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MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University announced its inductees for the 2025 Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame class on Friday.
The official induction ceremony for the Dakota Wesleyan Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24 in the Sherman Center. The inductees will also be recognized at this year’s Homecoming football game against Waldorf, scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Joe Quintal Field.
The inductees include Mel Petersen, Russell Bailey, Tamika Irvin, Francois Barnaud and the 2014-15 Tiger men’s basketball team. Graduation years from DWU for individual inductees are denoted in parentheses below.
Petersen holds the Tigers outdoor track and field records in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters while still sitting third all-time in the 1,500-meter event. Peterson is ranked eighth on the all-time indoor mile leaderboard and seventh in both the 4×400 and 4×800 relay alongside teammates Doug Rice, Thomas Rogers and Todd Sitzmann.
Transferring to DWU in 1991, Bailey was named all-conference first team in his three seasons with the Tigers and was named the team’s defensive most valuable player in 1992. Bailey was part of a DWU football program that won 22 games in three seasons and was a key contributor during the 1992 campaign, which saw the Tigers finish the year undefeated at 10-0.
Irvin was DWU first NAIA All-American in track and field, being honored twice for her efforts in the 100 and 200 meters. In total, she holds 11 school records, including the outdoor 100 and 200-meter marks and won five Great Plains Athletic Conferences championships. Irvin was named to the GPAC all-conference team five times in both indoor and outdoor competition.
A native of Belle Fourche, Barnaud set the Tigers’ all-time rushing record at the time of his graduation, racking up 3,558 total rushing yards. His 31 total touchdowns sit seventh all-time in career scoring. Setting the single-season rushing record in 2013 as a junior at 1,893 yards, Barnaud was an all-GPAC first-team selection twice and the Tigers’ MVP and offensive MVP two years in a row.
2014-15 DWU men’s basketball
Under the guidance of 2015 GPAC co-coach of the year Matt Wilber, the Tigers reached the NAIA championship game that year and finished the season at 32-5. setting program records for wins (32), field goals (1,130), assists (765) and points scored (3,166). DWU also posted a 17-3 mark in GPAC play to share the conference title with Morningside.
Tigers player Jalen Voss was named the GPAC player of the year in 2015 and to the all-GPAC first team. Other notable members of the roster included all-GPAC first-team guard Kris Menning, all-conference second-team honorees Trae Bergh and Joey Mitchell, and GPAC defensive player of the year Luke Bamberg.
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