Four former athletes, two physicians to be honored during luncheon scheduled for Saturday

Four former athletic standouts and two physicians who helped keep many athletes healthy are slated to be inducted into the Watertown High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The induction will come during a luncheon at the Kotadome in the Ramkota Hotel and the Watertown Events Center. The event begins with a social at noon, followed by lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the program at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by contact the WHS Activities Office at 605-882-6328.

Inductees include Josh Olson, 2003 graduate; Kristin (Rector) Griess, 1993 graduate; Brittany (Page) Kuper, 2008 graduate; Craig Austin, 1978 graduate; and contributors Ed Gerrish, M.D. and Clark Likness, M.D.

This is the 17th induction banquet since the hall was started in 1997. It was held annually from 1997 through 2003 before being switched to a biennial event.

Saturday’s induction ceremony — which caps a week of homecoming festivities — will push the number of former Arrow athletes, coaches and contributors in the Hall of Fame to 79.

Here are the biographies on the new inductees:

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Josh Olson (Class of 2003)

Olson was a two-year letter winner in football, basketball and track at WHS and earned Academic All-State honors in all three sports in both 2002 and 2003.

He played on Watertown's state Class 11AA football championship team in 2001 and earned All-State and All-Eastern South Dakota Conference honors as a wide receiver in 2002, also being named as a member of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader's Elite 45 squad.

Olson served as a co-captain in both football and basketball, but really made his mark on the track where he was the state Class AA boys' 400-meter dash champion in 2003, while also finishing second in both the 200 dash and long jump and as a member of the Arrows' 1,600 relay team. He still holds the conference and school records in the boys' long jump (23 feet, 1.25 inches).

He was named the Most Valuable Athlete of the 2003 Watoma Relays track and field meet and earned the school's Frank Coffey All-Around Male Athlete Award before continuing his track and field career at the University of South Dakota, where he was a member of indoor and outdoor conference track championship teams with the Coyotes.

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Kristin "Rector" Griess (Class of 1993)

Another all-around athletes, Griess earned 10 letters (five in track, three in basketball and two in volleyball).

In basketball, she earned All-ESD honors twice and second-team Class AA All-State honors a senior in the fall of 1992. Griess was the team's most valuable player in 1991 and received the Arrow Ward in both 1991 and 1992.

In volleyball, Griess served as a co-captain in 1991 and captain in 1992 and was named the Arrows' most valuable attacker in 1990 and 1992 and most valuable blocker in 1991 and 1992. She played on the All-ESD tournament champions as a junior and on the All-ESD league champions as a senior.

Griess was chosen to play on the South Dakota Coaches Association's All-Star Volleyball and Basketball games in 1993 and opted to play the volleyball game.

Like Olson, Griess really made a mark in track and field where she was a four-time state Class AA and ESD place winner in the discus as well as a two-time placer in the shot put in both the state and conference meets. She was a state runner-up three times in the discus and once in the shot put and finally broke through with an ESD title in the discus in 1993.

She was named the Arrows' most outstanding field events athlete in 1990, 1992 and 1993, also earned the Arrow Award in 1993 and was the Scholastic Arrows (highest grade-point average) in both 1991 and 1993).

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Brittany "Page" Kuper (Class of 2008)

Track and field was the sport of choice for Kuper, who lettered six times (2003-2008) and was named the Arrows' most valuable girls' track athlete five times in her high school career.

Kuper was an ESD champion in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes and either the 800- or 1,600-relay for fourth-straight years from 2005-2008 and won four events (including the Gold Medal award for the best time in all classes) at the 2005 state meet when she took the 100, 200 and 400 and also ran on the winning 1,600 relay. She was named the outstanding Class AA girls track athlete at both the 2004 and 2005 state meet.

Her notable high school career including 21 medals (18 gold, two silver and one bronze) in the ESD and 18 more (eight gold, six silver and four bronze) in the state Class AA meet. She had eight Gold Medal awards at state, made the South Dakota High School Girls Top 10 all-time track and field performance list 24 times during her career and set three state records (200 dash in 2005 and 800 and 1,600 relays in 2006).

Kuper still holds five WHS records (200 and 400 dashes as well as 400, 800 and 1,600 relays).

Her track success continued after graduation at North Dakota State University where she a member of eight Summit League champions (four indoor and four outdoor) and medaled 16 times (eight gold, two silver and six bronze).

She made the NDSU Track and Field All-Time Top 10 performance list 25 times and still holds school records in the indoor 300 hurdles (2011) and 1,600 relay (2012) and outdoor 400 and 800 relays (2013) and sprint medley relay (2010 and 2013). In addition, Kuper was a three-time qualifier for the NCCA Outdoor West Track and Field meet in 2011 (1,600 relay) and 2013 (400 and 1,600 relays).

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Craig Austin (Class of 1978)

Austin lettered three times in football (1975-77), twice in track and field (1977-78) and once in basketball (1977) for the Arrows.

Football was his forte. He earned All-State honors while also serving as the team co-captain and Chief of Arrows in 1977. He also played the role of Conrad Birdie in the All-School Musical, "Bye Bye Birdie."

His football career continued at the University of South Dakota, where he was a four-year letter winner (1978-81) who served as a team captain in 1981. Austin was a two-time All-North Central Conference linebacker and three-time All-NCC All-Academic honoree who earned multiple NCAA Defensive Player of the Week honors. He ranks fifth in career tackles (331) and second (145) and sixth (138) in single-season tackles for the Coyote program.

In 1982, Austin was drafted in the 10th round by the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks. He was inducted in the USD Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Clark Likness, M.D.

Likness is being inducted as a contributor after serving a team physician for WHS athletic teams for 35 years, performing free athletic physical exams for Watertown and many surrounding area athletes and providing medical covering for a variety of state tournaments hosted in Watertown.

He was the South Dakota state wrestling tournament doctor from 1995-2004 and staffed football playoff games for Castlewood, Hamlin and Grant-Deuel from 1982 through 2019. Likness received the Watertown Wrestling Booster Club's Sportsmanship and Arrow Pride Award in 2001.

Other positions and honors for Likness include serving as the president and medical director of Brown Clinic (1995-2014), SDAFP president and Doctor of the Year, Make A Wish South Dakota-Montana Volunteer and Wish Grantor since 1990, Make a Wish Medical Advisor for South Dakota-Montana (2010-to-present), Codington County Dive and Rescue Doctor and Team Member (1996-to-present) and co-founder of Lake Area Child Protection Team and Member through 2022.

He also is a state member of the South Dakota Tobacco Free Coalition, helped start the Prairie Lakes Hospitalist Program. Likness has volunteered physician coverage on five honor flights (World War II, Korean War and Vietnam vets) and received the Bush Fellow Award for Medical Leadership in 1994-95.

Ed Gerrish, M.D.

Gerrish is also being inducted as a contributor after serving as a team physician for WHS athletic teams for more than 30 years, performing free athletic physicals for Watertown and many surrounding area athletes and providing medical covering for a variety of state tournaments hosted in Watertown.

He has received the Friend of Football Award from the South Dakota Football Coaches Association and the Friend of Education Award from the South Dakota Education Association.

Gerrish is an active member of the Watertown Quarterback Club, serving as a group's president in 1996 and receiving its Distinguished Service Award in 2010.

Gerrish is the first surgeon ever to be twice elected, based on skill as a surgeon and leadership ability, as president for the South Dakota Chapter of American College of Surgeons.

WHS Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees

• 1997 — Dale Freeburg, Kay (Stormo) Freund, Elwin “Duke” Grow, Jim Marking, Tom McGrann, Tom Murphy and Doug Peterson.

• 1998 — Robert “Jolly” Carlson, Rick Jensen, Steve Heidenreich, Rich Kosier, John DeWitt and Dr. Jim Larson.

• 1999 — Edwin “Bud” Elkins, Ted Berner, Dan Wicks, Drake Alan Titze and Dr. Gerald Tracy.

• 2000 — Roger Pries, Mark Wicks, Vince Haan, Joe Sumner and Doug Kluck.

• 2001 — Dawn (Koehn) Beil, Burdell Coplan, Don Vogt and Wayne Hunter.

• 2002 — Cleve Abbott, Dave Roby, Heath Rylance and Mark Bierscheid.

• 2003 — Jason Sutherland, Becky (Larson) Pessolano, Stuart Lund and Dwight D. Miller.

(Changed to biennial event after 2003)

• 2005 — Tracie (Fie) Lavelle, Jim Dehnert, Carter Reese and Norb Neisen.

• 2007 — Joe Roby, Mary Korbel-Johnson, Jaime Berry and Jack Flug.

• 2009 — Tammy Harding-Zubke, Brian Norberg, Dave Mahnke and Dudley Melichar.

• 2011 — Craig Larson, Kriss Edwards, Alanna Hetland, Marv Sherrill and Harvey Hammrich.

• 2013 — Penny Hammrich, Tony Jurgens, Tony Haan and Ernie Edwards.

• 2015 — Maurice Hanson, Richard A. Larson, Ann (Neisen) Lauseng and Todd Enderson.

• 2017 — Mike Murphy, Valynn (Van Well) Appelhof, Jon Walder and Doug Schooley.

• 2019 — Kiersten Thompson, Phillip Davis, Ryan Berry, John White and Vic Godfrey.

• 2021 — Doug Murphy, Stacy (Schooley) Hendricks, Josh Hanson, Leslie (Brost) Szmanda and Dale McElhany.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: The Watertown High School Athletic Hall of Fame's 2023 induction class