RAIDER HALL OF FAME 2016

 

DUANE WHALEN

KELVIN TORVE

JOANNE (KRAUSE) STERNER

KEN LINSTROM

RANDY LEWIS

JANET GUNDERSON-POWERS

 

 

 

Duane Whalen

Duane Whalen was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota graduating from Rapid City High School in 1954. Activities were very important to him in high school where he was a jack of all trades, master of none, as he was involved in sports, band, debate, and journalism. From 1954 to 1958 he attended Black Hills State University where he pursued a lifelong dream to teach and coach. In college he continued his interest in journalism and thanks to a 4– 5 inch growth spurt from the time he finished high school until he entered college he was able, over the course of four years to play a little college basketball. In the fall of 1958 he began his teaching career in Rapid City. This was the first of 40 years as a teacher, coach and administrator in the Rapid City Schools. He served ten years as a social studies teacher and coach at South Junior High School. Followed by another eight years as a history teacher and coach at Rapid City Central High School. In each setting Whalen had the opportunity to coach football, basketball, and track. He began his career in athletic/activities administration in 1977 when he was appointed Junior High Activities Director for the Rapid City Area Schools. In 1980, he became the Assistant Principal in charge of Activities at Stevens High. From 1980 until 1998 the Raiders won 49 state championships and was runner-up 28 times.

During his time at Stevens High School Whalen served on numerous professional committees and boards at the local, state, and national levels. Most noteworthy on the state level are two terms on the SDHSAA Gymnastics Advisory Committee, three terms on the AD ad hoc committee that studied and revised the SDHSAA calendar (serving as chairperson of the last two committees). For the most part the calendar is still in place today. A long with the Activities Director from Rapid City Central School Duane co-managed 47 SDHSAA state championship events. Also on the state level he served as president of the South Dakota High School Athletic Directors Association, was the liaison between the Athletic Directors and Coaches Association and was a delegate to the National Athletic Administrators Association National Conference several times. One of his most rewarding professional experiences for Duane was serving on the Awards Committee for National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

Working with Jim Haar, the AD at Central High School, two noteworthy achievements in Whalen’s time as AD at Stevens High School were accomplished. First was the formation of the Greater Dakota Conference, which unfortunately did not last and development of the first Rushmore Bowl.

In 1997 Whalen was awarded the South Dakota High School Activities Association Distinguished Service Award. Also in 1997 he was inducted into the Rapid City Sports Hall of Fame and was pre- sented the state award of merit for the State of South Dakota by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. In 2003 he was inducted into the South Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrator’s Hall of Fame.

During the 1980’s there was a saying, “School Activities, the other half of education”. Duane Whalen believed this to be true, as he witnessed this in his own life and that of his high school friends, and later in life as a teacher and coach. His only regret in his twenty-one years as an activities/ athletic director was that he couldn’t persuade every student in school to get involved in at least one activity and stay with the activity long enough to find out what the activity was about and to enjoy the benefits of the activity.

 

 

 

Kelvin Torve was born in 1960 in Rapid City, SD. Kelvin had a younger brother Kent. He attended Rapid City Stevens and graduated in 1978. At Stevens he lettered in basketball and football two

years. He was first team All-State in basketball as a senior and was also named the High School Athlete of the Year for his outstanding foot- ball, basketball, and Post 22 career.

Kelvin went on to play college baseball at Oral Roberts Universi- ty. He was a three year letterman and named to the Sporting News 2nd team All-American team as junior. He finished his college ca- reer with a .349 average which ranks 4th all-time at Oral Roberts. In 2009 Torve was elected to the Oral Roberts University Hall of Fame.

In 1981 Torve was drafted in the 2nd round of the Major League

Baseball draft by the San Franciso Giants. He went on to play thirteen years of profes- sional baseball. Torve played for San Francisco, Baltimore, the New York Mets, and Minnesota Twins organizations. Kelvin made it to the Major League level twice while play- ing for the Mets and one year with the Twins. He also played two years in Japan for the Orix Blue Wave.

In 1993 Kelvin hung up his spikes and began working in sales in Davidson, NC. In 1995 he was inducted into the Rapid City Officials Sports Hall of Fame.

After working and coaching baseball in North Carolina for twenty-five years Kelvin Torve moved back to Rapid City in 2016 to following his dream of coaching baseball for Post 22.

 

 

 

Joann (Krause) Sterner

JoAnn (Krause) graduated from Sisseton High School and earned a BS Degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Northern State in 1963, as well as an MS Degree from South Dakota State in the same field in

1972. Her teaching and coaching career began in the Rapid City School District in 1965, prior to state sanctions and Title IX, which recognized girls’ participation in sports. Track and Field, Basketball and Volleyball were offered only as Girls Athletic Association (GAA) activities. During the summer, girls interested in sports started AAU competition until Title IX became a law and girls and women were allowed to participate in organized competitive sports in their schools.

JoAnn stated ”My teaching and coaching career began in the early 60’s when it was still largely a man's world. Northern State College in Aberdeen opened their doors to me and I joined the PEMM Club (Physical Education Majors and Minors). As president of PEMM, I organized the 1st Volley- ball “Play Day” for high school girls to play in a Round Robin Tournament. It took all day because so many teams

showed up and every team played each other. The Play Day could not be called a Tournament be- cause that meant competition. It was certainly obvious these girls were enjoying the 'Tournament'. My advisor at Northern State College encouraged me to join the state and national AAHPERD association as a student member. Well that fired me up and I got more involved in sports. No one would or could stop me now!”

JoAnn continued to attend AAHPERD conferences, clinics and workshops. She felt it was an honor to be asked by the SDHSAA to give clinics to students who wanted to learn new fundamentals. JoAnn said “The sport of gymnastics was the most popular sport for girls in the area at that time and I couldn't learn fast enough to keep up with all the talent. All the girls on my high school teams were great coaching assistants. This was the advent of the sport of Gymnastics in South Dakota”.

Before Title IX, she held practice meets with teams from area schools. Space for practice and funds were always limited, but parents were always willing to support their daughters. One of JoAnn’s fondest memories was when her team asked her if she would sell her Corvette for a station wagon so they could travel to competitions. She did it for the team and they all enjoyed the new experiences. The initiation of girls’ sports in South Dakota was very exciting; every girl tried her hardest and enjoyed the thrill and self-gratification of being on the team. Every morning she would wake up wondering how to empower all girls to become who they wanted to be.

Jo Ann feels very honored to receive the Hall of Fame Award for initiating girls’ sports at Rapid City Stevens High School. She is given this honor for coaching the first individual state champions in gymnastics, for putting the Stevens girls’ track team in the record books for the first time in 1975, (when they placed second at state), and for being actively involved in Title IX and initiating numerous female sports to become sanctioned by the SDHSAA.

“There is no greater place to live than South Dakota. It’s great because we have all taken advantage of various opportunities to make it great. I thank all the parents and their daughters for all the memories they created for me. I was blessed with my opportunities”.

 

 

 

ken linstrom

Ken Linstrom was born in Whitewood, South Dakota and attended Sturgis Brown High School where he was a four-year letterman in Track & Field, Football and Basketball. After a stint in the Navy, he attended South Dakota State University majoring in Wildlife Studies. As a Track & Field letterman at South Dakota State University, Ken won North Cen- tral Conference titles in the long jump and low hur- dles in 1950 and low and high hurdles 1952. He held the All-Time South Dakota Collegiate long jump record of 23’ 5-1/2” from 1950 to 1966.

Ken worked for the South Dakota State Game and Fish Department for a year after graduating from SDSU, before taking teaching and coaching positions in Gregory and Winner, South Dakota. He

received his Masters degree in Science Education at the University of North Dakota and then accepted a position as a science teacher at Rapid City High School in 1961. When Stevens High School was established in 1969 he moved there to teach Science and be- came an Assistant Track & Field Coach focusing on the hurdlers and jumpers. He coached Rapid City Stevens athletes to nine (9) gold medals in the high and low hurdles. In 1982 he became the Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach. His Boys and Girls teams won nine (9) state championships between 1982 and his retirement in 1988; Boys Tr&F ’84-’87- ’88, Girls Tr&F ’85-‘86-’88, BXC ’83, GXC ’84-’85.

Coach Linstrom received the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year award for Boys Track & Field in 1988. He was inducted into the Sturgis Brown High School Hall of Fame in 2013.

In his spare time, Ken ran twelve (12) marathons between age 50 and 61 with a best time of 3:07. Upon their retirement, Ken and Martha have spent most of their time traveling to visit their children and grandkids. Steve, Jim, Karen and Sue are all Stevens High School alumni.

 

 

 

randy lewis

The 1977 Rapid City Stevens grad won the gold medal at 136.5 pounds in freestyle wrestling at the 1984 Olympics, outscoring his first four opponents 52-4 to advance to the final, where he crushed Japan's Kosei Akaishi 24- 11 in 4:52. He was the youngest member of 1980 Olympic wrestling team but President Jimmy Carter’s boycott prevented the U.S. team from traveling to the Games in Moscow.

He was second in the ‘88 Olympic trials to John Smith, who wound up winning a gold medal. He was the 1990 Pan Am champion. In the biggest match ever held in South Dakota, Lewis pinned two-time world champion Viktor Alexeev as the USA earned its first ever dual team win over Russia before more than 7,000 fans in Rapid City in a pre-1980 Olympics dual.

At Iowa, wrestling for Coach Dan Gable, he was a four-time All-American and two-time

NCAA champion with a record of 127-11-1 with 64 pins. He was the national runner-up at 126 as a freshman, then won NCAA titles the next two years while winning 74 matches in a row. As a senior, he suffered a dislocated elbow during a match, and finished the season using virtually one arm and still made All-American.

At Stevens, Lewis was 89-0 with 83 pins in three years (‘75-77), and he set a national prep mark with 45 straight pins. As an 18-year-old high school grad, he became the youngest wrestler ever to win the Junior World Championships (for the world's best 20-and-under wrestlers).

Lewis began his wrestling career as a fifth-grader at Meadowbrook Grade School in Rap- id City, winning his first state AAU title that season. He entered the state meet in awe of his competition. “My dad said, 'They might look tough but I'll bet none of them can do 18 chin- ups like you can.' He also told me not to think of them as the best kids in the state. He said what if they were from Rapid City, and they went to Meadowbrook Grade School, and what if they lived right next door to us? If you couldn't beat them, then you wouldn't be Meadow- brook school champion, and you wouldn't be the toughest kid on your own block. He said, 'You are the toughest kid on the block, aren't you?' I smiled and said, “I sure am!”

He used that “toughest kid on the block” mentality the rest of his career, taking him from grade school champion to Olympic champion.

 

 

 

janet gunderson-powers

Janet Gunderson-Powers was born in 1954 and grew up in Rapid City with four sisters. In 1970 as sophomore at Stevens High School Gunderson-Powers won the YMCA National Title for the 50 yard free-style and took 4th in the 100 yard butterfly in York, Pennsylvania. She was also voted the SD Swimmer of the Decade by a panel of sportswriters in 1970.

In 1972 Janet Gunderson-Powers won the SD gymnastics All-Around title. She also took 1st in the Uneven bars and 2nd on the vault. Her father died in 1972 in the flood.

After High School Gunderson-Power continued her athletic career at the University of Iowa. She qualified for the National Intercollegiate Gymnastics Tournament in vaulting in 1974 and took 2nd place in the 100 yard Butterfly and 50 yard Freestyle at the Big Ten Championships. She also qualified for the National Intercollegiate Tournament.

After college Janet Gunderson-Powers became an avid tennis player. Gunderson- Powers works as a CPA and also the Finance/Human Resources Director for Youth and Family Services, Inc.

She is married to Randy Powers and the mother of Kinsley Powers Groote who won a State Championship team and singles title in tennis for the Raiders in 2002 and was part of the runner-up volleyball team that same year.

Janet and her husband live in Rapid City.

 

banquet program 2016