Jim Reinhart - Inducted 2021

Jim Reinhart is perhaps the state's greatest high school distance runner. He graduated in 1973 from Sioux Falls (SD) Lincoln High School and was a 1977 graduate of Notre Dame. As a sophomore, he lost his first cross country race. After that, he never lost another cross country race in high school and went on to win the next three State AA titles (1970-72). He set the all-time state records for the 880-yard dash (1:51.2), mile (4:07.9) and 2-mile (9:09.7) and anchored the state record-setting medley relay team (3:27.9) in 1973. At the 1973 Keebler Invitational All-Star Track Meet in Chicago for the best high school runners in the nation, he won the 1,600 meters. What made some of Reinhart’s high school accomplishments even more special was that the early 1970s were a golden era for distance running in South Dakota as Reinhart competed in high school against future big-time runners as Jeff Schemmel (Kansas State) of Madison and the Watertown duo of Steve Heidenreich (Indiana) and Drake Titze (Missouri). Reinhart lettered and ran cross country and track & field at Notre Dame, where he was a member of the school-record 4-mile relay team in 1974. Legendary and South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame coach Rich Greeno (1928-2017) said Reinhart was one of the nation's best high school runners ever. "Jim was so coachable and humble," Greeno said. "He always said 'I'll do whatever's best for the team.' He never missed a workout and was even-tempered, never getting too  high or too low, which is important for a great distance runner."