February 19, 2026
MADISON, S.D. – The Dakota State University Athletics department will be presenting the annual Terry Ryan Distinguished Service Award on Friday (Feb. 20). This year's recipient is Tom Farrell, the former long-time coach, educator, Faculty Athletics Representative, and athletics director/administration for many years at Dakota State.
He will be honored at the start of the Frontier Conference women's basketball halftime versus Dickinson State (N.D.) Friday evening, which the game tips off at 5 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.
The Terry Ryan Distinguished Service Award began in 2003 with Terry Ryan as the first recipient. The award recognizes the recipient for their years of dedication, commitment, loyalty, and service to the Dakota State University Athletics Department.
Farrell is a Madison High School graduate and a 1970 graduate of Dakota State College. While at DSU, Farrell participated in wrestling and track and served as the football team's student manager for one year. Farrell was the President of the Physical Education Majors Club and was the President of the student section of the South Dakota Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Association.
Farrell began his teaching career at Dakota State after his graduation in 1970 while completing his master's degree in HPER at SDSU. He retired in 2009 as an Associate Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Information Systems but continues to teach one class annually in the Master of Science in Education and Technology program for the College of Education and Human Performance.
While on faculty at Dakota State, Farrell served in many capacities in the athletic department, including head women's volleyball coach, head wrestling coach, head men's golf coach, and assistant football coach. He also served as the sports information director, director of intramural sports, director of athletics, and coordinator of health and physical education programs. He also served as the faculty athletic representative.
Farrell has been a South Dakota High School Athletic Association official in football, basketball, wrestling, volleyball, and track. He was a state volleyball official for eight years and was the state volleyball tournament co-director for two years when the tournament was hosted by Madison High School and Dakota State.
Farrell has been announcing volleyball games on the local radio station, KJAM, for more than 30 years. He has also been a guest commentator for South Dakota Public Broadcasting for the state volleyball tournaments. He received a 'Friend of Volleyball' award from the South Dakota volleyball coaches association at the 2021 state volleyball tournament in Rapid City for his recognition for his dedication to South Dakota high school volleyball programs.
Farrell has been assisting as a spotter for public announcer Keith Bundy at the Dakota State Trojan football home games for many years. Most recently, last fall, Farrell served as the play-by-play announcer for DSU Athletics' YouTube live stream during Trojan volleyball home matches.
Farrell and wife Joyce (Lusk), also class of 1970, taught and coached at Madison High School for 36 years, have two children, Susan and Jim. Susan received her Second Wind teaching certificate from DSU and is teaching and advising activities at Sanborn Central in Forestburg, S.D. Jim received his B.S. from Dakota State and his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army through the joint ROTC program with DSU and SDSU. He is currently serving as a major in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Tom and Joyce have seven grandchildren.
| Terry Ryan Distinguished Service Award |
| Year |
Recipient(s) |
| 2003 |
Terry Ryan |
| 2006 |
Bob Thill, Duane Poppen, Darrell Benson, Doug O'Connell, Doug Merager, Pete Struwe |
| 2010 |
Carla Sudenga |
| 2011 |
Robert Oas |
| 2012 |
Ron Barthel, Rich Husman |
| 2013 |
Steve Bartel |
| 2014 |
Sandy Anderson |
| 2015 |
Keith Bundy |
| 2016 |
Roger Reed |
| 2017 |
Carla Sudenga |
| 2018 |
Dana Hoff |
| 2019 |
Don Weidler |
| 2020 |
Carla Sudenga |
| 2021 |
Cody Welu |
| 2022 |
Karen Giles |
| 2023 |
Nick Huntimer |
| 2024 |
Jena Martin |
| 2025 |
Stacy Anderson |
| 2026 |
Tom Farrell |
