‘She was a really intelligent player’ Koehn focused on giving her best effort in Lynx athletics

Mark Stadem describes Allison (Koehn) Guthmiller as a “chameleon” on the basketball court.

“She was a really intelligent player and she was amazing, because she had the ability to understand exactly what the team needed at that time, and would be able to change her role to it. In kind of a way, she was a little bit of a chameleon. She would just do whatever was needed, and she was that smart and that intelligent where she could do it,” he said of the 2013 BVHS grad.

The Lady Lynx head coach also recalls her ability to defend, and said they assigned her as a “huge matchup problem for teams.”

“If they wanted to try to guard her with a big we would just step her out in the perimeter and let her face them up and spread out a little bit and say, ‘all right, try to handle her.’ And if they put a girl her size or smaller on her, we would step their big out,” Stadem said of the strategy. “We had girls that could shoot the three and draw their big out of the lane and we would isolate Allie down in the post against a guard. With her physical strength – she was originally a post player when she came to us through middle school – she would just physically dominate that girl in the post, so we could kind of use her that way. She was also one of our best screeners, because she was so strong and so smart. She knew where to set them, when to set them. She did it all.”

Guthmiller said she took pride in being matched up against the opposing team’s best players.

“The thought and strategy behind it was you’ve got to free up Heidi (Hoff) a little bit to give her some gas. She was really the creator and the offense initiator on that end, and that takes a lot of energy and effort to do. Jesse (Peterson Kriech) guarded a lot of the best players if they were more point guard type material, but between the two of us we really tried to take some of that load off of Heidi as the creator on the offense side to give her a breather on the other end,” she said. ‘I just always was proud of myself if I could keep somebody under 11, 13, points. I think that carried me well throughout my career and helped me get recruited just because I was focused on both ends of the floor.”

Guthmiller’s effort on the basketball court landed her at Augustana University, where she helped the Vikings earn conference championships, tournament titles and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II’s Sweet 16.

That was a dream come true for Guthmiller.

“I was absolutely floored to be able to get recruited by Augustana, and knowing that I was going to have a small school environment and community, and being able to know family and friends would come and watch me play – and they did – I lived my dream,” said the 2025 BV Hall of Fame inductee.

She played varsity ball for three years under the guide of Coach Stadem. The now wife and mother of three girls was just a high school sophomore in 2011 when the Lady Lynx won the program’s very first state championship, and she garnered All-Tournament Team recognition.

Recently, as she sorted through newspaper clippings and other memorabilia, Guthmiller was reminded that the Lady Lynx were considered the “underdog team” at the state tournament.

“At 5-10, Heidi (Hoff) was our tallest player, and she was the number two guard or point guard, if Kasey (Presler) or Carissa (Ethreim) weren’t bringing the ball up the floor, and Andrea Hanson, all of 5-9, but an incredibly gritty and hustle player, and tough as nails. She was down there at the post fighting all of these other players that are over six feet tall all year long. We were just such an underdog team, but that state championship year got so much momentum towards the end of the season, and that team was so close knit and played off of each other. We knew that we were going to get the ball to whoever was hot that night. Everybody was happy for each other when they played well, and Stadem always preached ‘Know your role, play your role,’ and that team really bought into that, and I think that’s what made us really successful.”

The Lady Lynx returned to the state tournament in 2012, this time coming away with a fourth-place finish. Once again, she garnered All-Tournament Team recognition.

In all total, Guthmiller was a three-year letter winner, was honored three times as an ESD All-Conference selection, was named captain both her junior and senior years, and earned a spot of All-State team her senior year. Following her senior season, she was a nominee for the Miss Basketball Award for South Dakota. She joined an elite group of BV basketball players – Lindsey Schneiderman, Heidi Hoff, Trinity Law and Danica Kocer – who were also past nominees.

“I just think of her senior season getting that nomination and you didn’t have the stellar season that you had the prior two years,” Stadem said. “There were a lot of times when she was playing for us, and I would walk out and say ‘God, I’m glad Allie plays for us.’”

Of the three sports Guthmiller played at Brandon Valley, basketball, without question, was her first love.

“I absolutely fell in love when I was in second grade. My dad was my YMCA basketball coach, and I think I wrote that in a couple spots, as I was just looking at some old relics of mine. That’s when I really fell in love for the game. I always have loved the team sport aspect of basketball, and so it’s always been a favorite of mine, and I was just really fortunate to be able to continue that through college. It’s just a gift that I have of those memories and the people that basketball brought into my life,” she shares.

While her sophomore season was capped off with a state title, Brandon Valley lost in the state semifinals her junior year and they didn’t qualify in her senior season. 

“We had too many injuries,” Stadem said. “But she was an All-Stater playing on that team. We had lost our point guard to ACL injury, and then we had other girls that were sick and injured.”

Once again, Stadem relied on Guthmiller’s “chameleon” abilities.

“We had to move Allie to where she was handling the ball for us, so she was playing on the point for us that year. That’s how versatile she was. It was a tough year, but she was like, ‘Whatever I can do to help us, I’ll do it,’” he said.

Guthmiller was also a three-year letter winner in volleyball, and was named captain in both her junior and senior seasons. She capped off her prep career with ESD All-Conference Team recognition.

Guthmiller’s sophomore season was Coach Lindsey (Schneiderman) Smith’s first year. She said Smith and her fleet of assistants – Coty McGuire, Missy Johnson, Misti Becker and Marette Grage – began building the program for success. Although the team’s win-loss record didn’t reflect that in her first varsity year, Guthmiller said this team possessed “raw talent.”

“As time progressed, it was really focusing on how to finish games and work cohesively, because volleyball is a team sport, but yet it’s quite individual in the fact that you have to have someone pass well, set well before that ball comes to you to do something with it, where basketball you can have someone really skilled, like Heidi, take a ball and just get it down the court and put it in the basket,” she said. “I know my volleyball years were a little bit of a rebuilding, but they were still a lot of fun, and we had a lot of success and things to be proud of.”

One memory that has stayed with her the tunnel the student section made from the locker room all the way into the gym.

“We had lost our first five matches, and then we finally won one at home and we ran through it,” she said. “It was a little embarrassing, but also really fun to win and have a fun after-game environment with the team.”

Guthmiller played both front and back row for the Lynx, and was a power hitter on the left side. 

“I could jump a little bit more than I can now,” she said light-heartedly. “I think I have always had a strong arm. It supported me well with track in discus and shot put, but also with hitting. It’s the transition lead up to the ball, and I just always felt like I have that power, so I was able to play at the net and kind of do my best to support blocking.”

She largely left the blocking up to teammates Robin Moss, Amanda Nelson, Hoff, Sam Batzler and Val Peltier.

“They were the ones getting the blocks, and I was kind of the finisher on the other end. Where I feel like I really did help the team a lot was I had a fair amount of digs and just tried to play really scrappy,” Guthmiller said.

She well remembers the words of Coach Smith: ‘I’m going to play the players that are putting 100 percent out every night and they are not letting balls fall on the floor in front of them.’

“That’s something I’ve always clung to was, ‘I’m not going to let these balls drop if they are anywhere in my vicinity. I always tried to hustle and felt like that’s what really kept me on the floor most nights,” she said.

As a captain, Guthmiller said she tried to be a vocal leader, especially when the wins weren’t as plentiful.

“We experienced a lot of adversity, tough nights, and I think part of being a captain is just trying to keep the morale high and help other players believe in themselves and believe in comebacks and just working through momentum swing,” she said.

Guthmiller’s athletic abilities carried over into the spring track and field season. As a four-year varsity letter winner, she was the 2010 ESD Conference Champion in both discus and shot put as a freshman. She continued her conference domination in discus, winning the ESD Conference titles in 2011, 2012 and 2013, making her a four-time conference discus champ. Her senior year, Guthmiller claimed the top prize in discus at the 2013 State Meet. She currently has three throws that remain on Brandon Valley’s All-Time Top 10 list in discus.

She remembers her call up to the varsity ranks as an eighth grader.

“It was intimidating,” she reflects. “There were some big guys like Chase Douglas and Ryan Ode, and you have characters like Danny Larson and James Burkman, just some of those junior, senior boys were big and tall and full of personality. Then you had Kate Swenson, who is just a presence, and I just felt very out of my league as a measly little eighth grader. Thankfully, Kelly Hoff took me under her wing and Kate did, too, and said, ‘Just ignore them. They’re loud.’”

Guthmiller heeded their advice, and soaked in all the throwing knowledge that she could from her teammates.

“The Swensons definitely have a family name in throwing, and I think a lot of athletes, as you’re a younger athlete … are wanting to try to accomplish what others have, or try to outperform. That provides the motivation,” she said.

Her four-year run as the ESD discus champ is partially credited to BV strength coach Adam Bobzien.

“Coach Bobzien and I spent a lot of time together. he was always a warm, smiling face in those early mornings, no matter what season it was, or in the middle of the summer when he was always present there and helped coach me a lot through developing more strength for all my fall sports,” she said.

And while one might think muscle earned her a state title, Guthmiller said it boiled down to a combination of technique.

“There’s a lot of speed and power and explosive motions that can actually enhance the outcome of your throws,” she said.

Early on in her varsity track and field experience, Guthmiller said she was “oddly” successful in the shot put.

“I think the field was just kind of down, and people got better across the state just as I got towards my junior and senior year. I figured out that I liked discus more, and was obviously more successful at that, so I put a lot more time and effort into my discus competitions,” she said. 

“She had a good, solid athletic build, but she would surprise people with how strong she was,” Stadem said. “You’ve got to be strong and explosive to be a great thrower, and that’s why she had the success she did in track”

Guthmiller married her high school sweetheart, Adam Guthmiller. They exchanged vows in the fall of 2018 after she graduated from Augustana. The couple has three girls, Anna, 4, Sophia, 2, and Noelle, six months. She presently works as a financial analyst for Good Samaritan Society/Sanford Health, working on the Good Sam side of the business in long-term care. Adam is the head pastor at First English Lutheran Church in Lennox.

“He is literally the best girl dad,” she says of Adam. “He just personifies patience and gentleness and fun. They absolutely adore him. He has always wanted to be a father, and he fits the mold perfectly.” 

Although she’d love nothing more than to see her girls play sports one day, she’ll support them in whatever they want to do.

“They love to sing and dance right now, and Anna is in gymnastics,” she said. “But I’d love nothing more than to have three little point guards to coach up.”

As her plaque takes a place on BV’s Hall of Fame wall, Guthmiller said she’s proud and humbled to be recognized. 

“There are so many former athletes that have accomplished and meant so much to the Brandon Valley community, so it’s really a big honor,” she concludes. “Growing up in the community my whole life, all I ever wanted to do was be on the court, be on the field and win state championships, have a great time with my teammates and coaches and friends and just represent the community well. It just meant a lot that we were able to accomplish a lot of our goals of bringing home the first girls basketball state championship. I’m just immensely proud to be part of the foundation of a new era of volleyball and excellence that they’re able to achieve now, I won’t ever be the greatest thrower to go down in the books. I spent a ton of time in the gym and in the summer training, lifting. I had so many coaches meeting me there and opening up the doors and my parents drove me to tournaments and practices and camps and all the investment that they put in. It wasn’t because of me, it was really because of all the people around me that impacted me and helped me just to be able to have such success, and I think this is like icing on the cake of an incredible journey.”