NSIC Hall of Fame induction ceremoney scheduled for Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Sioux Falls

BURNSVILLE, Minn. — The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) has announced its 2023 Hall of Fame inductees.

The induction ceremony will be held Tuesday, July 11 at the Best Western Plus Ramkota in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the NSIC’s annual Summer Kickoff event. A social will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the ceremony at 6 p.m. Reserve your tickets for the banquet by visiting https://northernsun.org/HOFBanquet and filling out the online Hall of Fame Banquet Registration Form. Registrations are due no later than July 1, as space is limited for this event.

The class of 2023 includes: 2011 Augustana Women’s Cross Country Team; Mary (Slinger) Heiken, Concordia University, St. Paul; Lindsey Dietz, University of Minnesota Duluth; Jennifer (Hensel) Jahnke, Minnesota State University Moorhead; Jake Hamik, Northern State University; Laura (Lundbohm) Hulsebus, Southwest Minnesota State University; Logan Masters, Wayne State College; and Jonte Flowers, Winona State University.

Founded in 1986, the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC - the former men’s conference) Hall of Fame was established to recognize and honor those who made significant contributions to the conference, to create favorable publicity and public relations for the league and to help preserve the history of the NIC, its member institutions, student-athletes, and other significant individuals affiliated with the league. The NSIC Hall of Fame now boasts over 200 members and two teams.

2011 Augustana University Women’s Cross Country Team

Augustana earned the NSIC’s first NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country National Champion in 2011 following a stellar performance in Spokane, Washington. It was the Vikings first national title in women’s cross country and the school’s second overall team national championship at the time. The Vikings netted just 75 points at a snowy Plantes Ferry Athletic Complex to defeat runner-up Western State (Colo.) by four points.

Leah Hansen led the Vikings, finishing 12th, running the 6,000-meter course in 21:40.40. Runa Falch finished directly behind her teammate in 21:42.40; Kristin Brondbo (21:47.90) and Kyle Blakeslee (21:53.30) rounded out this cluster of Augustana runners by finishing 15th and 18th, respectively. Kelly Kougl finished the scoring by placing 29th in 22:08.40. All five of the Vikings’ scoring runners earned All-America honors.

Augustana head coach Tracy Hellman was later voted USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year for guiding the Vikings to their historic season. The 2011 Augustana Women’s Cross Country Roster also consisted of: Megan Brown, Megan Erspamer, Maddy Jourgenson, Kelsey Junget, Molly Kokesh, Annie Pfeifle, Alyssa Schmidt, Gabi Swoboda and Kaitlyn Yoerg; assistant coach Jim Vahrenkamp, and graduate assistants Chris Parno and Kelsey Maloney.

Mary (Slinger) Heiken, Concordia University, St. Paul (2006-2010)

Heiken was a pivotal part of Concordia University, St. Paul’s first three NCAA Division II Volleyball National Championships. The program’s all-time leader in digs (2,349) and digs per set (4.52), Heiken is the only student-athlete to earn NSIC Libero of the Year on three occasions.

Heiken ranked in the top five in the NSIC in digs per set in each of her final three seasons while finishing fourth in CSP history with a .962 receive percentage and tying a school record with 154 matches played. Her efforts were shown in the team’s success as the squad compiled a record of 146-8 over four years while losing just one of 76 NSIC matches.

Lindsey Dietz, University of Minnesota Duluth (2002-2006)

Dietz was a dominant force for the UMD women’s basketball team from 2002 to 2006. She is one of just two, multi-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Americans UMD has ever produced and the first Bulldog player to lead the team in scoring four straight seasons. She ranks third on the UMD all-time scoring chart with 2,114 points in 104 games (20.3 ppg) and still owns seven school records, including field goal accuracy in a single season (.664 set in 2005-06), free throws made (184) and attempted (238) in a season, consecutive made FTs (43) and most free throws made (578) and attempted (721) in a career.

The Elk River (Minn.) native earned a spot on the NCAA Division II Kodak/WBCA All-America First Team for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons and landed three consecutive Daktronics All-American citations. She was also a four-time member of the North Central All-Region team. She was voted the NSIC Freshman of the Year in 2002-03, the Player of the Year in 2003-04 and was NSIC Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2003. .

Jennifer (Hensel) Jahnke, Minnesota State Moorhead (2005-2009)

Jahnke set the bar as a standout pole vaulter and sprinter for Minnesota State University Moorhead during her career from 2005 to 2009.

The Frazee (Minn.) native won two national championships in the pole vault, winning the 2007 and 2008 outdoor titles, earned six All-American accolades, won seven NSIC individual titles and was a seven-time Academic All-American.

Jacob Hamik, Northern State University (2005-2008)

Hamik rewrote the record book during his time as a hurdler/sprinter at Northern State University. From 2005 to 2008 he won 14 NSIC championships, was a five-time NSIC Track Athlete of the Year and a three-time NSIC Championship high point performer.

Hamik, a native of Aberdeen, set the Northern State and state collegiate record in the 400m hurdles (50.92), is part of the NSU shuttle hurdle relay record team, and is the Sioux City Relays 400m hurdles record holder. He hit the Olympic ‘B’ standard qualifying time twice for the 400m hurdles. He is a 4-time All-American in the 400m and 60m hurdles, placing as high as third in the 400m in 2008.

Laura (Lundbohm) Hulsebus, Southwest Minnesota State University (2000-2004)

Hulsebus was a four-year letterwinner for the Southwest Minnesota State golf team and one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history. Lundbohm, a native of Roseau (Minn.), was a four-time All-NSIC honoree and led the Mustangs to four NSIC team championships from 2000-03.

Following her senior season in 2003-04, Lundbohm was named the Minnesota State Collegiate Golf Association Player of the Year and became the first SMSU individual to earn National Golf Coaches Association honorable mention All-American honors. Lundbohm was a six-time career medalist and finished her career holding the school record with an 82.5 stroke average.

Logan Masters, Wayne State College (2006-2009)

Masters shattered nearly every receiving record in his four seasons as a wide receiver at Wayne State College from 2006-09. The Storm Lake, Iowa native earned All-NSIC honors four times and helped a Wildcat football turnaround that included a trip to the Mineral Water Bowl in his sophomore season and the NCAA Division II playoffs as a junior. He closed his career during senior season by setting a then NCAA Division II record by making at least two catches in every collegiate game played (46 games) and he was one of 24 candidates for the Harlon Hill Trophy, given to the top football player in NCAA Division II.

Masters closed his career with 258 receptions for 3,863 yards averaging 15.04 yards per catch, all WSC school records. He had 14 100-yard receiving games in his career and currently ranks third all-time in NSIC games career receptions with 207 for 3,118 yards and 20 TD’s while ranking sixth all-time in NSIC receiving yards per game (84.3).

Jonte Flowers, Winona State University (2004-2008)

Flowers was one of the best NCAA Division II players on some of the best NCAA Division II basketball teams ever to take the floor. Flowers struck fear in the hearts of opposing guards, racking up 414 career steals, which still stands as the NCAA Division II record and is second all-time across all three NCAA levels.

Offensively, Flowers was equally effective over his four years at WSU, scoring 1,882 points (4th all-time), while collecting nine different All-America awards, most notably a 2008 Daktronics 1st Team All-America honor. Flowers was part of two national championships, a national finalist team and part of run of 57 straight wins, an NCAA Division II record. Flowers earned the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year awards in each of his four Warrior seasons, standing as the only four-time Player of Year selection in any NSIC basketball award category.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: NSIC Hall of Fame inductees include Aberdeen native and NSU grad Hamik