Memories were shared, laughs were heard and awards and scholarships were handed out at Wednesday night's Mitchell High School Athletic Banquet and Hall of Fame induction.
Four individuals were inducted into the Mitchell Athletic Booster Club Hall of Fame during a banquet held at the Mitchell High School gymnasium.
Chad Anderson, Randi (Morgan) Haines, the late Bob Murphy and Jerry Opbroek were the inductees into the school's Hall of Fame.
Anderson was a 1985 graduate of MHS. He was a two-year letter winner on the gridiron, a three-year letter winner in basketball and a triple jumper and high jumper for the track team. Anderson led the Kernels to an Eastern South Dakota Conference title his senior year of football and conference titles his junior and senior seasons in basketball. During his junior and senior years, the Kernels won the last of the MHS boys' basketball titles under the two-class system in 1985.
His speech was concise, sharing a few memories and giving advice to the current student-athletes.
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"My advice to you is to find your passion in life and follow it," he said. "Dream big."
After high school, Anderson continued his football career at the University of South Dakota, where he was the starting quarterback for three years and was team captain for two years. He led the Coyotes to an NCAA Division II National championship appearance versus North Dakota State University.
n Haines (Morgan) joins her older brother, Scott, in the hall of fame to become the first siblings recognized. Haines was a four-time all-ESD selection from 1997 to 2000, a two-time all-state first team selection and a three-time all-tournament team selection at the state basketball tournament. At the time of her graduation, Haines was the MHS all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots and the leading scorer. Haines is also a member of the 1995-2005 South Dakota Class AA All-Decade Team and a Miss Basketball finalist.
She shared memories of having Gary Munsen as her basketball coach and talked about her other brother, Wes Morgan, who's the head girls' basketball coach. She said the two have a birthday within a couple days apart and she laughed about stealing her older brother's limelight again, after Wes' team won a state girls' basketball championship this year.
"I remember being at your age and anxiously awaiting the next step in my life," Haines said in her speech. "But those years went by so fast. I wish I would have taken a day to enjoy it all."
Haines went on to play basketball at Dakota Wesleyan University, where she was a multi-time all-Great Plains Athletic Conference performer, and an all-NAIA first team selection. She was named the 2002 NAIA Player of the Year and inducted into the DWU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
n Murphy was a 1948 graduate of MHS, where he excelled as a National Honor Society student and four-sport athlete in football, basketball, track and field and baseball. During his senior year, he led the football team to a 7-1 record and was recognized as the South Dakota Outstanding High School Player in both football and basketball.
Murphy's son, Tom, received the same award of South Dakota Outstanding High School Player in 1975, and they are thought to be the only father-son duo to have accomplished that.
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Two of Murphy's other sons, Rich and Mike, accepted the award on behalf of their deceased father. They spoke of his modesty and his humbleness.
"I heard about all of his accomplishments from other people," Tom said. "He never once talked about where he was recruited to play sports at."
Rich and Mike Murphy said their father was recruited to play collegiately by Minnesota, Kentucky, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and several other Division I universities.
n Opbroek was a graduate of Fairfax High School and started his teaching and coaching career in Minnesota in 1964. He then moved on to Burke High School in 1966 and came to MHS in 1972. He taught until his retirement in 2000, but he directed the South Dakota Mobile Science Lab from 2003 to 2011.
When Opbroek took the podium for his speech, he notified the crowd that he was the lone coach inducted to the hall of fame who's still alive.
"I've been walking on pins and needles all week," Opbroek joked, "in hopes that I make it to today."
Opbroek was recognized as the South Dakota Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1979, the U.S. Kids Wrestling Man of the Year in 1984 and was inducted into the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also inducted to the National AAU Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004.
Every January, the Jerry Opbroek Wrestling Invitational is held in the MHS gymnasium, pitting some of the most competitive high school wrestlers from South Dakota and surrounding states against one another.
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Other awards and scholarships that were handed out included:
Hustler awards -- Boys' golf: Karl Hellstrom; Girls' tennis: Amanda Hegg; Girls' soccer: Challie Jones; Boys' soccer: Caleb Larsen; Softball: Katy Lazenby; Girls' cross country: Berkley Rietveld; Boys' cross country: Christian Fossum; Competitive cheer: Courtney Hellman; Competitive dance: Katie Gregg; Football: Nick Kummer; Football cheerleading: Hailey Walz; Volleyball: Lexie Weier; Gymnastics: Rebecca Sadler; Wrestling: Brent Havlik; Wrestling cheerleading: Taylor Christensen; Girls' basketball: Megan Farnham and Kerri Young; Girls' basketball cheerleading: Arin Krogman; Boys' basketball: Matt Henriksen; Boys' basketball cheerleading: Rylee Sanders; Swimming: Miles Rothlisberger; Girls' golf: Kristin Sabers; Boys' tennis: Beau Brown; Girls' track and field: Olivia Willis; Boys' track and field: Nick Kummer; Baseball: Michael Sadler.
CorTrust-Mitchell Athletic Booster Club scholarships (worth $1,004.80) -- Kendra Cersosimo; Jason Greenway; Justin Greenway; Selby Gunsch; Brent Havlik; Taylor Herrick; Jade Miller; Alexis Olson; Haley Walz and Alexis Weier.
Golden M awards -- Jason Greenway; Austin Loes; Berkley Reitveld; Nick Kummer; Jade Miller; Megan Farnham; Kendra Morgan; Dana Misiaszek; Sidney Neugebauer; Joe Van Driel; Emma Schmidt; Katie Gregg; Michaela Bigge; Kayla Majercik; Hailey Walz; Avery Roy; Hailey McWane; Courtney Hellman; Jordan Barnhart; Taylor Christensen; Rylee Sanders; Allie Hanson; Trystin Smith; Ashton Weigand; Arin Krogman; Natalie Kobes; Johanna Allen; Taylor Wold; Darby Weiss.
Mike Miller scholarships -- Matt Henriksen and Dana Misiaszek.
Bill Timmins Fans of the year -- Gary and Kay Shafer; Bonnie and Jerry Krcil; Carol and the late Chuck Krcil.
Business of the year -- Photography Unlimited.
Jill McCormick Scholarship award -- Kendra Cersosimo.
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Adam Aslesen Memorial Leadership award/scholarship -- Brent Havlik.
South Dakota 6th District Medical Society scholarship -- Alexis Olson and Max Habermann.
Dave Brewer award -- Nick Kummer.
Mitchell assistant coach of the year -- Joe Shepardson.
The Daily Republic most valuable athletes -- Male: Brent Havlik; Female: Dana Misiaszek.
Tom Maxwell coach of the year -- Kent VanOverschelde, head football coach.
KMIT Radio-Student Athlete award -- Jason Greenway.
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