FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State University athletic department has canceled the 2020 Bison Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2. The decision follows the postponement of NDSU’s fall athletic schedules to the spring and cancellation of other in-person homecoming events by the NDSU Foundation due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The 49th class of the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame will be moved back one year for induction on the 2021 homecoming weekend.
The honorees are three-time All-America softball pitcher Lindsey (Graham) Gustafson, football All-America offensive tackle Chuck Klabo, seven-time All-America middle distance runner Dr. Andrew Moen, seven-time All-America track and field multi-events athlete Andi (Noel) Olsonawski, two-time national champion heavyweight wrestler Nick Severson, 19-time All-America sprinter Jill (Theeler) Schlekeway, women’s soccer all-time leading scorer Nicole (VandenBos) Hurt, and retired men’s track and field/cross country head coach Don Larson.
Here’s a look at the 2021 inductees:
LINDSEY (GRAHAM) GUSTAFSON, softball, pitcher/outfielder (2001-2004)
Honors: Led North Dakota State to four NCAA tournaments including a pair of North Central Region championships with a third place national finish in 2003 and fifth place in 2002…NDSU won the 2002 North Central Conference tournament and compiled a 180-38 during her career…Three-time NFCA Division II All-American, including first-team honors in 2002 and 2003…2003 NCAA Division II national all-tournament team…Two-time NCAA North Central Regional all-tournament team…Four-time NFCA All-North Central Region pick…Three-time North Central Conference Player of the Year (2002-03-04)…Four-time All-NCC…Named NCC Player of the Week on 11 occasions…NFCA Scholar-Athlete…Academic All-NCC.
Stats/Notes: Program’s all-time leader with 1,019 strikeouts…On career charts, No. 1 in shutouts (49), earned run average (1.11), opponent batting average (.177) and strikeouts per seven-inning game (8.43)…Tied for first at NDSU with seven career saves…Had three no-hitters…Also No. 3 with 95 wins and 846 innings pitched…Her 137 pitching appearances and 117 starts were school records and still rank fourth most in Bison history…Career .317 hitter with 25 home runs and 98 RBIs…Finished fourth and is still tied for No. 10 all-time at NDSU in home runs…Earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NDSU and was a graduate assistant for the Bison in 2005 and 2006…Coached softball for 13 years at her alma mater, C.M. Russell High School, including nine as the head coach before resigning to spend time with her family…Inducted into the Montana High School Association Athletes Hall of Fame in 2018.
CHUCK KLABO, football, offensive tackle (1999-2002)
Honors: 2000 All-America second team by D2Football.com and Football Gazette…2001 All-America honorable mention by Football Gazette…2000 and 2001 Daktronics/CoSIDA All-Region second team…2000 All-North Central Conference first team…2001 All-NCC second team.
Stats/Notes: Would have been a four-year starter, but lost his senior year to injury after the first two contests…Started 36 of his 37 career games played…Debuted at right guard as a redshirt freshman in 1999 before moving to left tackle and right tackle before season’s end…Started 29 straight games, the last 26 at left tackle, prior to his injury…Cornerstone of an offensive line that blocked for NDSU all-time leading rusher and Bison Hall of Famer Lamar Gordon…Spent the 2003 season with the Cleveland Browns and the 2004 season with the Rhine Fire in Germany.
DR. ANDREW MOEN, men’s track and field, middle distance/relays (1998-2004)
Honors: Seven-time NCAA Division II Track & Field All-American (four indoor/three outdoor)…Ten-time North Central Conference champion including four times in the 800-meter run and six in the relays…Runner-up in 800 meters at 2002 NCAA indoor, placed fourth in 2000 and sixth in 2001…Member of fifth place 1,600-meter relay at 2002 NCAA indoor…Placed third in 800 meters at 2004 NCAA outdoor and eighth in the event in 2001…Member of eighth place 1,600-meter relay team at 2002 NCAA outdoor…Two-time North Central Conference outdoor champion in 800 meters in 2000 and 2004…NCC indoor 800-meter champion in 2001 and 2002…Member of 2002 NCC outdoor champion 1,600-meter relay…Member of 2000, 2001, 2002 NCC indoor champion 3,200-meter relay…2002 NCC indoor champion 1,600-meter relay.
Stats/Notes: School-record time of 7:40.61 in the NCC indoor 3,200-meter relay has stood since 2002…Also part of an indoor distance medley team whose 10:02.87 at Nebraska was an NDSU record for 10 years and still ranks fourth in program history…Remains ranked in the NDSU indoor top 10 for the 500 meters (8th, 1:04.76); 800 meters (6th, 1:51.06)…Outdoors, ran on two school-record setting 3,200-meter teams in 2000 and 2002 at the Drake Relays…Member of three of the top five outdoor 3,200 relay performances in school history…Still ranks fifth in NDSU history for the distance medley relay with a 9:59.42 at Drake in 2002…Graduated with a degree in electrical engineering before transitioning to a career in medicine as a board-certified podiatrist.
ANDI (NOEL) OLSONAWSKI, women’s track and field, multi-events (1998-2001)
Honors: Seven-time NCAA Division II All-American…The school’s only four-time All-American in the outdoor heptathlon, including fifth-place finishes each of her final two seasons…Also part of the third-place 400-meter relay team at the 2000 NCAA outdoor…Earned two indoor All-America honors in the 55-meter hurdles (6th in 2001) and the 1,600-meter relay (5th in 1999)…Four-time North Central Conference champion…Won back-to-back NCC indoor pentathlon titles and NCC outdoor 400-meter relay titles in 2000 and 2001.
Stats/Notes: Broke the school heptathlon record set by Bison Hall of Famer Lisa Ristau with a score of 5,294 points at the 2001 NCC championship…Still ranks fifth in NDSU history…Tied the NDSU indoor record in the 55-meter hurdles (8.02)…Graduated second in NDSU history and still ranks 10th in the indoor long jump (19-7 1/2)…Ran the third-best 100-meter outdoor hurdles time in NDSU history (14.05) and still ranks seventh all-time…Passed away in June 2020 after a nearly five-year-long cancer journey.
NICK SEVERSON, wrestling, heavyweight (1998-2002)
Honors: Two-time NCAA Division II national champion at heavyweight in 2001 and 2002…Helped Bison capture the 2001 NCAA Division II national championship with dramatic pin in 5:59 of South Dakota State’s Jon Madsen, the turning point in NDSU topping the Jackrabbits for the crown…Won 2002 North Central Conference individual title…Four-time NCC placewinner overall…Member of two conference championship teams…Inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.
Stats/Notes: Posted a 70-22 career record including 32-8 in duals with 36 pins…Fashioned a 47-4 record with 23 pins over final two seasons including 23-0 in duals…Put up 9-7 record including 3-3 in duals with four pins at 197-pounds in 1998-99…Went 14-11 including 6-5 in duals with seven pins at heavyweight in 1999-00…Compiled 17-1 record including 11-0 in duals with eight pins at 285 in 2000-01…Rolled up 30-3 record including 12-0 in duals with 17 pins at 285 in 2001-02…Placed fourth at 2003 U.S. World Team Trials…Fifth at 2003 U.S. Greco-Roman Nationals…Fourth at 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and eighth at 2011 U.S. Nationals.
JILL (THEELER) SCHLEKEWAY, women’s track and field, sprints/relays (1998-2002)
Honors: Nineteen-time NCAA Division II All-American in the 400 meters and the 400- and 1,600-meter relays…Twelve-time North Central Conference champion…Ran on the school record-setting and national champion 1,600 relay team to help NDSU to the 2002 NCAA indoor team national championship…NCC indoor championship MVP as a freshman in 1998…Two-time NCC outdoor championship MVP in 1999 and 2002…As a sophomore, won the 200, 400, triple jump, and ran on the winning 400 and 1,600 relays as the Bison won the 1999 NCC outdoor meet…In 2002, she was the NCAA Woman of the Year for North Dakota, NCC Stan Marshall Award winner, NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award and the CoSIDA Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-American of the Year…Three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American…Recipient of two NCAA postgraduate scholarships…Four-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree…Named to the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, joining her father, Jack, who was inducted in 2014.
Stats/Notes: Set NDSU indoor records in the 55 meters (7.05), 60 meters (7.64), 400 meters (54.63), 1,600-meter relay (3:41.58)…Still holds the 55-meter record and ranks among the top 10 in each other category…Outdoors, set NDSU records and still ranks among the school’s top 10 in the 400 meters (7th, 53.91), 400-meter relay (7th, 46.02), 800-meter relay (8th, 1:41.01), 1,600-meter relay (9th, 3:38.54), 3,200-meter relay (5th, 8:53.74) and sprint medley relay (9th, 3:56.89)…Her time of 24.01 in the outdoor 200 meters was second at NDSU and still ranks sixth all-time…Began her professional career as an athletic administrator in 2002 interning with the North Central Conference, NCAA and University of Washington before spending a year as compliance coordinator at the University of Southern California…Resume includes serving as associate athletic director at the University of South Dakota and community relations coordinator at Augustana University.
NICOLE (VANDENBOS) HURT, women’s soccer, forward (1996-2000)
Honors: Two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Central Region selection in 1996 and 1999…1996 North Central Conference Freshman of the Year…Two-time all-North Central Conference selection in 1998 and 1999…Two-time NCC Player of the Week.
Stats/Notes: Member of first NDSU women’s soccer team to qualify for the NCAA tournament in 1999…Bison went 14-3-2 in 1999 including 4-1-1 in the NCC…Overcame injury during the 1997 season to become NDSU’s career leader with 122 points (50 goals, 22 assists), 1.67 points per game (73 games), 50 goals and 0.68 goals per game…Her 14 game-winning goals were an NDSU career record and still rank second…Ranks second all-time with 236 shots attempted, third with 3.23 shots per game, tied for 4th with 22 assists, seventh with 0.30 assists per game, and tied for fifth with 73 games started…Holds three of the top four NDSU single-season marks for points and goals including a school-record 37 points and 15 goals in 1999 that still rank second…Set single-match records with five goals and 10 points vs. Rocky Mountain College (10-17-1999)…Shares the single-game record of 12 shots vs. Wisconsin-River Falls (8-28-1999)…Led the Bison in points and goals in 1996, 1999 and 2000…Tied for team-lead in assists in 1999.
DON LARSON, men’s track and field/cross country head coach (1979-2020)
Honors: Eighteen-time Summit League Coach of the Year…Earned 60 Coach of the Year honors at the conference, regional and national levels…Swept the Division II indoor and outdoor National Coach of the Year awards in 2004…1998 recipient of South Dakota State’s Ralph Ginn Award for coaching excellence…Inducted into the Howard Wood Dakota Relays Hall of Fame.
Stats/Notes: Coached 55 conference championship teams in the North Central Conference and Summit League…Successfully transitioned the Bison from Division II to Division I winning three Division I independent outdoor titles and one cross country crown…Had six individual competitors combine for 14 national championships…In 40 outdoor seasons, Larson’s teams never finished lower than third in a conference meet…Won 21 NCC outdoor titles including a conference-record 13 straight from 1987-1999…Made seven Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Division II outdoor championships including eighth in 2003 and third in 2004 before reclassifying to Division I…Coached Bison teams that won 11 of 12 Summit League outdoor titles before retirement…Indoors, the Bison won 8 of 13 Summit League titles…NDSU tied for ninth at the 2019 NCAA Division I indoor meet behind two-time individual national champion Payton Otterdahl in the weight throw and shot put…Led 14 teams to NCC indoor championships and finished as high as fourth at the NCAA indoor championship (1989) in addition to three fifth-place finishes (1990, 1994, 2004) and seven other Top 10 showings…Coached nine cross country athletes to 13 NCAA Division II All-America awards…Competed for conference rival South Dakota State University (1971-76), capturing two All-America honors in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 1972 (6th) and 1975 (4th) to go along with seven NCC championships in track and field…Set three league records and still holds a share of the retired 600-yard indoor mark of 1:11.90 set in 1975.
*Courtesy NDSU Athletics