Photo by Sam Thiel From L to R: Mark Smed, Pam Stencel Schroeder, Mike Jacobs and Tom Denevan pose with their Hall of Fame plaques after being inducted into the Marshall Tiger M Club Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday.

MARSHALL – The newest class of the Marshall Tiger M Club Hall of Fame was officially enshrined on Saturday evening at the Red Baron Arena and Expo, with Mike Jacobs, Pam Stencel Schroeder, Tom Denevan and Mark Smed representing the latest inductees.

Denevan graduated from Marshall High School in 1986, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. He would go on to play football at Oregon State University before transferring and ending his career at South Dakota State University. At Marshall, Denevan earned seven All-Conference honors as well as Region 2AA All-Region honors twice for the baseball team in 1985 and 1986. He finished his high school career in basketball with 1,220 total points. On the gridiron, Denevan led the Tigers to three straight Southwest Conference championships and was named to multiple All-State teams and represented Marshall in the Minnesota high school All-Star Game after his senior season.

During his speech, Denevan used a slideshow that presented his upbringing and some of the teams and coaches that helped shaped his career at Marshall. He then talked about the support from his family and teachers to guide him to where he’s at today.

“My family support started it and a couple of them are here. With all of the support from the school and the teachers, it gave me an opportunity to advance my career and that’s what I did, I went to Oregon State for football. And where am I at now? It’s these guys I’m with,” Denevan said as he talked about his family. “What did I learn here from my time at Marshall High; sports and we teach our kids a lot about sports and we passed that on. That’s what they are currently doing and the oldest one did too and was a football and baseball player too, so I’m really proud of him.”

Stencel Schroeder graduated from MHS in 1993, where she received the 1993 Kaiser Award recognizing the female athlete of the year. She played volleyball and basketball for the Tigers, earning three All-Conference honors and led Marshall to the state tournament in 1990 and 1992 on the volleyball court, including a runner-up finish in ’92. As a basketball player, Stencel Schroeder was on the 1993 girls basketball team that was the first team in school history to reach the state tournament. When she left MHS, Stencel Schroeder held the girls basketball school record for career points (856), assists (211), steals (302), three-pointers (37) and threes in a season (25).

She went on to play volleyball at North Dakota State University and was a two-time AVCA All-Region selection and two-time Division II All-American.

Stencel Schroeder thanked her parents for their sacrifice to help her achieve her goals and her family for their support as well.

“I would like to first off thank the M Club for giving me this honor and congratulations to the other three. Obviously if it wasn’t for my mom and dad who are looking down from up above smiling as he would be proud as ever. If it wasn’t for the countless miles and the time and just the dedication they had for me, I wouldn’t be here,” Stencel Schroeder said. “And then there are my three, and my dream was to always have them grow up in the gym only just because of the memories I had and the people I met and the teammates I had and the friendships I formed. And they’re lucky enough that they get to be, so from the time they were in the womb they’ve been in the gym, so I’m honored to have them supporting me and I want to thank my family for surprising me for this.”

Stencel Schroeder continued, “To be honest, there are so many stories and I hate to say it, but I just wanted to play. My memories are more of the friendships that I have, of course being the first girls basketball team to go to the state tournament is obviously a highlight, but it didn’t matter because I just wanted to play. A lot of the games that we won or the matches that I played in kind of just come and go, even when I’m coaching today. But I really want to say thanks to Mr. Pack and Mr. Ahmann for being two of the most influential men besides my dad in my life and I’m now coaching young women at college and I have my own camp and if I can be half of the coach that they were to me to them, then this is all worth it for me.”

Smed graduated from MHS in 1979, where he competed in cross country, basketball and track and field. He received the Bud Rose Award for the MHS male athlete of the year in 1979 and earned All-Conference honors for basketball twice.

On the court, Smed guided the Tigers to the Region 2AA Championship game in 1979 and netted All-State honors and was a Mr. Basketball finalist. He also held the records for most rebounds in a season (333), career rebounds per game (15.1) and tied Terry Porter for best points per game average (19.3). He would then go on to play at Augustana College and is second in scoring at 1,795 career points. Smed was taken in the 10th round of the 1983 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers and later had a tryout with both the Pacers and the Timberwolves in 1989. He would also play professionally in Sweden and Germany from 1983-1995.

In his speech, Smed talked about his time overseas as a player, including how he transitioned from being primarily a passer to becoming a scorer.

“It’s just a whole different type of basketball over there. I always considered myself to be a team player and not as a scorer, and I got over there and they said, ‘You really need to score.’ I said, ‘Well, I pass,’ and my coach said, ‘You don’t pass. Every time you touch the ball, you have to score,'” Smed said. “That first year in Sweden we played the Swedish National Team, and I felt like the coach said, ‘You’ve got to score.’ So I started shooting and I looked over at my coach and I said, ‘I feel like a pig.’ He said, ‘You shoot, you’ve got the green light. You shoot until you miss.’ I had 61 (points) that night and I thought, ‘That was pretty fun.’ And the next night I had 59, so in my first year I had 31 a night and it was the first time I actually shot.”

Jacobs served as a coach for the Marshall schools from 1977-2014, including 32 seasons as the head cross country and 21 years as the head boys track and field coach. Jacobs helped lead Marshall to a combined 32 Southwest Conference championships and reached the state tournament 15 times, including back-to-back Class AA championships in 2003 and 2004 as well as a runner-up finish in 2002. He would be named a Section Coach of the Year six times and was the Minnesota state cross country Coach of the Year in 2001. In track, Jacobs led Marshall to conference titles five times.

In his speech, Jacobs talked about his plan wasn’t to become a coach, but once he got his start in Marshall he was opened to some valuable lessons taught by his fellow coaches, including from former MHS boys coach George Corver.

“I didn’t plan to be a coach; not at all. Basically in three different sports I was a face in the crowd, maybe a little spark here or there, but nothing too extraordinary. Upon graduating, I believed I was at the end of my athletic endeavors,” Jacobs said. “Lo and behold, in two years of teaching art at the Marshall Middle School I was recruited as a junior high track coach. I attribute this to No. 1, I was young, No. 2, I had a pulse and I was from Montevideo and No. 3, I wanted to keep my job. I owe a great deal to so many as I learn the basics of sound coaching. It was in junior high track that George Corver, who was a fellow coach for the boys, he opened my eyes to the value of fun in practice.”

Jacobs continued, “As I look back at the path my coaching career traveled, I find myself grateful, humble and proud of the legacy left behind. The relationships established with AD’s, coaches, parents and of course student-athletes will be cherished in my heart forever. I have strived in this quest to create a program that was first of all fun, a lesson from George Corver, that was respected and that was worthy of the efforts put forth by conference athletes.”