ABERDEEN — Six individuals and one team will be honored during the 2024 Northern State University Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni Banquet in October.
The event will take place Friday, Oct. 4 in the Kessler's Champions Club Room in the Barnett Center. The evening kicks off with a social at 5 p.m., followed at 5:30 p.m. by the dinner and program. Tickets are required and can be purchased through the NSU Foundation at 605.626.2550 or nsualumni@northern.edu .
“We are extremely excited to induct this outstanding class of men and women into the Hall of Fame this year,’” noted NSU Director of Athletics Nate Davis. “These individuals had outstanding careers and represented the Wolves at the highest level. We will look forward to celebrating their achievements on campus in the fall.”
Honorees at the 2024 banquet include NSU Hall of Fame inductees Sasha (Hovind) Gallagher, cross country and track and field; John "Jack" Hurley, football; Hannah Kastigar, swimming; and the 1984-85 NSU wrestling team. Francis Zacher will receive the Kretchman Coaching Award. The late Ron Rivett, a philanthropist, will receive the Distringuished Alumni Award and Douglas Wiitala is the Graduate of the Last Decade.
Sasha (Hovind) Gallagher
Gallagher, a 2017 graduate, an 11-time All-American in track and field and cross country for the Wolves from 2014-17, closing out her career as the most decorated distance runner in school history.
In addition to her All-American performances, Gallagher was a two-time Northern Sun Inrtercollegiate Conference champion in the indoor 5,000-meter run (2016) and outdoor 10,000 (2018) and eight-time NSIC All-Conference performer in track and field and 2014 Conference Champion and 3-time NSIC All-Conference performer in cross country.
She earned All-American accolades in cross country in 2014 (finishing 15th), 2015 (13th) and 2017 (10th). On the track, Gallagher was an All-American in 2015 (taking seventh in the 5,000 and eighth in the 10,000 at the outdoor championships), 2016 (placing eighth in the 5,000 at the indoor championships and fourth in the 10,000 and ninth in the 5000 at the outdoor championships), 2017 (taking 12th in the 5,000 at the indoor championships;) and 2018 (placing sixth in the 10,000 and seventh in the 5,000 at the outdoor championships.Gallagher continues to hold school records in the indoor 3000 and 5,000 and outdoor 10,000. She was a COSIDA Academic All-American® in 2016 and 2018, earning first team accolades each season. Gallagher earned multiple NSIC All-Academic honors in her career, in addition to the 2017-18 Myles Brand Award, 2017 Indoor Track and Field Elite 18 Award, and 2018 Cross Country Elite 18 Award. In addition, she was the 2017 recipient of the Northern State Hildred Wolfe Award and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award: the highest academic and athletic achievements for both the institution and league.
Sasha and her husband, Jacob, currently reside in Coralville, Iowa with their 2-year-old son Apollo.
John "Jack" Hurley
Hurley, a Milbank native 1973 graduate, was a member of the Northern State College football and track and field teams from 1969-72. Hurley started on the offensive line for a Wolves team that went 22-7 in three seasons. The Northern offense outscored their opponents 1,032-416, leading the district and conference in rushing and passing offense in 1970, 1971 and 1972.
He was honored as a co-captain in the fall of 1972, alongside Pat Murphy. He earned both All-SDIC and All-District first team honors in his final two seasons on the gridiron. Hurley and his 1969 teammates were inducted into the Northern State Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2018.
In addition, he qualified for the NAIA National Championships in the discus in both 1971 and 1972.
Hurley is married to 1974 Northern State graduate Susan (Iverson) Hurley and they currently reside in O'Neill, Neb. The couple has two children (Nicole and John).
Hannah Kastigar
Kastigar, a 2019 NSU gradaute, waS the first national champion in the swimming program's history in program history. The championship was part of a decorated career with the swim team from 2016-19. She was a three-time NCAA National Champion, eight-time NCAA All-American and seven-time NSIC champion for the Wolves.
Her first national championship came in 2017 in the 400 individual medley with a then school-record time of 4:12.99. She followed that up with her second title the following day in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:58.36. Her third and final national crown came in 2019, breaking her own school record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:11.15, defeating the runner-up by six seconds.
Kastigar recorded All-American honors in the 200 IM (2017, 2019), 400 IM (2017, 2019), 100 butterfly (2017), 200 butterfly (2017, 2019) and 200 breaststroke (2019). In 2017, she won NSIC Championships in the 100 and 200 butterfly and the 200 and 400 IM and was both the NSIC Championships Swimmer of the Meet and Swimmer of the Year.
As a senior in 2019, Kastigar won the NSIC Championships in the 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 400 IM and was again honored as the NSIC Swimmer of the Year. She continues to hold Northern State school records in the 50, 100, 200 and 1,000 freestyle; 50 backstroke; 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke; 50, 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IM and NSIC records in the 200 and 400 IM and 100 and 200 butterfly.
Kastigar closed out her NSU career as the 2019 Hildred Wolfe Award winner and 2019 Thunder Award Female Performance of the Year winner. She competed on the national stage at the US Olympic Trials in 2012, 2016 and 2021 by swimming in the 200 and 400 IM, 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly.
NSU 1984-85 Wrestling Team
The 1984-85 wrestling team came off a losing season in 1983-84 to go 10-3 in dual competition. They finished as the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference runner-up and won the District 12 Championship under the direction of head coach Fran Hummel.
The Wolves qualified 10 grapplers for the NAIA National Tournament and finished third as a team in large part to four All-American performances by Dave Harvey, Doyle Everson, Blaine McCance and Jim Fryer. Harvey won the 118-pound national title, Everson and McCance each were runner-ups at 126 and 190 (respectively) and Fryer took third at heavyweight. All four recorded 30-plus win seasons and Everson and Harvey closed out their collegiate careers as just two of 11 Wolves in program history to record 100 career wins.
Hummel was honored by multiple outlets as the South Dakota Sportswriters Coach of the Year, NIC Coach of the Year, District 12 Coach of the Year, and NAIA National Coach of the Year. Hummel, Harvey, and Everson were inducted into the Northern State Athletics Hall of Fame as individual honorees in 2001, 2006, and 2022.
Members of the 1984-85 wrestling team include: Todd Bierschenk, Ryan Breske, Ryan Bunton, Eddie Clark, Don Davidson, Rich Egsgaard, Doyle Everson, Brad Feist, Todd Ford, Jim Fryer, Leo Gannon, Kent Hagen, Scott Hagen, Dave Harvey, Gary Harris, Richard Huff, Mike Johnson, Dale Kissner, Neil Lahammer, Curt Mack, Tony Mallinger, Blaine McCance, Randy Konold, Brad Ramey, Jeff Struble, Tim Taggart, John Trevett, Todd Weber, Tim Weisz and Mike Wray.
Francis Zacher
Zacher graduate from Northern State College in 1961 and returned to complete his master’s degree and serve as a graduate assistant at Northern State under the direction of legendary coach Bob Wachs. Zacher spent his professional career as a teacher and football and basketball coach at high schools across South Dakota.
Zacher led the boys basketball programs at Fort Pierre, Eagle Butte, Gettysburg and Aberdeen Roncalli and posted a career record of 250-95. Zacher led Roncalli to the South Dakota state Class A basketball title in 1975, the first parochial school and smallest school in the division to win a state title. On the gridiron, Zacher’s teams from Fort Pierre, Gettysburg and Roncalli went 51-21 overall.
His honors throughout the years include: 1975 National Association of Basketball Coaches Achievement Award, 1975 South Dakota Sportswriters High School Coach of the Year, 1998 Lakota Invitational Community Award and induction into the South Dakota High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009.
Following his coaching career, Zacher continued his passion for athletics as a high school official for both basketball and football in western South Dakota. He is also an Army Veteran having been drafted shortly into his initial coaching job in Fort Pierre.
Zacher's late wife Geraldine Payne Zacher also was a NSC graduate. They had four childen. His siblings Bill, Sylvester, Clarence, James and Mary Jean attended NSC; Bill was inducted in the NSU Hall of Fame in 1976.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: NSU Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni Banquet scheduled for Oct. 4
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