South Dakota State University Athletics
2017 Hall of Fame class unveiled
8/14/2017 3:00:00 PM | General
Five former South Dakota State University standouts who combined to earn All-America honors 19 times have been selected for induction into the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame this fall.
The inductions of Pat Dorn (wrestling), Nancy Gieske (cross country/track and field), Kiri Johnson (cross country/track and field), Josh Ranek (football) and Trevor Schulte (baseball) will bring the roster of Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame honorees to 85 since the hall's inception in 1967. Induction ceremonies for the 2017 Hall of Fame Class are scheduled for Oct. 7 at Club 71 inside Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased online through the SDSU Alumni Association.
PAT DORN [Class of 1990]
Dorn won a pair of national titles and earned All-America honors on four occasions during his collegiate career from 1986-89. He claimed the first of his 134-pound titles at the 1987 NCAA Division II Championships, finishing the year with a 29-8 record.
Dorn wrestled most of his junior season at 142 pounds before dropping back down to the 134-pound weight class as the postseason neared. He won his lone North Central Conference individual title in 1988 and again put together a championship run at the NCAA Division II Championships. Dorn would go to on to become the first Jackrabbit wrestler in 18 years to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Division I Championships with an eighth-place finish later that season.
As a senior, Dorn qualified for his third NCAA Division II Championships, coming away with a sixth-place finish at 134 pounds. He ended his collegiate career with a 100-33-3 record.
A native of Adrian, Minnesota, Dorn was inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016
NANCY GIESKE [Class of 1985]
Gieske was part of the Jackrabbits' powerhouse cross country teams which won back-to-back national titles in 1980 (AIAW) and 1981 (NCAA Division II). During her freshman season in 1980, Gieske won the AIAW region title and later posted a national finish in leading the Jackrabbits to team titles. She later placed seventh individually at the 1981 NCAA Division II Championships and turned in a 14th-place finish in 1982.
Gieske's distance-running success extended to the track, where she won five individual North Central Conference titles and posted two more NCAA runner-up finishes. Originally from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Gieske won consecutive 5,000-meter titles outdoors in 1981 and 1982, and added a 1,500-meter title in 1981. She also won 1,500- and 3,000-meter NCC titles during the 1982 conference season.
At the 1982 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Gieske placed second in both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs.
KIRI (JOHNSON) Solberg [Class of 1993]
Solberg also paced the Jackrabbits on the cross country course and track, earning All-America honors six times and winning four individual conference titles.
Three of Solberg's North Central Conference titles came in cross country. Her first two individual titles, in 1990 and 1991, spurred the Jackrabbits to conference team titles. She recorded her third consecutive NCC individual title in 1992 and capped her collegiate cross country career with her fourth All-America honor and second consecutive 10th-place finish at the national meet later that fall.
On the track, the Reeder, North Dakota, native won the NCC 5,000-meter indoor title in 1993 and posted back-to-back sixth-place finishes in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1992 and 1993.
Recognized as one of the top 50 female student-athletes during SDSU's 50 Years of Women's Athletics celebration during the 2015-16 school year, Solberg was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award during the 1993-94 academic year. She also was selected as a recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and was a GTE Academic All-District honoree.
JOSH RANEK [Class of 2002]
Ranek more than doubled the previous Jackrabbit record for career rushing during his standout career from 1997-2001.
In 44 career games, Ranek ran for a school-record 6,794 yards, topping the 100-yard mark 30 times and tallying 200-plus yards in a game 13 times as he averaged 154.4 yards per contest. He rushed for a career-high and then-school-record 291 yards against St. Cloud State in the 1999 season finale.
Ranek continues to hold 10 school records and seven North Central Conference records for rushing, scoring and all-purpose yardage.
The Tyndall native was honored on All-America teams in 1998, 1999 and 2001. He led the North Central Conference in rushing each of his three All-America seasons and finished as the conference's all-time leading rusher with 5,257 yards in league games.
Ranek gained 1,881 yards in 1998 and broke his own school record with 2,055 yards a year later. After being slowed by injury in 2000, Ranek capped his career by being named one of three finalists for the 2001 Harlon Hill Award as the top player in NCAA Division II, along with being selected as the NCC Most Valuable Back. He racked up 1,804 rushing yards and added another 509 yards through the air on 39 receptions during his senior season, finishing his career with 69 total touchdowns.
Ranek also was a three-time academic all-NCC selection and was named to the Verizon Academic All-America Team in 2001.
Following his collegiate career, Ranek played six seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Renegades (2002-05), Hamilton TigerCats (2006) and Saskatchewan RoughRiders (2007). He posted three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for Ottawa from 2003-05, earning CFL East All-Star recognition each season. Ranek finished his professional career with 4,377 rushing yards and another 2,506 yards receiving.
TREVOR SCHULTE [Class of 1994]
Schulte set numerous pitching records during a standout career from 1991-94 in which he compiled a 26-5 record.
After starting only six games his first two seasons, the left-handed Schulte established himself as the ace of the Jackrabbit pitching staff during his junior and senior seasons. He turned in a 10-2 record with a 2.89 earned run average en route to earning first-team All-America honors from the College Baseball Coaches Association in 1993, then posted an 11-1 record a year later. After losing his first two decisions of the 1993 campaign, Schulte won his next 21 consecutive decisions — a mark that stood as an NCAA Division II record for 17 years.
Originally from Montevideo, Minnesota, Schulte was named North Central Conference Pitcher of the Year in both 1993 and 1994. Besides his 26 career victories, Schulte's 226 career strikeouts remained a Jackrabbit standard for 21 years. His 100 strikeouts in 1994 and 11 victories in 1993 continue to be SDSU single-season records.
With Schulte on the mound, the Jackrabbits won NCC titles during the 1992, 1993 and 1994 seasons and qualified for the NCAA Division II North Central Regional each season.
The 2017 recipient of the Ralph Ginn Award for Coaching Excellence will be announced Tuesday.
The inductions of Pat Dorn (wrestling), Nancy Gieske (cross country/track and field), Kiri Johnson (cross country/track and field), Josh Ranek (football) and Trevor Schulte (baseball) will bring the roster of Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame honorees to 85 since the hall's inception in 1967. Induction ceremonies for the 2017 Hall of Fame Class are scheduled for Oct. 7 at Club 71 inside Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased online through the SDSU Alumni Association.
PAT DORN [Class of 1990]
Dorn won a pair of national titles and earned All-America honors on four occasions during his collegiate career from 1986-89. He claimed the first of his 134-pound titles at the 1987 NCAA Division II Championships, finishing the year with a 29-8 record.
Dorn wrestled most of his junior season at 142 pounds before dropping back down to the 134-pound weight class as the postseason neared. He won his lone North Central Conference individual title in 1988 and again put together a championship run at the NCAA Division II Championships. Dorn would go to on to become the first Jackrabbit wrestler in 18 years to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Division I Championships with an eighth-place finish later that season.
As a senior, Dorn qualified for his third NCAA Division II Championships, coming away with a sixth-place finish at 134 pounds. He ended his collegiate career with a 100-33-3 record.
A native of Adrian, Minnesota, Dorn was inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016
NANCY GIESKE [Class of 1985]
Gieske was part of the Jackrabbits' powerhouse cross country teams which won back-to-back national titles in 1980 (AIAW) and 1981 (NCAA Division II). During her freshman season in 1980, Gieske won the AIAW region title and later posted a national finish in leading the Jackrabbits to team titles. She later placed seventh individually at the 1981 NCAA Division II Championships and turned in a 14th-place finish in 1982.
Gieske's distance-running success extended to the track, where she won five individual North Central Conference titles and posted two more NCAA runner-up finishes. Originally from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Gieske won consecutive 5,000-meter titles outdoors in 1981 and 1982, and added a 1,500-meter title in 1981. She also won 1,500- and 3,000-meter NCC titles during the 1982 conference season.
At the 1982 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Gieske placed second in both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs.
KIRI (JOHNSON) Solberg [Class of 1993]
Solberg also paced the Jackrabbits on the cross country course and track, earning All-America honors six times and winning four individual conference titles.
Three of Solberg's North Central Conference titles came in cross country. Her first two individual titles, in 1990 and 1991, spurred the Jackrabbits to conference team titles. She recorded her third consecutive NCC individual title in 1992 and capped her collegiate cross country career with her fourth All-America honor and second consecutive 10th-place finish at the national meet later that fall.
On the track, the Reeder, North Dakota, native won the NCC 5,000-meter indoor title in 1993 and posted back-to-back sixth-place finishes in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1992 and 1993.
Recognized as one of the top 50 female student-athletes during SDSU's 50 Years of Women's Athletics celebration during the 2015-16 school year, Solberg was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award during the 1993-94 academic year. She also was selected as a recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and was a GTE Academic All-District honoree.
JOSH RANEK [Class of 2002]
Ranek more than doubled the previous Jackrabbit record for career rushing during his standout career from 1997-2001.
In 44 career games, Ranek ran for a school-record 6,794 yards, topping the 100-yard mark 30 times and tallying 200-plus yards in a game 13 times as he averaged 154.4 yards per contest. He rushed for a career-high and then-school-record 291 yards against St. Cloud State in the 1999 season finale.
Ranek continues to hold 10 school records and seven North Central Conference records for rushing, scoring and all-purpose yardage.
The Tyndall native was honored on All-America teams in 1998, 1999 and 2001. He led the North Central Conference in rushing each of his three All-America seasons and finished as the conference's all-time leading rusher with 5,257 yards in league games.
Ranek gained 1,881 yards in 1998 and broke his own school record with 2,055 yards a year later. After being slowed by injury in 2000, Ranek capped his career by being named one of three finalists for the 2001 Harlon Hill Award as the top player in NCAA Division II, along with being selected as the NCC Most Valuable Back. He racked up 1,804 rushing yards and added another 509 yards through the air on 39 receptions during his senior season, finishing his career with 69 total touchdowns.
Ranek also was a three-time academic all-NCC selection and was named to the Verizon Academic All-America Team in 2001.
Following his collegiate career, Ranek played six seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Renegades (2002-05), Hamilton TigerCats (2006) and Saskatchewan RoughRiders (2007). He posted three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for Ottawa from 2003-05, earning CFL East All-Star recognition each season. Ranek finished his professional career with 4,377 rushing yards and another 2,506 yards receiving.
TREVOR SCHULTE [Class of 1994]
Schulte set numerous pitching records during a standout career from 1991-94 in which he compiled a 26-5 record.
After starting only six games his first two seasons, the left-handed Schulte established himself as the ace of the Jackrabbit pitching staff during his junior and senior seasons. He turned in a 10-2 record with a 2.89 earned run average en route to earning first-team All-America honors from the College Baseball Coaches Association in 1993, then posted an 11-1 record a year later. After losing his first two decisions of the 1993 campaign, Schulte won his next 21 consecutive decisions — a mark that stood as an NCAA Division II record for 17 years.
Originally from Montevideo, Minnesota, Schulte was named North Central Conference Pitcher of the Year in both 1993 and 1994. Besides his 26 career victories, Schulte's 226 career strikeouts remained a Jackrabbit standard for 21 years. His 100 strikeouts in 1994 and 11 victories in 1993 continue to be SDSU single-season records.
With Schulte on the mound, the Jackrabbits won NCC titles during the 1992, 1993 and 1994 seasons and qualified for the NCAA Division II North Central Regional each season.
The 2017 recipient of the Ralph Ginn Award for Coaching Excellence will be announced Tuesday.
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