Brandon PT to be inducted into USD Sports Hall of Fame
By:
Staff report
Brandon resident and all-NCC basketball player Julia (Frie) Schlekeway will be one of five athletes inducted into the University of South Dakota’s Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 13.
Schlekeway works as a physical therapist at Avera’s out-patient clinic in Brandon and grew up in Byron, Minn., near Rochester.
The all-NCC forward was the third USD female athlete to receive the prestigious Stan Marshall Award (NCC Athlete of the Year) and was instrumental during USD’s 2002-03 run to the Sweet 16. That team finished with a 27-5 record and captured the NCC championship.
Schlekeway finished her career with program ranks of seventh for points (1,302), eighth for steals (154) and 11th for rebounds (595). She was named an Academic All-American in 2003 after carrying a 4.0 grade point average in biology and chemistry.
Upon graduation from USD in 2003, Schlekeway earned her doctorate degree from Mayo School of Health Sciences in 2007. She and her husband, Mark, moved to Brandon shortly thereafter. The couple has two daughters, Griffen and Leighton, and a son, Talan.
Schlekeway’s mom, Christine Frie, was delighted to hear the news.
“She played as a young child all the way through college,” said Frie, who also lives in Brandon. “I’m extremely proud. As a mother, you’re always hoping something like this happens.”
