SIOUX FALLS — Two former National Football League players and the all-time home run champion in South Dakota amateur baseball history headline a group of 15 new inductees into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
The banquet will be Sunday, September 26, 2021, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. Tickets for the public event will be available beginning Monday, August 16.
Doug Eggers graduated from Wagner High School and had an outstanding football career at South Dakota State University. He then went on to spend five years with the Baltimore Colts. Darwin Robinson of Redfield was a record setting football player and track & field athlete at Dakota State College. He then became a member of the Washington Redskins. Kevin Leighton of Madison hit more than 500 home runs in his long amateur baseball career, winning numerous state titles along the way.
Other inductees in the Class of 2021 include Sioux Falls residents Bruce Conley, longtime sportswriter at the Argus Leader. Ronald Mitchell who spent decades as a successful coach for deaf athletes. Gary Reed, a state champion high school coach and basketball official who worked over 50 state tournaments. Duane Whalen a forty year coach and athletic director in Rapid City. John Houska of Rapid City who coached numerous sports and won 18 state titles and officiated 30 state wrestling tournaments. Ken Ruml of Howard, one of the top wrestling coaches in the state, Heather Sieler Goehner of Huron who went on to star in basketball at SDSU. Laverne Diede of Freeman who helped start girls sports in the state. Randy Fletcher of Lennox a basketball star at Dakota Wesleyan. Jim Miner of Yankton who helped make the Bucks a track and football powerhouse. Former Aberdeen and Northern State standout Wally Johnson; and the late Steve Withorne who starred in basketball and football at Dakota Wesleyan and earned an NFL tryout with the Cowboys, who also went on to a long officiating career.
~ South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame Press Release