South Dakota State University Athletics
SDSU Top 50 Revealed
10/16/2015 9:28:00 AM | General
BROOKINGS, S.D.—Former female student-athletes with accolades such as all-American, conference player of the year, NCAA champion, Academic All-American and Hall of Famer are among the Top 50 Female Student-Athletes to be honored Nov. 13 at the 50 Years of Women's Athletics luncheon at McCrory Gardens on the South Dakota State campus.
The Top 50, selected by voting on GoJacks.com and the 50 Years of Women's Athletics Committee, include all 12 members of the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame, 5 individual national champions and 7 Academic All-Americans. Additionally, the Top 50 have been named All-Americans 56 times.
The Top 50 spans five decades, including Kris Nelson, who played basketball and softball from 1973 to 1976. She is the career leader in batting average for the Jackrabbits, and on the hard court, Nelson helped lead SDSU in scoring and rebounding and to a pair of AIAW state titles.
“It was an honor to be a pioneer of women's athletics at SDSU—I basically was a “walk-on” as recruiting was not even a practice yet,” Nelson said. “When I walked into the athletic department (in the Barn) to register for classes I was asked if I knew how to play volleyball, basketball or softball. I said yes to all three and my life as a Jackrabbit student-athlete started. My years at SDSU were some of the best years of my life. It is an honor to be surrounded by 49 other great student-athletes and friends.”
Mary Wirth, a 2015 graduate, is 1 of 13 cross country and track Jackrabbits honored among the Top 50. She was SDSU's first female student-athlete at the Division I level to earn All-American honors, in the high jump.
“Being named to the Top 50 list is truly a great honor, and a great reminder of community in SDSU athletics,” Wirth said. “Honoring female athletes from every sport and from every year really attests to the concept of being a Jackrabbit family.”
Basketball and volleyball, which are celebrating 50 years of competition this year, have 14 and 8 former Jackrabbits on the Top 50 list, respectively.
Cross country and track have 5 Hall of Famers among their 13 honorees. Softball has three while soccer, golf, swimming and diving and all-around each have two on the list.
Nancy Driggs, Shelly Bird, Sharon Kogel and Santana Wright were honored from the tennis, gymnastics, field hockey and equestrian teams, respectively.
The year-long 50 Years of Women's Athletics celebration will honor all former Jackrabbit female student-athletes, coaches and staff. Highlighting the celebration is a weekend of festivities Nov. 12-14.
50 YEARS OF WOMEN'S ATHLETICS EVENTS• Nov. 12 — Harding Distinguished Lecture with Chris Voelz, 7 p.m., Performing Arts Center
• Nov. 13 — 50 Years of Women's Athletics Welcome Reception, 11:30 a.m., McCrory Gardens
• Nov. 13 — Volleyball vs. North Dakota State, 2 p.m., Frost Arena
• Nov. 13 — Basketball vs. Marist (N.Y.), 6 p.m., Frost Arena [halftime recognition of Top 50]
• Nov. 14 — Volleyball vs. Western Illinois, 7 p.m., Frost Arena
Players Mentioned
