment of the University tobring the field back on campus was huge,”says Lane, who became coach for the 2008season. “It helped us not only in fan supportwith students being able to walk over togames, but the proximity to the DykhouseStudent-Athlete Center is important.”

Part of a larger complexThe Dykhouse Center, which contains lockerrooms, a weight room, and coaches’ offices,is directly north of the football field.

The new field will be amazingwhen it’s done.” Those are the wordsof softball alumna Jessica Jones-Sitzman, who played during a muchdifferent era at SDSU and now isthe softball coach for MorningsideCollege in Sioux City, Iowa.

“

A long throw from the outfield canconnect the Dykhouse Center, the softballstadium, Erv Huether baseball field, which isright across the road from the softball field,and the football stadium, for which there areplans to build a replacement stadium on site.

Having the softball stadium in easyviewing distance of the general public is aplus for the program, Lane says.

SouthBrook Park daysThat wasn’t the case before 2007, whenSDSU played softball at SouthBrook Park,the City of Brookings complex on South

Twenty-Second Avenue. The five-fieldfacility is three and one-half miles south ofwhere the team now plays and practices. Itsisolated location was its biggest drawback.

As a playing venue, “Based on the fielditself and amenities, SouthBrook was afantastic place to play games,” says Shelly(Tiltrum) Bayer, who played at State from1991 to 1994 and coached the team from1996 to 2001. When she played, the secondbaseman took ground balls on a differentcampus field.

Before SouthBrookThe unnamed field was by the intramuralfields east of an area between the HPERBuilding and Binneweis residence hall.

The field and nearby tennis courts havenow become expanded parking for theadjacent residence halls. The field could bedescribed as simple, or primitive, dependingon one’s perspective.

“There was one set of wooden bleachersright behind the backstop,” Bayer recalls. “Nodugouts, just bare benches. One scoreboardthat showed the inning and the score. Verysimple. Nothing with hits and errors.

“It was very low [in elevation]. That wasone of the reasons we moved. The parkinglot had increased. When they did the snowremoval, the snow was pushed right to theedge of the field. So even when other partsof campus were dry, it was still wet on thesoftball field.”

Kristine (Drake) Storhaug got a taste ofboth fields. She practiced on the campusfield in fall 1996. By spring, practices hadmoved to SouthBrook, where games werealready being played.

“It was nice to have the field on campusbecause you didn’t have to drive anywhere,but the fields at SouthBrook were betterquality,” Storhaug says.

SouthBrook: Envy of the NCCShane Bouman, who coached the team from2002 to 2007, says, “From the lines in thefields to banners to concessions, I think wedid as good a job as any team. The caretakertook a lot of pride in that facility, makingsure everything was tip top.”

Bayer adds, “A lot of the NCC [NorthCentral Conference] schools thought thecomplex was excellent, especially fortournament play.”

Bouman says it’s typical for Division IIschools to play in municipal softballcomplexes, but in 2005 SDSU began play atthe Division I level. Division I fastpitchusually is played at an on-campus stadium,says Bouman, who guided State in its firstyear at the new field.

A new era beginsIn their first season on the new field, theJackrabbits compiled a 4-5 record with thefirst game a 3-0 loss to North Dakota StateApril 20, 2007.

Wintery conditions that extended inMarch and April rainstorms limited SDSU totwo home games in 2008. Other homes gameswere played in Nebraska and Sioux Falls. In2009, the team was 3-10 at home while theJacks finished 10-4 at home in 2010.

The first home games scheduled for 2011was a March 23 doubleheader with SouthDakota, but wet grounds made that doubtful.

Like coaches before her, Lane takes herteam to the Barn for practice until it can getoutside. “We can stay on it [Jackrabbit field],usually, until the end of November. Whenwe run into trouble is now. There are teamsthat have been outdoors for weeks. Wehaven’t yet been able to be outside,” Lanesays in mid-March.

Donors needed to step to plateAn indoor practice facility for all outdoorsports is another part of the SDSU AthleticDepartment facility plan.

In the meantime, Lane waits for the sunto do its work and is thankful for the progressthat has been made.

Bayer says that Jackrabbit SoftballStadium “is certainly what I dreamed about asa player and a coach. Initially, I was frustratedwhen we moved off campus because I thoughtit was a step in the wrong direction. But nowI can see it gave them time to develop a planto bring what they have now.”

Completion of the softball stadium isdependent on donor interest, Lane says.

DAVE GRAVES

SPRING 2011 19

An architect’s drawing of how the JackrabbitSoftball Complex is to look like when finished.Inset, Dana (Fay) Jurgensmeier, circa 1990.

FIELDHISTORY� May 14-15, 1971 —

First SDSU softball games.

� May 9, 1972 — First home game, a 14-3 win over Dakota State.

� 1993 — Began playing games atSouthBrook Park on South Main.

� April 27-28, 1996 — First postseasontournament held in Brookings, theNorth Central Conference tournament.

� May 10-11, 1996 — First (and only)NCAA tournament held in Brookings,the Division II Central Regional.

� Spring 1997 — Using SouthBrookPark for all practices and games.

� April 20, 2007 — First game atJackrabbit Softball Stadium on campus.

� 2008 — Dugouts added to stadium.

RABBIT TRACKS20

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

When Ryan O’Connor came to State in 1996 to study mechanicalengineering, he was a wrestler with a dream.

“My number one goal since high school was to be All-American,”he says. “I only got beat fourteen times in four years in [Huron] highschool. I expected that success to continue in college.”

But it didn’t, at least not at first.“You go to college, everybody in the wrestling room was a state

champ.” O’Connor says. “I hadn’t adapted to that level as well as Iwas expecting to and it got me in a bit of a rut, really.

His first two and a half years, he wrestled behind Chad Wickman,a good friend and roommate.

“Not being a starter was hard,” O’Connor says. “I went from star toworkout partner.”

SidelinedIn his third year, O’Connor pinched a nerve in his neck. That, coupledwith the need to devote more time to his studies, prompted him topack it in.

“I went over to Coach Liles’ house at 7:00 at night to tell him,”O’Connor says. “I opened his front door and his son, Walker, whowas probably 6 years old at the time, looked at me and said, ‘Why areyou quitting?’ Obviously, coach suspected the reason for my visit,which made it easier to tell him.”

The telling made a lasting impression on the coach.“Fifty percent of your quitters don’t ever tell you,” Liles says. “They

just disappear, just don’t show up. And the others are probably goingto tell you in the locker room or your office. It shows a lot of characteron his part on how he handled it.”

When he walked away, O’Connor thought it was for good.“I had no intentions of ever going back out,” he says. “I had to

come to terms with the fact that I hadn’t accomplished the goals Iset. It was a difficult decision. I remember coach telling me he hadn’tever had anyone quit, then come back and get it done, I reallythought it was over.”

Back in actionBut after a year away from the sport, O’Connor was healed and hisstudies were back on track. So when Coach Liles called just beforeChristmas break and asked him back, O’Connor accepted.

In his first match back against a returning All-American from theUniversity of Northern Colorado, O’Connor proved he still hadpotential. He won the match with a takedown in overtime.

For O’Connor, college wrestling was full of ups and downs, but hiscareer ended perfectly in 2001 when he earned his dream title afterbeating two returning All-Americans at the national wrestlingtournament and placing sixth, finally achieving All-American status.

“When I won my second match to guarantee placing” O’Connorrecalls, “there was a huge SDSU contingency and everybody wentnuts. I felt like I’d just won the Olympics. It was an incredible,emotional moment and it was awesome to see those SDSU fansembrace my success the way they did. Everyone knew I as a fifthyear senior and this was my last shot, so it was something special.”

O’Connor graduated in 2001 and joined his father in theO’Connor Group, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning firm inSioux Falls. Today he is a sales engineer and part owner. BobO’Connor retired in January 2011. Together, they have begun awrestling scholarship for mechanical engineering majors.

“The wrestling program was pretty good to Ryan,” Bob O’Connorsays. “It was an important, informative extension of his high schoolathletic experience. The program really won’t grow and developunless people like Ryan and I step up and give it the financial fuel tohave it grow.”

A family traditionThe power to go forward is fueled by a long line of wrestlers.

Bob O’Connor wrestled for O’Gorman High School in 1967-68.His father, Gratton “Irish” O’Connor wrestled at University High

School in Vermillion back in the 1930s.And then there was Patrick O’Connor, Ryan’s great grandfather, who

farmed in the Vermillion area during the worst part of the Depression.“Times were hard back then.” Bob O’Connor tells the tale with just

a hint of Irish brogue. “Of course, grandpa didn’t want to hire anyonewho couldn’t take the hard labor. So he’d hire these transient workersbut he wouldn’t hire them until they wrestled him. They’d grapplebetween the house and the barn until one of them said ‘uncle.’

“Great Grandpa Pat didn’t lose a match until he was 42 years oldand hired a young man from Sioux City who broke two of his ribs.That was the end of that program.”

Ryan O’Connor made All-American in wrestling at State in 2001.

Scholarship benefactors Bob, left, and Ryan O’Connor.

Father-son benefactorsO’Connors fund scholarship

SPRING 2011 21

South DakotaState’snationally

recognized equestrianteam can thank goodriders, good coaches,and help from a1937 alumna fromBrookings for itssuccess.

Nathelle DeHaanwas a former horse-woman who diedrecently at age 96.She pledged thefunds that allowed construction to start onthe DeHaan Equestrian Facility north ofcampus, a structure that got the team off to afine start a few years ago.

She arranged for the funds to be transferredquickly to the University following her deathby employing a “transfer on death”arrangement on an investment account. Itwas simple to arrange with a beneficiaryform from the investment company and didnot require additional legal work.

“Charitable gifts that can be easilyarranged and easily changed have grown inpopularity in recent years as donors learnhow uncomplicated and inexpensive it is tomake a current or future gift via a change ofbeneficiary form,” says Jeff Nelson, seniorgift planning advisor in the SDSU Foundation.

Gifts from retirement plans took off, hesays, when plan owners learned that individualheirs have to pay income taxes to inheritmoney from an IRA or another qualifiedpension plan, such as a 401(k) plan or aKeogh plan. But charities are tax exempt andreceive the full value of the intended bequest.

“I wanted to use my IRA to arrangesomething for State,”says Ginny BunkersFord, a 1973 Frenchgraduate now residingin Phoenix. Learningfrom an advisor aboutthe tax aspect sealedthe deal. “It was a good

incentive for me,” Ford adds.

Larry Stitt of CitrusHeights, California, getsphilanthropic doubleduty from his IRA.

Like many Statefriends, he makes tax-free distributions fromhis account for currentgifts to a scholarshipfund in honor of his

parents. With a simple change in thebeneficiary form, Stitt’s IRA also will bolsterthat scholarship after he’s gone.

State friends are using the change inbeneficiary form in a variety of creative ways:

Karen Pearson (’72Family and ConsumerSciences), from RapidCity, recently used herinsurance company’schange form to transferan existing insurancepolicy to SDSU. It willprovide funding for theJackrabbit Guarantee

scholarship program she sponsors.

Lonita GustadCorothers (’50pharmacy), of SiouxCity, arranged for aneventual transfer of abank savings account tothe SDSU Foundation forthe benefit of pharmacyand microbiologyprograms.

Jeff Schumacher, of Brookings, a longtimeSDSU employee who recently retired from theComputer Center, made the SDSU wrestling

program the beneficiaryof his 403(b) pensionplan assets. Such plans,like an IRA, can makenon-taxable bequests tocharitable organizations.

He found it equallyeasy to add SDSU as abeneficiary on a mutual-fund holding in abrokerage account.

Bill Larson (’64 Animaland Range Science), ofFowler, Colorado, isamong the donors whohave inserted bequeststo the University in theirwills by using a single-sheet codicil, allowingmost estate planning

documents to be amended quickly and cheaply.

To learn more about flexible gift options thatallow for changes by the donor, contact JeffNelson at the SDSU Foundation at 888-747-7378 or jeff.nelson@sdsufoundation.org.

PLANNED GIVING

The DeHaan Equestrian Center, made possible by Nathelle DeHaan, shown left on horseback.

Ginny Bunkers Ford

Larry Stit

Karen Pearson

Jeff Schumacher

Bill Larson

Lonita GustadCorothers

CHARITABLE GIVERS expand possibilities

To get your helpful copy ofTHE THREE EASIEST WAYSTO LEAVE YOUR LEGACYemail giftplanning@sdsufoundation.org

CORPORATE SPOTLIGHT

RABBIT TRACKS22

Fans can spot Justin Swanson in thepress box during football games andcourtside during basketball, but they

can’t see who he’s talking to via headsetbecause Eric Ray is tucked away in acontrol room in the HPER Center.

The results of their coordinated efforts,however, are clearly visible in the videoboards, the highlight reels, the kiss camera—all the videography that takes fanentertainment to the highest level possible.

“We’re in constant communication,from twenty minutes before the game tothe final whistle and the crowd’s left,” saysSwanson, assistant athletic director –marketing and promotions. “Everything isscripted down to the minute, from timeouts to when the band plays. Nothinghappens by chance.

“We have to know what’s going on at that second, but also A, B, and C that’s coming up. We have 5,000 people at a basketball game and 15,000 at a football game. Fifteen seconds of dead air is a lifetime.

“We want to give people a good show.They’ve spent their hard-earned dollars,and we want them to be entertained.”

Ray, an event producer for Kayframe, adivision of Daktronics, is assigned to SDSU,so from August through March, he buildsthe graphics and creates the animation forsports in Coughlin-Alumni Stadium andFrost Arena as well as commencement—“any event in Frost arena,” he says. Thisyear, included the April 30 JackrabbitAthletic Scholarship Auction, being heldseparate from the golf tournament for thefirst time this year and, also for the firsttime, held on campus.

When he’s not working his SDSU gig,Ray trains customers.

“At eighty-five to ninety percent of theplaces we serve, it’s their facilities peoplewho run the equipment,” Rays says, “so wehave to teach them to run it.”

Besides SDSU, Daktronics has on-siteevent producers at the universities of Auburn,Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, Minnesota,and Augustana College for football.

They also have an event producer inNew York, serving the Jets and the Giants.

“We take care of everything on the videoside,” Ray says, “so their marketing staff justdoesn’t have to worry about it.”

Daktronics, Swanson says, is “the best inthe business. They do a fantastic job.”

Having them right down the roaddoesn’t hurt, either.

“Of all the Division I schools, only onecan have Daktronics in their hometown andthat’s SDSU,” Swanson says. “It’s a prettyneat deal for us.”

Daktronics and the University have beenscoreboard partners since 2005, with thefootball scoreboard going up in late summerand the basketball scoreboard being installedin the fall. It was a $3-million project paidfor by current and future gifts.

The scoreboard package has fourcorporate sponsors: Avera McKennan andthe Orthopedic Institute, Coca-Cola,Daktronics, and First Bank and Trust.

CINDY RICKEMAN

That’s Entertainment!Daktronics adds video pizzazz to fan entertainment

“OF ALL THE DIVISION I SCHOOLS,ONLY ONE CAN HAVE DAKTRONICSIN THEIR HOMETOWN AND THAT’SSDSU. IT’S A PRETTY NEAT DEALFOR US.” JUSTIN SWANSON

ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR –MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS

Daktronics is the word people see when theylook at the scorer’s table or the scoreboard.What they don’t see is the control room deepinside the HPER Center. Pictured in the controlroom are Eric Ray, left, a Daktronics employee,and Justin Swanson, assistant athletic director.

SPRING 2011 23

FUNDRAISING EVENTS

Heading into its thirty-first year, theStan Marshall Golf Tournament wasin need of a makeover.

It got one.Big time.The golf tournament has traditionally

included an auction. That event has beensplit off from the tournament to create theJackrabbit Athletic Scholarship Auction,which was held April 30 at Frost Arena.

“This was a first-class event,” says AlexKringen, assistant athletic director-development. “We were excited togive our fans an experience like this.”

That experience included a social,a meal, live and silent auctions, and ashort program.

SDSU’s student-athletes played a prominent role at the auction—working at the event, serving asgreeters, and mingling with guests.

“We have great student-athleteswho are very approachable,” Kringensays, noting that all sports wererepresented at the event. “Jackrabbit backersgot to see firsthand why we say we have thebest student-athletes in the country.”

Auction items include Jackrabbit collectibles, tripsThe $50 admission fee included the mealand beverages. Event sponsors wereOrthopedic Institute, First Premier Bank, J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines, and BealDistributing.

An anonymous donor pledged a dollar-for-dollar match for the money raised at the event. The goal was to raise $150,000,which would actually bring in $300,000 forathletic scholarships.

Among the 250 items at the auction were a charter trip with the football team to an away game, dinner and an outing withthe athletic director and coaches, select J. Lohr wines, and various trips andJackrabbit collectibles.

“The event drew a sell-out crowd of morethan 450 people,” Kringen reports.

Four men and a goatA crowd is also expected at the Stan MarshallGolf Tournament Saturday, June 4, at theBrookings Country Club. A social and heavyhors d’oeuvres will be held Friday night atthe country club as part of the event. Eachplayer will receive a Jackrabbit gift.

The tournament will be limited to thirty-two five-man teams. The teams can choosebetween playing “Texas scramble,” which has been used in the past, and “four menand a goat.”

In this format, the four members of theteam compete in a best-ball format while one member of the team will be designatedto play the course in the normal fashion,recording a score based on the participant’shandicap, Kringen explains.

“It makes it a little more competitive,”Kringen says, “a little more strategic.”

The format requires all five members tohave a handicap registered with the USGA.

Prizes will be offered in both formats andany team can opt to play Texas scramble.

The strategy that called for splitting theauction from the golf tournament had beenunder consideration for a while, prompted,in part, by some confusion over who waseligible to take part.

“People thought they had to golf to be partof the auction,” Kringen says. “Some peopleweren’t coming because they weren’t golfers.”

Splitting the auction from the tournamentshould clear up that confusion and makeboth events better.“We’re putting more timeand effort into each event,” Kringen says.

DANA HESS

AUCTION, GOLF TOURNEYhighlight spring fund-raising events

Brookings auctioneers Scott Peterson, left, and Jim Peterson solicitbids at the 2008 Stan Marshall auction. This year a scholarship auctionwas held April 30 with the Stan Marshall Golf Tournament June 4.

Stan Marshall Golf TournamentSaturday, June 4at the Brookings Country Club

A social and dinner will be held for golfersat the country club June 3.

Admission to both events can be arranged by calling 1-866-GOJACKS.

SEE YOU THERE!

RABBIT TRACKS24

SDSU, in conjunction with the Sioux FallsSports Authority, will host the 2011 SummitLeague baseball championship May 26-28 atSioux Falls Stadium.

It is the first time the Summit Leaguebaseball championship will be held at an off-campus facility. The stadium is the home fieldfor the Sioux Falls Pheasants, who competein the independent American Association.

The top four teams in the Summit Leaguestandings will advance to the conferencebaseball tournament. The tournament willfollow a double-elimination format with twogames played on the opening day, three games

on the second day and up to two games todecide the title and an automatic bid to NCAApostseason play on the third and final day.

“I know our players are looking forwardto the atmosphere of playing in aprofessional stadium and getting the chanceto earn an NCAA Tournament berth here inSouth Dakota,” says SDSU baseball coachRitchie Price.

The Jackrabbits earned the right to hostthe baseball tournament after earning ashare of their first Summit League regularseason title and securing the top seed for the2010 Summit League championship.

While Erv Huether Field on campus is agreat field, it lacks permanent stands, pressfacilities, or restrooms.

Ticket prices: $6 per session; age 12 and under, $4 per session; reserved seats,lower level from dugout to dugout, $10 persession or $45 for all sessions. Youth teampackage: $45 per session for fifteen general admission tickets.

NOTE: Because the event coincides with thestate track meet, fans are encouraged to parkin Lots 1 and 2, those closest to the stadium.

JACKRABBITS TO HOST SUMMIT BASEBALL TOURNEY

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS!

®

SDSU Athletics entered into a ten-year partnershipwith Learfield Sports January 31, 2011, to manage allaspects of sponsorship sales. Learfield Sports, a division of Learfield Communications, manages the multimediaand sponsorship rights for more than fifty collegiate institutions, conferences andassociations, including Southern Illinois, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, theBig Ten Conference, and the Missouri Valley Conference.

At SDSU, Learfield Sports operates under the name Jackrabbit Sports Propertiesand coordinates the sales of all the athletic facility signage as well as game-daysponsorships and promotions.

Additionally, Jackrabbit SportsProperties assists efforts to enhance theexposure of the SDSU athletic programs byincreasing opportunities for television and

radio broadcasts. These opportunities may include live games, coaches’ shows or acombination of both.

The relationship first started during the 2010-11 school year as SDSU Athleticsand Learfield Sports partnered to increase the number of radio network affiliates.As a result, we added five new stations to the Jackrabbit family.

Partnership benefitsYou may be wondering how this benefits Jackrabbit Athletics.

First and foremost, Jackrabbit Sports Properties operates with two full-time staffmembers with plans to add interns and students. This allows current AthleticDepartment staff to focus on other key revenue areas like ticket sales and JackrabbitClub memberships. With other facility projects on the horizon and the need toincrease revenue, adding staff and maximizing current revenue streams only helps in those efforts.

Secondly, not only does Jackrabbit Athletics benefit from full-time staff additions, Learfield Sports employs more than200 full-time staff members that support their overall mission of a multimedia rights partner.

For instance, Learfield integrates its national sales executives in key markets around the country to sell sponsorshipinventory for all partners. Radio executives in Jefferson City, Missouri, provide support for all radio broadcasts produced byLearfield schools. Sales support staff in Dallas ensures that sponsors receive exceptional customer service.

Lastly, this partnership also guarantees substantially greater annual revenue to the Athletic Department compared to thecurrent sponsorship revenue. Even in the current economic climate, this partnership shows growth now and sustainedgrowth for years to come.

Goal: More viewers, more listeners, more funAs you can see, this partnership not only provides financial stability to the Athletic Department but an industry-leading,multimedia rights partner in Division I college athletics. The ultimate goal is to provide Jackrabbit fans everywhere with theability to listen and watch Jackrabbit athletics on a more frequent basis, and to provide a more entertaining atmosphere atall Jackrabbit home games, all while increasing revenue.

To say the possibilities excite us would be an understatement. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.

Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.

LEON COSTELLOSENIOR ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Welcome Jackrabbit Sports Properties

NON-PROFITUS POSTAGE PAIDBROOKINGS SDPERMIT 24

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

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

31ST ANNUAL

FRIDAY, JUNE 312-3 p.m. Tee times blocked off for golf

6 p.m. Social hour7-9 p.m. Heavy hors d’oeuvres

SATURDAY, JUNE 48 a.m. Registration table opens

9:20 a.m. Announcements9:30 a.m. Shotgun startBarbecue and trophy presentation to follow.

Entry fee: $250, includes golf, cart rental,food both days. Registration limited tofirst 32 teams. Deadline: May 15.

Contact: Alex Kringen, 605-688-5988,alex.kringen@sdstate.edu.

June 3-4, 2011BROOKINGS COUNTRY CLUB