UNIVERSITY OF SIOUX FALLS STUDENT MEDIA
writers.
EMMA EDWARDS GRACE FLAHERTY MYLIN LEMKE REGAN LARDY
BELICIA HERNANDEZ
MARA NELSON GUNNER GOULD
HONORING THE MEMORY OF KEN “SID” KORTEMEYER
Friends, relatives, USF alum, staff, and current students gathered at the University of Sioux Falls Stewart Center to say goodbye to a legend. Ken ‘SID’ Kortemeyer’s Celebration of Life was held on Sunday, Nov 3, 2024 at 1:45 p.m. Kortemeyer passed away peacefully October 14, 2024 at the age of 73.
Pastor Dennis Thum opened the celebration explaining that SID helped plan the service, picked the songs, and even requested that guests dress casually in their USF Cougar wear. Kortemeyer’s sister, Carolyn Roths, began by saying, “I feel privileged for him to have asked me to speak. Hospital Chaplain Brian Clausen at the hospital, SID and I made
all the arrangements for his funeral, and he asked me to speak. And as many of you might know, he was frequently able to say ‘be brilliant, be brief, and be done’. So I’m going to at least try to come up with two of those.” Roths thanked those who helped SID through his illness and the USF staff who worked so hard in preparation for the memorial service. Pastor Steve Young, son of the late USF Coach and Educator Bob Young who passed away in January of 2023, talked about the impor-
CAROLYN ROTHS, SID’S SISTER
PASTOR
STEVE YOUNG
tance of SID and USF shaping the University’s culture and community. “USF shapes people and it certainly had a big impact on my own life and continued over the years … And it depends on what that culture is like and that culture is dictated by the people who perpetuated it. People like SID Kortemeyer, who I truly believe is one of the reasons that there is ongoing success and vibrancy in an institution like USF. ” Young continued, “When I first came (to USF), it was right at the transition of SID going from equipment manager to sports information director (which is how SID got his nickname) … When I showed up to get my football gear, this guy with this big afro kind of chuckles at me and says, ‘You know, I think I’m going to have to go find some junior high stuff for you.’ This hundred twenty five pound pip squeak showed up to be a place kicker for USF. And that began that journey of wondering who this guy was … As you know if you spent any time with him, the focus was not on himself, it was on lifting you up. It was on encouraging you and even if that came in the form of a joke or what felt like a back handed slap, you know it was all out of love and desire to lift you up, a desire to put the attention on you and not on himself. It is that SID spirit that I think has leaked into many others and that has continued.”
Former USF Football Team Captain, friend and colleague Ed Koester said it was an honor to share his memories of SID. “I have a really tall task in speaking at an event to honor one of the great pub-
ED KOESTER USF ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME FOOTBALL
lic speakers of all time. I’m humbled by this task because there is truly no one qualified for this role, because he meant so much to so many. He was so deeply entrenched in the University and touched so many lives over almost sixty years. I can claim roughly a forty year friendship with SID. He was an absolute constant presence … equipment manager, sports information director, trainer, director of intramurals, game day manager, and at the end of the day, he did your laundry. He was a resident historian of all things athletic, and most importantly he was a resident psychologist. You were always welcome to take a seat on the couch in his office.” Koester said there was a black and white TV in one of SID’s offices, and it was either broadcasting a Minnesota Twins game or Jeopardy. “SID knew every answer to every Jeopardy question and could have easily been a Jeopardy champion.”
KEN “SID” KORTEMEYER
In the audience was Tim Hiatt, who worked with SID in the USF athletic department from 19982002 and has served as the color analyst on Cougar football broadcasts with Tom Frederick since 2001. Hiatt said, “SID has been referred to as Mr. USF by so many people over the years. And for some people that might just represent his commitment and love for Cougar athletics. But SID loved the institution of USF and the people that he got to call family for over 50 years of service to the school. He truly embodied the school’s motto ‘Culture for Service’. It was not uncommon to see him pushing a dry mop on the Stewart Center floor at halftime of a basketball game. And that was when he was the athletic director! SID could tell stories like no one else. Even though I heard some of them more than a few times, it never got old hearing him tell one with his usual flair and finish it with that signature deep laugh of his. I will miss his stories and our traditional Saturday evening phone calls in the fall rehashing that day’s Cougar football game.”
Recently retired USF Pastor Dennis Thum worked with Kortemeyer for 33 years. “The one verse he asked me to speak on today was from Romans chapter 9, verse 20 and it’s these words of Paul speaking about our
relationship with God - ‘Who are you, a human to argue with God. Will the thing molded say to the one who molded it, Why have you made me like this?’ Now, I found that fascinating that that’s the one verse that SID wanted me to share today. I suspect it’s because that’s the result of his many years of struggling with God … SID and I would often talk about the givenness of life, sometimes we just don’t know why things are the way they are, but like SID said, ‘You still got to have faith’. What SID wanted us to close with today was an old sixties expression, so for you non boomers in the room, I’m going to take you back to the late 60s, when SID was a freshman at USF, and a band called the Rascals had a song called Groovin’. And earlier there had been the term groovy, which we children of the 60s understood to mean basically having a good time, but it was more than just having a party, it was about celebrating life. And what SID wanted us to do today is to realize in the mystery of life, you have to live the mystery, even if you can’t solve it, but you walk forth in faith.” Pastor Thum told the audience about two opportunities to honor SID’s memory. “One is the Kortemeyer golf scholarship, that’s a process that has to be done in compliance with the NCAA and donations can be given to that. The other is the Kortemeyer Wing or the Kortemeyer Room, which is a dream that would project out of the south side of this building … It is a multipurpose room and it will be a great way to honor the legacy of someone who gave fifty five years of his life to the school.”
BY THE VESSEL STAFF
USF ALUMNUS TIM HIATT
Since the beginning of the school year, Jonathan Neiderheiser’s instrumental bands have been hard at work getting ready for the homecoming concert. Typically for USF Community Band’s homecoming concert they perform outdoors, but since homecoming was later this year, they were able to do a fuller concert in Meredith Auditorium.
One thing Neiderheiser likes specifically about doing the homecoming concerts is being a part of the school’s tradition. “It’s great to be part of the kind of history of the school,” he said. “So many alum come and see these concerts and things. Being aware of that long tradition as well as giving a performance, but just being part of the overall culture of the school.”
Something different about this concert was that the band had more time. As mentioned before, with homecoming happening later this year, the band was able to put together a more full concert for their audience. “[We were able] to have our first big concert be when we’re really rehearsed and in great shape,” said Neiderheiser, “[We] came in with a lot more preparation
and not like this is our first time in public.”
Neiderheiser explained that one of the struggles was having to share the stage with USF’s Got Talent. “[We had] this really wacky stage sharing set up where we had the stage, then Thursday after chapel we’d move everything downstairs and back upstairs on Saturday for the concert, and I told all the students to show up at 4 p.m.” Luckily, his “all hands on deck” plan worked to perfection. “At four we’re all going to chip in and move everything, and I step into my office to print some things for the concert and I come back fifteen minutes after four and the stage is set and everyone was standing around. It was neat that everyone took that seriously.”
BY GUNNER GOULD
A HOMECOMING CONCERT
BY GUNNER GOULD
DYNAMICS
DYNAMICS
a
Every senior Communication Studies and Theater (CST) major at USF is required to do a senior show or project. CST minors have the option to do a show or project, but it is not required. Elizabeth Smith, a current USF senior, double majoring in Criminal Justice and History and Political Science with a minor in CST decided to create her own show called “Dynamics”. When asked about the show, Smith said “Dynamics” is a cabaret. “It is a collection of songs from a variety of different musicals like “La La Land”, “West Side Story”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, and “Waitress”. What connects these pieces is the distinct relational dynamics. Whether it be from the artistic community as it is in (the song) “Another Day of Sun”, to the sisterhood in “Matchmaker”, to the brotherhood in “Gee, Officer Krupke” to workplace relationships in “Opening Up”.” When asked about why she decided to create “Dynamics” she said she has loved all of these songs and musicals since high school. So much so, that she created a list on her phone of every single one of her favorites pieces from those shows. She would then use this list to figure out what pieces she wanted in her show.
Smith initially wanted to create a plot line connecting all the songs. She ended up scraping this idea and created mini plotlines
throughout the show. Starting with characters Mia and Sebastien who’s plotline spans for three pieces, Ellie and Carl’s relationship spans for two pieces, and the last few numbers do not connect with each other. Smith said “Dynamics” is different from other shows so she held rehearsals differently. In the beginning, the actors would spend time focusing on the singing aspect and studying the original music. Specifically studying what made the piece successful and how they can apply that to their own performance as well as the relational dynamic. Once they knew what they were singing, Smith would then go on to teach the blocking and choreography. This is not Smith’s first time directing. She cowrote and co-directed a show called “The Way to the Crown” in high school. She said although it was challenging, she is glad she had the experience. She is having a much different experience directing “Dynamics”. She explains how much fun she is having coming up with the visions of everything. The most challenging part is directing peers.
senior show by elizabeth smith
PHOTO BY GRACE FLAHERTY
She said it is hard trying to find the line of when to be a friend and when to be a director. Her favorite part is watching everything come together. She said her most satisfying moment was watching a piece in particular come together. The piece was a challenge to get through with many bumps in the road. “It wasn’t clicking quite in the way that it should,” Smith states. “It is a very playful relational dynamic and the actors were having trouble connecting to the scene.” During a rehearsal one day, a lot of things went wrong and there were a lot of hiccups happening during the run-through. In the end, the actors worked hard and it eventually came together to create a show that Smith is proud to call her senior show.
BY GRACE FLAHERTY
PHOTOS BY ABIGAEL OLSON
USF’S got TALENT
by belicia hernandez
GRACE FLAHERTY DANCING TO “DAUGHTER”
BELLA AND MARIA MOLITOR SINGING “DANCING QUEEN”
A popular tradition during Cougar Days is USF’s Got Talent. This year the show was Friday, October 18 in the Meredith Auditorium inside the Jeschke Fine Arts Center. The MC was Adam Sieff, an alum of USF who owns DJ SieffStyle Entertainment. There were six performance groups with talents ranging from singing to dancing. First up was Toby Knutson with a movie dance performance to a song from Napoleon Dynamite. Grace Flaherty performed a lyrical dance to “Daughter” by Sleeping at Last and Jesse Hohm performed a contemporary dance to “A Symptom of Being Human” by Shinedown. Bella and Maria Molitor sang a duet to the Abba song, “Dancing Queen”.
The performance group the Treblemakers danced and lip synced to “Bright Lights Bigger City” from Pitch Perfect. The Treblemakers are all USF cheerleaders, so performing together comes naturally. Layla Round is part of the group and said they only practiced five times for the talent show. Round said,“Katelyn Erickson is a junior on the cheer team and wanted to be in the talent show and she is obsessed with Pitch Perfect and asked her friend if she wanted to do it. Later on,
she recruited others from the cheer team to form the Treblemakers.”
The winners of USF’s Got Talent were Cameen McFarquhar and Sarah Mawdsley who performed a hip hop dance to Michael Jackson’s song “Bad”. “At first me and Sarah were shocked to have won because there was a lot of good competition. But we were both happy and excited to win!” said McFarquahar. She said they signed up three days prior to the audition without much of a plan. Mawdsley said, “She came into my room and asked if I would do a dance with her for the show. It was about 11:30. I said sure why not and we got to work.” McFarquhar said, “We made sure to practice together and give each other feedback on the things we needed to work on. We also made sure to just have fun with it and be confident in ourselves.” Both women said they are very glad they entered. “We mainly talk about how fun it was to be a part of USF’s Got Talent. It wasn’t very competitive, at least not to me. Overall it was a great opportunity to have fun performing and getting to know the other performers. We’re very glad we decided to do it,” said Mawdsley.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AINSLEY SWANSTROM, USF MARKETING
USF’S GOT TALENT WINNERS CAMEEN MCFARQUHAR AND SARAH MAWDSLEY
THE TREBLEMAKERS PERFORMING “BRIGHT LIGHTS BIGGER CITY”
USF VOLLEYBALL SPLITS HOMECOMING WEEKEND
Going into the Cougar Days weekend with a record of 6-3 within NSIC (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) play, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball team aimed to tack two more wins onto their conference record. Their homecoming play opened on Thursday, October 17, against Minnesota State (5-4 NSIC). The match would prove to be one that required constant grit, with the leads often being exchanged between both teams. After a hot start, the Mavericks jumped to a 4-1 lead, where the Cougars provided a response to tie it back up to 6-6. Back-and-forth play continued until the score reposed to 17-17. Later in the set, the Mavericks proved to have the upper hand, finishing off the Cougars 26-24 for the first set. Despite being behind early, the Cougar offense did not quit. Their stats showcased their dominance for the remaining three sets, hitting .356 overall as a team. Sadie Voss led the Cougars in their win on both the defensive and offensive sides, nailing 17
kills and 14 digs to the stat sheet. The Cougars rallied to win 3-1 against the Mavericks. Two nights later, the Cougars headed down the street to take on local rival, Augustana. Sioux Falls did not prove to be as dominant as they did against Minnesota State, as their hitting percentage dropped to .124. Dropping the first set after steady back-and-forth play, the Cougars looked to bounce back in the second set. Throughout the match, Aubrey Gates and Jordyn Hamm led the Cougars and shined with a combined 15 kills. Despite great individual performances, it was not enough to hinder the aggressive play from the Vikings. The Cougars dropped the match 0-3. Regardless of the loss to Augustana, the Cougars are ranked fifth in the NSIC, even securing a win against nationally ranked Concordia St. Paul (#11). Seven games remain for Sioux Falls as they vie for a spot in the postseason NSIC Volleyball Tournament. by mara nelson
FALL FALL FEST FEST
by emma edwards
On Wednesday October 16 in Cooper’s Cafe from 6 to 8 o’clock, Cougar Activities hosted a night full of fun called Fall Fest. The night had many fun activities including making your own flower bouquet, painting pumpkins, cornhole, and other fun board games. They also provided delicious fall themed snacks for everyone to enjoy.
The Bouquet Bar by Jane Rae provided a variety of colorful fresh flowers and greens, such as roses, mini roses, mini sunflowers, greenery and more, they made it easy and fun to create your own unique homemade flower bouquet. For painting pumpkins, Cougar Activities provided many different sizes of pumpkins, paint, and paint brushes. There were many beautiful pumpkins painted. Some examples that people painted were Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc, a cheeseburger, graveyards, mini ghosts, bible verses, and many other decorative festive pumpkins.
After you got done making a bouquet and painting pumpkins, there was cornhole and multiple board games you could play. During all of fall fest there were festive snacks provided, they had cookies, bars, pie, and other yummy desserts. Fall Fest also took place inside Coops so you could enjoy a nice warm coffee while you did fun fall activities inside, away from the cold, windy weather.
PHOTOS BY EMMA EDWARDS AND STUDENT LIFE
COUGAR DAYS BRINGS FAMILIES TOGETHER
by mylin lemke
Family Weekend during Cougar Days is a time for families to reunite with their sons and daughters at the University of Sioux Falls and catch up. For many students the week of October 21-27 was special because of Homecoming, where comradery was at its peak and the USF students and alumni united and celebrated the pride for the college through tradition.
There were many events that happened for families and everyone to enjoy. Ranging from sports to arts and crafts, there were a variety of things to do. Some notable events were the Women’s Soccer game, then the tailgate just before the big homecoming football game against Duluth. Following that was the Women’s Volleyball game against Augie. Freshman Audrey Hanson said, “We went to the football tailgate and game, then to the volleyball game, then out for dinner.”
Students come from all over the world to study here in Sioux Falls and that results in being away from family for most of the year. Having a weekend designated for family is important, to get together again and spend time while celebrating homecoming weekend. Hanson said, “The weekend meant a lot to me. They (family) took their whole weekend and drove seven hours just to see me. It was good, really nice to spend time with my family and have them see my new life.”
PHOTO BY REGAN LARDY
COUGAR DAYS COUGAR DAYS COUGAR DAYS
PHOTOS BY REGAN LARDY
COUGAR DAYS COUGAR DAYS COUGAR
