VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NDHSAA) – The North Dakota Officials Association (NDOA) announced the 51st induction class to the 2020-21 Hall of Fame as determined at its fall Board of Directors meeting. The NDOA has inducted 154 officials into its Hall of Fame since the inaugural class in 1965. Plaques commemorating all Hall of Fame members are housed in the North Dakota Athletic Hall of Fame, located inside the Jamestown Civic Center. Inductees are:
Gary Cederstrom – Minot
Gary Cederstrom began officiating North Dakota high school football and boys basketball in 1975.
In 1980 he added high school girls basketball to his officiating repertoire. In total, Cederstrom officiated 25 seasons of boys basketball, 20 seasons of high school football and 14 seasons of high school girls basketball in the state of North Dakota. As a high school official, Cederstrom worked 30 NDHSAA playoff football games, and 10-plus boys and girls baseball region tournaments.
Cederstrom’s officiating talents eventually propelled him to a career as an umpire in professional baseball. From 1989 to 2019 Cederstrom was an umpire in Major League Baseball serving as a crew chief from 2007-2019. During his MLB umpiring tenure, Cederstrom umpired in the 2003 and 2014 MLB All-Star games, three MLB Wild Card Playoff games, nine MLB Division Series Playoff Series, eight MLB League Championship Series and four MLB World Series (2005, 2011, 2015 and 2019).
Prior to his 31 seasons umpiring in Major League Baseball, Cederstrom umpired in the Midwest League, Eastern League, and American Association. He was named Crew Chief of the Year by Close Call Sports (CCS) & Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (UEFL) in 2015 and 2019. Cederstrom also worked several seasons officiating basketball in the NDCAC, Mon-Dak and the IBA.
Cederstrom retired as an MLB umpire in February of 2020, but returned to North Dakota to officiate high school football games in his home state during the 2020 season. He is married to Theresa and has three children: Erin, Caitlin and Keaton.
Larry Grondahl – Williston
Larry Grondahl began officiating basketball during the 1976-77 season and continued to work games for 44 years in the sport up to his retirement in 2020.
In his time as a basketball official, Grondahl worked games in North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. As a registered NDHSAA official, Grondahl worked a total of 58 Class B boys and girls district basketball tournaments, 15 Class B boys and girls region basketball tournaments, 21 Class A boys and girls region basketball tournaments, 15 Class A state basketball tournaments and a total of four NDHSAA basketball state championship games.
Grondahl served as the Williston Basin Officials Association secretary/assigner for 30 years and served as North Dakota Officials Association (NDOA) Board Member from 2010-2016. He was NDOA Board President from 2014-2016.
Grondahl also worked as a NDHSAA Officials Workshop supervisor for 26 years and was a day camp/clinician for 17 years. He was named NFHS Basketball Official of the Year for the state of North Dakota in 2008 and has also given back to other officials serving as an officiating evaluator in his region.
Other highlights in Grondahl’s officiating career include working 36 years as a NJCAA basketball official (Mon-Dak Conference) and 23 years as an NAIA basketball official (NDCAC, DAC, Frontier Conferences). Grondahl officiated six Region 13 NJCAA playoff tournaments and 12 NDCAC/DAC playoff tournaments.
Grondahl owns and operates Grondahl Recreation in Williston, N.D. He is married to Brenda and they have four children Shaun, Shane, Jason and Nate.
Mickey Jordan – Bismarck
Mickey Jordan began officiating basketball in 1986 and continued to do so until his recent retirement following the 2019-2020 season.
During his tenure as a basketball official, Jordan refereed a total of 30 NDHSAA state tournaments – 11 Class A boys, 10 Class B boys, nine Class B girls – and worked eight NDHSAA state championship games. Jordan also worked numerous region and district basketball tournaments between boys and girls.
Jordan served as a NDHSAA Officials Day Camp Director/Supervisor and also served as President of the North Dakota Officials Association (NDOA) for three years. Jordan was a member of the Dickinson Roughriders Officials Association and made a point to mentor young officials throughout his tenure in both high school and collegiate basketball officiating. Highlights in his collegiate officiating career included working numerous playoff games in the Mon-Dak, DAC10, Frontier and North Star conferences.
In addition to his officiating career, Jordan also worked as an educator and coach at Westhope High School (1977-1984) Richardton/Taylor High School (1984-1998). From 1986-1997, Jordan was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Dickinson State University and from 1998-2008 he was an Assistant Principal at Dickinson High School. Jordan also served on the NDHSAA Board of Directors for three years.
Jordan is a Financial Professional at Thrivent Financial in Bismarck and has two daughters Shannon and Paige.
Jim Harty – Jamestown
Jim Harty began officiating in 1976 at the age of 18 umpiring American Legion baseball games. Forty-four years later, Harty is still an active official in the state of North Dakota at both the collegiate and prep levels. Harty became a registered high school and collegiate baseball official in 1981 and later added football to his officiating repertoire (1985 – high school and 1988 – college).
During his career, Harty officiated eight NDHSAA Dakota Bowl football championship games (six of which he served as the white hat official – 2020, 2019, 2016, 2011, 2006, 2002) and 21 NDHSAA baseball state tournaments. The 2020 fall season marked his 36th officiating high school football.
A member and president of the Jamestown Football Officials Association, Harty has worked NAIA and NCAA Division II College Football games for 32 years and received several NAIA National Playoff game assignments during that time as well as working the 2018 NCAA Division II Mineral Water Bowl. Harty also worked as an official in the National Indoor Football League for four seasons officiating a total of seven NIFL playoff games and the 2000 NIFL Gold Cup Championship game.
Other baseball officiating highlights for Harty include working 20-plus American Legion State Tournaments, three American Legion Central Plains Regional Tournaments, and several NAIA postseason baseball tournaments.
Harty works at Harty Insurance Inc. in Jamestown and is married to Connie. They have three children Nicole, Alicia and Brittany.
Dave Maier – Bismarck
Dave Maier began officiating North Dakota high school soccer in 1999. During his time as an official, Maier also served as a local referee assignor in Bismarck, soccer clinician for the NDHSAA and referee assessor/mentor.
Maier retired from officiating boys and girls soccer in 2019 and in the 20 years he served as an official he worked a total of 16 NDHSAA boys and girls soccer state tournaments. He also worked numerous Western Dakota Association boys and girls soccer regional tournaments. In 2009-10, Maier was named the NDOA’s Soccer Official of the Year. From 2009 to 2013, Maier served on the National Federation of High School State Associations (NFHS) Soccer Rules Committee. Following his time on the rules committee, Maier was a soccer content expert for the NFHS Referee Education Program. He also served as the head official of the Bismarck Mandan Soccer Referees Association (BMSRA).
In addition to officiating, Maier served as Vice President for Del-Mar Vending Company in Bismarck and is currently a State Referee Administrator, a Regional Assessor, and an Instructor for US Soccer. He continues to attend local matches and mentors officials in the Bismarck region. Maier works for the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census as an IT Manager in Bismarck.
Maier was married to Geri (deceased) and has two children Michael (35) and Melissa (32).
Donna Johnson-Hutchison – Larimore
Donna Johnson-Hutchison began officiating volleyball in 1975 and is still currently active working matches at the collegiate level in North Dakota and Minnesota.
During her tenure as a volleyball official, Johnson-Hutchison has been affiliated with the North Dakota Officials Association (Volleyball representative and president from 2008-2009) and Professional Association of Volleyball Officials (current Board Chair).
In 1989-90, Johnson-Hutchison was named the NDOA’s Outstanding Volleyball Official. She has spent many matches mentoring young and new officials and has given back to the sport by serving as a NDHSAA Volleyball Officials Workshop Supervisor.
Johnson-Hutchison officiated 16 NDHSAA Volleyball State Tournaments and approximately 36 region volleyball tournaments. In 2013, Johnson-Hutchison worked a total of 100 matches at the collegiate and high school level.
Johnson-Hutchison is a retired teacher and coach. She has one son Bryan (wife Melissa and three grandchildren: Cade, Nora and Elin).
