2001 NSU Hall of Fame Inductees

NSU Athletic Hall of Fame to add six members

Highlighting this year's Gypsy Day festivities will be the induction of another standout class of former Northern State University student-athletes into the NSU Athletic Hall of Fame. This year's inductees are, Jim Jensen, Dave Harvey, Gene Lorenz, Marlene (Calmus) Lorenz, Janel Birrenkott and Renee Ruesink.

Jim Jensen played strong safety for three South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference championship and national playoff football teams and was an all-American wrestler during his athletic career from 1967-1971.

On the field, Jensen saw significant minutes each season, and held down the starting safety position as a junior and senior. With Jensen on the roster, Northern sported a 32-6 record. Jensen's career also saw a milestone in Northern football come to pass, as Clark Swisher ended his football head coaching career in 1968 and handed over the reigns of the program to Jim Kretchman. With the help of players like Jensen (then a junior), the Wolves wasted no time in sustaining the level of excellence built by Swisher. In 1969, Northern posted its third-ever undefeated mark and the best record in the history of Northern football at 9-0.

Jensen won numerous individual awards on the gridiron during his career, but probably not quite as many as he earned on the mat for NSU. A four-time all-conference grappler, Jensen reached the height of his wrestling career as a senior when he earned all-American honors for placing third at the NAIA national tournament.

Jensen, a physical education and teaching major with a political science and history minor, graduated from Northern in 1971. Out of college, he landed a teaching and coaching position at Groton High School. For the next two years, he led GHS to successful seasons on the field and also served as the school's wrestling coach.

After Groton, the Sioux Falls native returned home and has been a teacher in the Sioux Falls School District ever since. As the head wrestling coach at Lincoln from 1979-1990, Jensen helped his wrestling team to a second-place state finish in 1985 and coached nine state champions.

Today, Jensen teaches elementary physical education at Lowell Elementary School in Sioux Falls. A wrestling referee for 25 years until 1996, Jensen officiated 22 state tournaments during his tenure. Outside of athletics, Jensen is also an instructor for a Multicultural Drivers Education course that drew national attention in the past year for its excellence in teaching American immigrants how to learn to drive safely.

Jensen and his wife, Shelly, are the parents of three children.

Dave Harvey was Northern State's second national champion in wrestling and the school's only two-time national champion in the sport. The former Miller resident won the NAIA national crown at 118 pounds as a junior in 1985 and at 126 pounds as a senior in 1986.

With Harvey leading the way, NSU placed third at nationals in 1985. As a senior, Harvey was the picture of perfection, compiling a 36-0 record en route to the national title. NSU earned the 1986 Northern Intercollegiate Conference championship and placed seventh at nationals. Harvey earned Northern's Male Athlete of the Year Award. With his accomplishments and a career record of 83-6, Harvey was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame for Outstanding Achievement for an Athlete in 1991.

Harvey graduated from Northern in 1986 with a bachelor's in accounting and followed that up in 1987 with a bachelor's in secondary education. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 1990. He has been a self-employed CPA for Dave A. Harvey, P.C. for the past eight years. He currently works as the CPA and financial consultant for Associated Dealers, Inc., based out of Reno, Nevada.

Harvey is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants, and Toastmasters International. He also served as the treasurer for St. Luke Lutheran Church in Mesa, Ariz. for four years.

Dave and his wife Jane reside in Chandler, Ariz.

Gene Lorenz was putting up double-doubles for Northern's basketball teams before the sports buzzword for putting up double digit-numbers in two categories during a game became popular. In fact, the Clark native averaged a double-double as a senior, putting up 18.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game en route to earning the 1984-85 Northern Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Year award.

Lorenz finished his career ranked 14 th on NSU's career scoring chart with 1,211 points. Today, he ranks 21 st on the list. As a senior, he was ranked nationally all season in rebounding. During his career from 1981-85, the Wolves posted a 88-30 record, collected two conference and district championships, and made two NAIA national tournament appearances.

In addition to his basketball exploits, Lorenz served as the starting punter and played at tight end for NSU's football team as a freshman. He also excelled in his three-year career with NSU's baseball program. A standout baseball player at Northern, Lorenz batted an other-worldly .481 and tied NSU's season home run record as a senior first baseman in 1985. He led the way to Northern's District 12 Championship and NAIA Area III Tournament berth that season, earning all-District 12 honors.

Lorenz earned NSU's Male Athlete of the Year award and the school's Stan Markley Spirit Award in 1985.

Lorenz earned his bachelor's degree in industrial technology in 1985 and his master's in teaching in 1986. Fresh out of college, he taught and coached at Hecla High School for a year, then spent the next 12 years as a teacher and coach at Madison High School. He coached junior varsity girls basketball and boys golf during his tenure there and also served as head boys basketball coach. His 1994 boys basketball squad finished third at the state tournament, earning Lorenz state coach of the year honors.

Lorenz spent the past two years as principal for Clark High School before landing his current position as principal at Winner High School. Lorenz and his wife, fellow 2001 NSU Hall of Fame inductee Marlene (Calmus) Lorenz, are the parents of two children and reside in Winner. Gene is a member of the local Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.

Marlene (Calmus) Lorenz is a fixture in the NSU track and field record book. A seven-time NAIA all-American, Lorenz was a national runner-up in both the marathon and the three-mile run as a senior in 1989. The Howard native still holds NSU records in the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs, as well as the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meter events. She also owns the Swisher Field facility record in the 10,000.

Lorenz was a multiple-time all-conference and all-district award winner in both cross country and track for the Wolves. She earned Northern's Female Athlete of the Year Award in 1989. She graduated that year with a bachelor's in elementary education.

Out of college, Lorenz worked for seven years as a teacher and coach at Arlington High School. While there, she was named the 1995-96 girls cross country coach of the year after leading her team to the State B title. She has also been named a Region 2 assistant track coach of the year and helped the girls track team to a second-place state finish in 1999.

After Arlington, she served in Madison for two years as the assistant director to Head Start/Early Head Start with ICAP (InterLakes Community Action Program) for a 13-county region in eastern South Dakota. For the past two years, Lorenz worked as an elementary school reading teacher and coached track and cross country for the Watertown School District. This fall, she will begin a new position as the third grade teacher in Winner.

Lorenz has been a member of the South Dakota Coaches Association, the National Reading Association and the South Dakota Literary Council. She's also an adult reading tutor. Marlene and her husband, fellow 2001 Hall of Fame inductee Gene Lorenz, are the parents of two children. They reside in Winner.

Janel Birrenkott didn't stop dominating on the basketball court after her career at Northern ended in 1986. In fact, her level of play and level of competition went global. She will be competing for her third gold medal on the USA National Women's Basketball Team at the Deaf World Games or "Deaflympics" this summer. Last year the USA Deaf Sports Federation named her one of the top 10 deaf athletes in the world.

At Northern, Birrenkott didn't let her disability affect her play. The guard from Lemmon had the two most prolific scoring seasons in school history, averaging an NSU-best 20.4 points per game as a senior and an NSU second-best 18.9 ppg as a junior. She also holds a school record for free-throw accuracy in a game, nailing 14-of-14 shots from the charity stripe as a senior. Birrenkott's junior season output of 587 points was a state collegiate scoring record, as she helped lead the Wolves with then-freshman upstart and fellow 2001 NSU Hall of Famer Renee Ruesink to an NAIA District 12 title. The following year, Northern left the independent ranks to join the Northern Sun Conference. Birrenkott led the league in scoring and earned all-conference honors as a senior. She ended her career with 1,352 points, which ranks eighth on NSU's all-time scoring list. With Birrenkott on the roster, Northern sported an impressive 88-21 record from 1982-86. Birrenkott also competed in softball at NSU.

After graduating from Northern in 1987 with a degree in industrial technology, Birrenkott worked for the South Dakota Department of Transportation for eight years. Today, she works in Tucson, Ariz., as an American Sign Language instructor at both the high school and college levels. But achieving great heights in basketball and athletics in general have always been a big part of Birrenkott's life.

"Without sports I don't think I would have been able to succeed and go on to college," Birrenkott said. "It gave me a goal and helped me to focus as well as giving me motivation to study and get good grades. It also gave me the opportunity to meet great athletes and famous players. I've met Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Greg Lougainis, Nancy Lieberman, Cheryl Miller and Bridget Pettis (through sports)."

Aside from helping lead the United States to two gold medals in basketball in 1993 and 1997, Birrenkott also played in the first professional women's basketball league in the country. The precursor to professional women's basketball today, the National Women's Basketball Association began in 1986 and Birrenkott played for an inaugural team in Des Moines, Iowa, called The Pride of Iowa. While trying out for the team, fellow South Dakotan and national news anchor Tom Brokaw interviewed Birrenkott. Unfortunately, the league folded after its first six months. Birrenkott has also won numerous outstanding player awards at the national level, leading three teams in Arizona and one in Minnesota to USA Deaf Basketball national championships.

Birrenkott was inducted into the South Dakota Assocatiation of the Deaf Hall of Fame last year for lifetime achievements as a deaf individual. A Tucson resident, Birrenkott also volunteers at the Arizona School for the Deaf as a basketball instructor.

Renee Ruesink became a household name in Northern State women's basketball lore with her stellar career from 1984-88. The Castlewood, S.D. product also made a name for herself on the regional level as one of the best, and was a 2000 inductee into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame.

"Rue" finished her career as the Wolves' all-time leading scorer (1,638 points) and assist leader (402 assists), as well as ending second in steals (309 steals) and fifth in rebounding (813 boards). Ruesink's records have more than stood the test of time. She's descended to third in scoring and eighth in rebounding but still holds NSU's career assists record and is still second on the steals list.

As a freshman, Ruesink and fellow 2001 NSU Hall of Famer Janel Birrenkott helped NSU to a 26-5 record and a district championship. A natural scorer, she still holds the conference record for points in a league game with 44. The consummate team player, Ruesink could have racked up more points as a senior but the 1986-87 conference scoring champ took on more of a defensive and assist-minded role as a senior to give an opportunity for emerging underclassmen to take scoring roles and make NSU a more balanced team. The result: the most successful season of Ruesink's career and one of the best seasons in NSU history. The Wolves finished 28-3 in 1987-88 and were nationally ranked all season. NSU finished first in the Northern Sun Conference with an 11-1 mark. A four-year starter and two-time all-conference performer, Ruesink helped NSU to an impressive 93-26 overall record during her career.

Ruesink's fabulous final season also ushered in a new era for NSU basketball, as it was the first season that games were played in the Joseph H. Barnett Physical Education Complex and Convocation Center. The Barnett Center remains today as one of the finest multi-purpose facilities in the Midwest and is home to countless college, high school and community events in the region.

Ruesink, a 1988 graduate in secondary education, works for Engineered Films and Raven Industries, both based out of Sioux Falls. She is an American Legionette and a member of an area Bemis Holland Presbyterian Church in Clear Lake