SDSU Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame Class announced

Record-setting performers in track and field, football, baseball and softball make up the six-member 2024 induction class for the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame at South Dakota State University.

On-campus induction ceremonies will be held Sept. 14. Use the button below to purchase tickets. Contact the SDSU Athletic Development Office with questions at JackrabbitClub@sdstate.edu.

The 2024 class will bring the roster of Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame inductees to 124 since its inception in 1967.

Berry set eight individual school passing records during a career from 2005-08 and helped lead the Jackrabbits through a successful transition into the Football Championship Subdivision.

A Watertown native, Berry established SDSU career records for completions (485), attempts (834), yards (6,023) and touchdown passes (56) — all of which have since been broken. He quarterbacked the Jackrabbits to the Great West Football Conference title as a junior in 2007, marking the program’s first league title in 44 years.

Berry raised his game to a whole new level as a senior in 2008 as SDSU joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference. He earned first-team all-MVFC honors after setting Jackrabbit single-season marks for completions (256), attempts (395) and passing touchdowns (30) while SDSU scored a then-school-record 427 points (35.6 points per game). His seven touchdowns versus Illinois State that season remain SDSU and MVFC single-game records.

In addition to his accomplishments on the field, Berry excelled in the classroom. He was the first Jackrabbit to be named a finalist for the Draddy Trophy (now the William V. Campbell Trophy) as the top scholar-athlete in college football. He also was awarded postgraduate scholarships by the NCAA and FCS Athletics Directors Association.

Clarksean (pronounced clark-SEEN) lettered as a defensive back for the Jackrabbits from 1971-73 and continues to hold the SDSU single-season and career records for interceptions.

His breakthrough season came in 1972, when he began the campaign with three interceptions in the season opener against Eastern Montana to tie what was then the single-game school record. He went on to record nine interceptions during the 1972 season, surpassing the previous single-season school record of seven set by fellow Hall of Fame honoree Wayne Rasmussen in 1963.

Clarksean would go on to share the team lead with three interceptions in 1973 en route to earning all-North Central Conference honors and setting the Jackrabbit career record with 14 pickoffs.

A native of Alpha, Minnesota, Clarksean tallied a combined 133 tackles over his last seasons. He also served as a team captain in 1973.

Dauer continued the Jackrabbit tradition of championship distance running by winning six conference titles in cross country and track and field during a career that spanned both NCAA Division II and Division I competition.

The native of Springfield, Minnesota, became only the third female runner to win three consecutive North Central Conference individual cross country championships, joining fellow SDSU runners and Hall of Fame inductees Kristin Asp (1981-83) and Kiri Johnson (1990-92) by claiming titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Dauer went on to earn NCAA Division II All-America honors with a 14th-place individual finish at the 2002 national cross country meet.

Dauer carried the momentum from her 2002 cross country season into the 2003 indoor track and field campaign as she crowned NCC champion in the 5,000 meters and recorded a runner-up finish in the event at the NCAA Division II Championships.

With SDSU moving to Division I competition as her collegiate career wound down, Dauer capped her Jackrabbit tenure by winning both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the 2005 Division I Independent Outdoor Track and Field Championships and shared the Women’s Athlete of the Meet Award.

Irish was a consistent performer at the plate for South Dakota State teams that won 30 or more games each of his four seasons in the lineup and claimed three consecutive North Central Conference titles from 1993-95.

A native of Plainview, Minnesota, Irish put together one of the best individual seasons in program history in 1996, earning NCC Southern Division Most Valuable Player honors along with being named to the College Baseball Coaches Association All-America Second Team for NCAA Division II. During that season he established Jackrabbit single-season records in four categories: batting average (.449), hits (75), runs scored (63) and runs batted in (63).

For his career, Irish set a then-SDSU record with 224 hits and ranked second with 60 stolen bases. A two-time first-team all-NCC selection as a third baseman, he led the team in steals three times (11 in 1994, 25 in 1995 and 19 in 1996) and also paced the squad in hits (62) and runs scored (45) as a junior. His nine home runs in 1996 were also a team high.

Peter holds the distinction of being the only Jackrabbit softball player to earn All-America recognition, claiming third-team NCAA Division II honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in 1997.

The native of Osage, Iowa, excelled both in the pitching circle and at the plate in helping lead the Jackrabbits to postseason play. Peter compiled a 22-10 record as a junior with a 1.67 earned run average as SDSU hosted the NCAA Division II North Central Regional in 1996.

During her All-America campaign in 1997, she posted an 18-6 and lowered her ERA to 1.27 while notching 170 strikeouts in 159 2/3 innings pitched. She closed out her career with school records for strikeouts (418), complete games (72) and victories by compiling a 55-38 career record. Her strikeouts total stood as the Jackrabbit career standard for nearly a decade.

A career .307 hitter, Peter tallied four home runs and 84 runs batted in during her four years at

Wirth excelled in the high jump, earning a pair of All-America honors to go along with five Summit League titles.

A Sioux Falls native, Wirth was an all-Summit League performer all four seasons she competed — both indoors and outdoors. She claimed three Summit League titles outdoors (2011, 2012, 2014) and two during the indoor season (2012, 2015).

Wirth earned All-America honors for the first time at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, bringing home second-team honors following a 12th-place finish in Eugene, Oregon. Another second-team All-America honor came the following winter with a 15th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

For her career, Wirth won the high jump title in 26 collegiate meets. She continues to hold school records both indoors (6 feet) and outdoors (5 feet, 10.75 inches).

Wirth was further honored as the recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

Longtime Madison coach and educator Tom Osterberg has been named the 2024 recipient of the Ralph Ginn Award for Coaching Excellence at South Dakota State University.

In a career spanning 36 years in the classroom and 40 years on the sidelines, Osterberg coached numerous sports at a variety of levels. He served as an assistant football coach for 36 years, coached basketball at the junior high and high school levels for 19 years, including two seasons as varsity head coach, was an assistant wrestling coach for years and assisted with the varsity track and field programs for 17 years, specializing in coaching the long jump and triple jump. Madison claimed three consecutive boys’ state Class A track and field titles from 1993-95 and added six more top-three team finishes during his tenure.

Osterberg was honored by his coaching peers as the Assistant Football Coach of the Year in 1994 and the All-Sports Assistant Coach of the Year in 2007. He also was recognized by the South Dakota High School Activities Association for his longevity with its 25-, 30- and 40-year coaching awards.

In addition, Osterberg was inducted into the Madison High School Hall of Fame in 2014 and was selected as the Honorary Referee for the 2003 Dan Barker Relays.

A Brookings native, Osterberg went on to letter in both football (1970-72) and baseball (1971-73) at South Dakota State and was a member of the Jackrabbits’ 1973 North Central Conference championship baseball team. He was inducted into the Brookings High School Hall of Fame in 2016 and also was selected to the South Dakota Softball Hall of Fame as a player in 2007.