By Rapid City Central Athletics 

Rapid Central High School has announced its inaugural class of the Rapid City Central Athletic Hall of Fame.

Central High School will induct the Class of 2022 into the Athletic Hall of Fame before the Rapid City Central and Sioux Falls Washington boys basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Inductees will include Euclid “Euc” Cobb, Howard Naasz, Jesse Herrick, John Dutton, Anne (Richardson) Vollmer, Jake Maas, and Colette (DeMoss) Christensen.

Cobb was born in Denton, Texas. Coach Cobb coached and was the athletic director for whom the Rapid City Central Cobbler athletic teams are named after. He spent 41 years at Central and is the only South Dakota coach to have a team named after him. Cobb came to South Dakota to do graduate work at USD. He became head coach at Rapid City High in 1920 and was athletic director and coached all sports for many years. His 1942 team won the state Class A basketball title. In 26 years as football coach, Central was 144-43-13.

Naasz was a coach and athletic director at Rapid City Central for 32 years. He began his coaching career at Mitchell, as assistant football coach for two years and head coach for three. From 1959-70 Naasz was head football coach at RC Central. He also was an assistant basketball and track coach there for 15 years. In 1970 he became activities director at Central. Three times he was named Athletic Director of the Year for South Dakota. He was also an outstanding athlete at USD, where he was a guard on the 1951 North Central Conference football champions.

Herrick graduated from Rapid City Central in 1946. While attending Central High School, Jesse was a standout athlete in football, track and basketball under legendary Coach Euc Cobb. In 1968, Herrick returned to Central to coach for 21 years. Herrick was Central’s first tennis coach in program history and was responsible for getting the program up and running. Coach Herrick had 4 second place team finishes and one third place finish throughout his career. Herrick also coached football while teaching and coaching at Rapid City Central.

Dutton was the No. 5 pick overall by the Baltimore Colts in the 1974 NFL draft. He played 14 years in the NFL with Baltimore and Dallas. The 6-foot-7, 266-pound defensive end was named to the NFL all-rookie team. In 1975, he led the Colts in sacks with a career-high 17 and was named to the Pro Bowl for the first of three straight years. In Oct. 1979, Dutton was traded to Dallas, which moved him to defensive tackle alongside Randy White. He played for Dallas through the 1987 season. Dutton returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown in 1981. In high school, Dutton was all-state in basketball and football two years and was a high school All-American in both sports. He led Rapid City Central to the state Class A basketball title in 1969. In fact, he received more scholarship offers for basketball than for football. At Nebraska, he started two years and played in two Orange Bowls and one Cotton Bowl and was a consensus All-American in 1973. In 1971, he was part of the Nebraska National Championship team as a sophomore.

Vollmer graduated from Rapid City Central in 1993. Anne was an outstanding athlete in Track and Field and Cross Country. Anne was a State Champion in 1991, 1992, and 1993 in the 100 Meter Hurdles and 300 Meter Hurdles. Throughout her high school career, Anne won 9 All-Class Gold Medals in Track and Field and currently still holds the South Dakota State Record in the 300 Meter Hurdles with a time of 42.5 seconds. Anne won the Outstanding Female Athlete in Class “AA” at the state meet in 1992 and 1993. In 1992 and 1993 Anne also won the state cross country championship. Anne went on to receive a full athletic scholarship at the University of Wyoming where she competed in track and field from 1993-1997. While at Wyoming, she was named to the Academic All-Western Athletic Conference – 1994-1997 and holds the University of Wyoming record in the 400 hurdles. In 1994 Anne was name to the Rapid City Sports Hall of Fame, College Female Athlete of the Year for Track and Field.

Maas graduated from Rapid City Central in 1995. Jake was a five-sport athlete while at Central, competing in cross-country, track, football, basketball, and baseball. Jake was awarded the Rapid City High School Athlete of the year in 1994 and 1995. Jake was an individual state champion in cross country (1994), 800 & 1600 meter run (1995). He set the school record in the 800 and 1600 meter run, as well as a state record in the 800 meter run. Jake was also a part of team championships in cross country, track and field and Post 22 baseball. Jake went on to Stanford to run track and field where he earned All-Pac-10 in cross country and track four times. Jake was a member of the 1998 NCAA Division 1 National Championship cross country team and National Runner-up on the 1999 track team.

Christensen graduated from Rapid City Central in 2014. While at Central Colette was a four-sport athlete throughout her career and 16-time South Dakota State High School champion. Colette was a 5-time state HS Champion (high jump – ’12,’13,’14, triple jump ’12, and team champions in ’12). Colette holds the All-Time South Dakota State Triple jump record of 40’4.5”, along with Central high school records in both the High Jump and the Triple Jump. Colette also excelled in gymnastics. She was an 11-time state champion. Colette holds the Central High School record in All-Around, Vault, and Floor. Colette attended the University of South Dakota on a full ride scholarship where she was a 6-time Summit League Conference qualifier.