Photo by Sam Thiel From L to R: Jason Garrow, Mary Buysse-Byrne, Martie Larsen and Dave Ahmann pose with their Hall of Fame plaques after being inducted into the Marshall Tiger M Club Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday.

MARSHALL – The Marshall Tiger M Club Athletic Hall of Fame welcomed four new members Saturday evening at the Ramada Inn.

Dave Ahmann, Mary Buysse-Byrne, Jason Garrow and Martie Larsen each were recognized for their achievements by their friends and family members.

Ahmann graduated from Marshall High School in 1967, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. He would go on to play football for Southwest Minnesota State College before coming back to coach at Marshall High School. Ahmann primarily coached volleyball for the Tigers, leading Marshall to an overall record of 305-59, 11 conference championships and eight state tournament trips, including a Class AA runner-up finish in 1979.

What made the induction extra special was the fact that the other three inductees had at one point played for coach Ahmann. During his speech, Ahmann spoke about the other three inductees and their incredible work ethic during their time as Tiger players.

“Martie, Mary and Jason, I was very fortunate to coach all three of those players. They were just absolutely super players to work with. Actually looking at these three people and saying ‘Boy, it’s a pretty tough job to be a hall of fame coach when you’ve got three hall of fame players that are getting inducted the same time you are,'” Ahmann said. “They were hard to coach at times because I was always trying to find something to challenge them with because they were so darn talented. I think what really separated those three from the other kids that I coached was that they did the little extra behind-the-scenes things that made them better than the rest of the kids. They didn’t get a lot of fanfare for that, but they just worked really hard. They were willing to do the extra stuff to be really good athletes. I thank those players and the players that played for me and everybody that helped me get into the hall of fame.”

Buysse-Byrne graduated from MHS in 1981, where she was an 11 time letterwinner and five time All-Southwest Conference selection. She played volleyball, basketball and track and field for the Tigers, and received the 1981 Kaiser Award and was named the female athlete of the year in her senior season. She went on to play volleyball for the University of Nebraska before returning to coach for Marshall volleyball, South Dakota State University and North Carolina State.

In her speech, Buysse-Byrne talked about three words that helped guide her during her playing days: passion, work ethic and sacrifice.

“I want to talk about three words that shaped me as an athlete. The first one is passion; I really had passion for sports and athletics, especially during those high school days. We would pretty much eat, sleep and breathe volleyball or basketball. The second one is work ethic and just going above and beyond. That was our normal routine and it may seem like the extras, but we enjoyed doing it so much that it was normal and we took pride in that strong work ethic and doing the best that we could,” Buysse-Byrne said. “The last one is sacrifice; I look back at all the sacrifices my parents made, especially financially, to do the things that they did to give me opportunities to go on and play at the collegiate level where I did so I’m very appreciative of the sacrifice they made. I do truly treasure all the memories from high school and had so much from playing sports and I’m so appreciative of Title IX to give me the opportunity and the chance to be the best that I could.

Garrow graduated from MHS in 1988, where he was a three-sport athlete playing in football, basketball and baseball. He helped lead the Marshall basketball team to a 60-7 record in three seasons including a Section 2AA Championship game appearance twice. He would be named a Minnesota Mr. Basketball finalist in 1988 and ended his career with 1,622 points, a school record that stands today. Garrow went on to play basketball for Augustana University and was a four-time letterwinner.

During his speech, Garrow talked about the community of Marshall coming together for games and that he was fortunate to be given opportunities to play for/with great people.

“Growing up in Marshall and playing sports, it was always one of those things where Friday night was a football night and the whole town got involved and were interested. They cared about what was going on with the kids and everybody else. The same thing went for basketball; we had lots of people come to games,” Garrow said. “I’ve been fortunate to have great people around me; coach (Terry) Culhane taught me how to play basketball from day one. I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without what he did for me, so thank you for everything you’ve done. It was great because I got to play against some of his best athletes. One thing I thank coach Ahmann and my lucky stars for is this is one of those places where there’s a lot of great athletes, but coach Ahmann looked at my dad and said ‘I think he’s ready to play.’ And my dad said ‘What do you mean, he can come play freshman basketball?’ and coach said ‘No he’s going to play the varsity.’ It’s very rare that a coach would take that chance in this town and I’m not trying to get on a soapbox but it’s one of those places where if you give the opportunity, people can excel if they have that passion.”

Larsen graduated from MHS in 1980, where she played volleyball and basketball. She received the 1980 Kaiser Award and was part of the 1979 state tournament volleyball team that finished runner-up. Larsen went on to play collegiate volleyball for the University of Minnesota and was named the Big 10 MVP in 1983.

During her speech, Larsen added to Garrow’s thoughts about the Marshall community and the opportunities that arose from the support of the citizens.

“The community of Marshall, Minnesota is very unique. The one thing I took away from it on occasion is that they have a mindset to also help us live out our passions as youth and to provide opportunities for your students and your youth to pursue their passions and dreams. Whether it was volleyball, basketball, choir, marching band or hockey, they create those opportunities to allow young people to discover who they are, what they want to become and what they care about,” Larsen said. “The other side of it is they also hold you accountable. My mother would know what I had done before I got home and that alone, if it was my mother, my father or even Dave Ahmann finding out, kept me from doing a lot of things. I don’t know where they would find that out or how that worked but there was a level of accountability because people knew who you were and cared about how you were as well as stepping in and assisting you but they also wanted you to be a good person. I thank them for the opportunities that were provided for me and the way they helped me live out my passion and I’m proud to be a Tiger.”