Wayne State College Athletics and the Alumni/Foundation Office will honor four individuals, one team and two contributors at the 2024 Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday, October 26th. The 2024 Hall of Fame Class will be recognized during the Wildcat home football game vs. Sioux Falls at 12 p.m. and home volleyball game vs. Sioux Falls at 4 p.m with the Hall of Fame Banquet set for 6:15 p.m. that evening in the Kanter Student Center that begins with a social at 5:30 p.m.
Advance tickets are required for the event and cost $40 per person and $12 for children and can be purchased by calling the WSC Alumni Office at 402-375-7526 or registering online at https://www.wsc.edu/info/20489/get_involved/1474/hall_of_fame/3.
2024 WSC Athletic Hall of Fame members include volleyball standout Leisa Van Den Top, baseball player Tim Richt, women’s basketball player Jordan Spencer, former women’s basketball coach Chris Kielsmeier, the 2015 Wildcat volleyball team and contributors Ken and Hunter Jorgensen.
Listed below are the 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees:
Leisa McClintock Van Den Top (Athlete): Leisa McClintock Van Den Top (Sioux City Heelan HS) was a four-year starting setter for the Wildcat volleyball team from 2012-15. She played on three NCAA National Tournament teams including the 2015 team that advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Tampa.
She is the all-time leader in set assists at Wayne State with 5,088. McClintock was a First Team All-NSIC selection as a junior and senior and was Second Team All-NSIC during sophomore season. She was an All-Central Region Tournament Team selection as a senior and named Elite 90 Award winner at NCAA Elite Eight as top scholar athlete at an NCAA championship and named Cunningham Scholar Athlete of Year at WSC as a senior.
Leisa is married to former Wildcat football player Jeff Van Den Top and they reside in Waukee, Iowa with their two children – Elsie and Nash – where she is a client service consultant at Holmes Murphy.
Tim Richt (Athlete): Tim Richt was a starting first baseman for 3 ½ years on the Wildcat baseball team from 2001-04. A graduate of Bellevue East High School, Richt had one of the best single seasons by a Wildcat player in 2004 to earn All-NSIC, Co-NSIC Player of the Year, All-Central Region and ABCA All-American First Team honors as a senior.
Richt posted a .411 batting average starting 60 games in 2004, helping the Wildcats to a record of 44-18 (third most wins in a single season). He had a school record 83 hits that season with 17 homers and 65 RBI. He still holds single season school records for hits (83), doubles (25) and total bases (159).
As a junior in 2003, Richt hit .361 with six homers and 49 RBI and was named All-NSIC honorable mention and All-NSIC Tournament Team. Richt finished his Wildcat career with a .352 batting average and currently ranks four in doubles (52), tied for sixth with 27 home runs, seventh in RBI (163) and tied for second in hit by pitches (39).
Tim Richt currently resides in Omaha where he is a business teacher at Millard North High School. Tim and his wife Julie have two children – Olivia and Molly.
Jordan Spencer (Athlete): Jordan Spencer was a starting forward for the Wildcat women’s basketball team for three seasons (2012-15) after playing one season at Nebraska-Omaha. She started all 94 games in her three years at WSC and averaged 15.95 points and 6.65 rebounds per game while shooting 50.1 percent from the field.
A graduate of Millard West HS, Spencer was All-NSIC Second Team her first year (2012-13) at WSC, averaging 15.5 points (7th-NSIC) and 6.7 rebounds per game. As a junior Spencer earned All-NSIC First Team honors with 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game, setting a new school record for most free throw attempts in a season (226) while scoring double figures in 29 of 33 games. Spencer’s senior season produced another All-NSIC First Team honor along with All-Central Region Second Team and WBCA honorable mention All-American after scoring 16.0 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, ranking 7th in NSIC in both categories.
Spencer helped WSC to back-to-back NSIC regular season titles as a junior and senior and both years advanced to NCAA Central Region semi-finals.
In just three seasons at WSC, Spencer is seventh in career scoring at 1,500 points and ranks fourth in career free throw attempts (545), fifth in career free throws made (364) and seventh in career field goals made (568).
Jordan resides in Omaha where she is a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner with CHI Health Systems.
Chris Kielsmeier (Coach): In 10 years as head women’s basketball coach at Wayne State (2008-18), Chris Kielsmeier led the Wildcats to unprecedented success guiding the Wildcats to records of 237-72 overall (.767) and 166-50 in Northern Sun Conference (.768) play. He is the all-time wins leader and winning percentage leader and led the Wildcats to seven 20-win seasons in his 10 years on the Wildcat bench.
Kielsmeier coached the Wildcats to four NSIC regular season titles (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015), two NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament titles (2010, 2012) and five trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015). He led the Wildcats to the 2011-12 NCAA Central Region title and the schools’ first-ever trip to the Elite Eight.
He was the NSIC Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012 and named WBCA Region 7 Coach of the Year in 2012.
Wayne State recorded the teams’ most successful season in school history under Kielsmeier in 2011-12, winning a school record 32 games (32-3) while capturing the NSIC regular season and tournament titles to go with the NCAA Central Region title held at Wayne State College. That season, the Wildcats vaulted to a #1 national ranking, another first in school history, and advanced to the Elite Eight in San Antonio, Texas.
Under Kielsmeier, Wayne State developed one of the top home court advantages in the NSIC and Central Region at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, producing a 125-13 record over the last nine seasons that included a 52-game home court win streak from 2009-2013, tied for the 10th longest win streak in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history.
After departing Wayne State, Kielsmeier has coached at Division I Cleveland State where he has coached the Vikings to four 20-win seasons in the last five years. Last year’s team was 29-6 and captured the school’s first-ever Horizon League regular season title, his 2022-23 team went 30-5 and advanced to the NCAA Division I National Tournament and is 2021-22 team won the WBI (Women’s Basketball Invitational) championship.
2015 Volleyball Team (Team): The 2015 Wildcat volleyball team made school history by capturing their first-ever NCAA Central Region title while advancing to the NCAA Division II national semi-finals, the farthest any Wildcat sports team has advanced in the NCAA Division II era.
WSC finished the season 28-8 and was 16-4 in the NSIC and played 16 matches that season against teams ranked in the AVCA Division II Top 25.
The Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Division II national tournament for the 10th time in 11 seasons in 2015 and defeated three Top 10 teams in three days to win their first-ever NCAA Central Region title – beating #8 Central Missouri 3-1, #4 Southwest Minnesota State 3-1 and #1 Concordia-St. Paul on their home floor 3-0 where the ‘Cats hit a sizzling .410 in the Central Regional final against the Golden Bears.
Advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time ever, WSC beat Carson-Newman of Tennessee 3-1 before falling to Palm Beach Atlantic 25-21, 25-21, 27-25 in the national semi-finals.
Five players were named All-Northern Sun Conference that season – senior libero Courtney VanGroningen was NSIC Libero of the Year, Alyssa Frauendorfer, Katie Hughes and Leisa McClintock were First Team All-NSIC and Elizabeth Gebhardt was Second Team All-NSIC. The same five players were also named to the NCAA All-Central Region Tournament Team while Frauendorfer was named to the NCAA Elite Eight All-Tournament Team.
Frauendorfer was also named AVCA All-American Third Team with VanGroningen collecting All-America honorable mention and McClintock received the Elite 90 Award as the top scholar athlete at the NCAA National Championship event with a 3.99 GPA.
Ken Jorgensen and Hunter Jorgensen / Max Bar and Grill – 4th Jug Sports Bar (Contributor): Ken Jorgensen has been a steadfast supporter of Wayne State College and its athletic programs since he began his ownership in 1977 with the establishment of the 4th Jug Bar, located at the corner of First and Main in Wayne. In 1992, he expanded his business and support after acquiring The Max Bar and Grill, managing both establishments until May 1994. In 2016, Ken further demonstrated his commitment to the community by opening the 4th Jug Sports Bar and The Jug Store on East Highway 35 in Wayne.
The Max Bar and Grill, Ken, and his son, Hunter (2021 WSC graduate) have played a important role as corporate partners and by hosting a variety of Wildcat athletic events and fundraisers over the past two decades. These events include Cat Club Luncheons, Football Signing Day parties, Senior Night Banquets and numerous team meals, among others.
