Hall of Fame: Jane Swenson was force for BV in basketball, track

When Jane Swenson stepped into the discus and shotput rings or onto the basketball floor, you knew something big was about to happen.

And that was exactly the impression that Swenson, a 2008 Brandon Valley High School grad, made as a Lady Lynx student-athlete, and one of the many reasons she was selected for induction into the Brandon Valley Athletic Hall of Fame.

“I feel very humbled by it. I would say honored is a better word to be considered somebody that was good enough or accomplished enough to be able to be honored in this way with so many other great athletes,” she said. “Being part of that tradition and being able to represent Brandon Valley in this way is pretty special.

A multi-sport athlete, Swenson was a two-year varsity letter winner in basketball. She was instrumental in the 2007 girls’ basketball team’s fourth-place finish in the Class AA state tournament, where she garnered all-tournament team accolades that season as well.

BV’s opening game of the state tournament in her junior season clearly rises to the top of memorable games she played. The Lynx were the eighth seed and were pitted against a Sioux Falls Roosevelt team that was clearly focused on winning their third consecutive state title.

“Of course, they were our first game and everybody expected us to lose. We went in as the underdogs,” Swenson said. 

And after losing by 20 points earlier in the season to the Rough Riders, Swenson and company took on the mindset of playing as though they had nothing to lose.

“We just went out to play basketball and it all came together, and we ended up beating them by 20 points,” she reflects. “I think it was the game of the tournament, because I remember our whole crowd rushed the court after we won. You would’ve thought that game won the whole tournament, but it was just the first game.”

Swenson also has fond memories of playing in BV’s Auxiliary Gym.

“I love that gym and how awesome that tiny gym was when it was packed full of people,” she said. 

She also had a fondness for basketball because it is a team sport.

“We had a great group of girls who figured out how to jive together, and when it all came together, it was fun.

As good as Swenson was on the hardwood, she was clearly a difference-maker for the Lady Lynx track and field team. A three-year varsity letter winner, Swenson registered a plethora of first-place finishes and carved her name into the local shot put and discus record books.

Now 14 years strong, she possesses first- and second-places on BV’s All-Time Top 10 list in both events. She etched her name in the books with a discus throw of 142-feet, 2 inches, then broke her own record with an impressive 149-feet, 4-inch throw. She’s also ranked No. 5 on the all-time thrower list in South Dakota girl’s discus.

Just as she did in discus, Swenson also owns the top two school records in girl’s shot put. Her first shot put record throw measured 41-1.5. She later bested that throw with another record-setter at 43.2-.25. That distance also landed her in the Eastern South Dakota Conference record books, where she erased Tricia Bain of Huron’s 1994 record of 42.6.5.

Although track and field was Swenson’s first love, she said she put a lot of pressure on herself to always do better

“To this day, I’m still hard on myself and critical of myself,” she said. “I think for me it was hard to enjoy the moments that were successes, because in my mind I could’ve done this better or I could’ve done that better.”

Despite her drive for perfection, Swenson was a staple on the track and field podium. Her list of accomplishments includes top-10 placements in the 2006 ESD, Howard Wood and AA state meets. The following season, she captured championship honors in the shot put and claimed second in discus at the state meet.

The accolades, she said, were the results of attending camps in the summer and time in the weight room year-round. 

“I practiced every day, watched throw videos on the weekends, always trying to figure out how I can do better,” she said.

Her senior season was a stellar one, in which she was crowned ESD champion in both shot put and discus, which is also the year she set a new ESD record in shot put.

Swenson rose to the top of the Howard Wood Relays in discus in 2008, which was followed by runner-up finishes at the AA state meet that same year.

From BV, Swenson ventured to Moorpark College in Moorpark, Calif., and left a big impression in shot, discus and hammer. She earned First Team All American honors in those events before transferring to Penn State, where her prowess in the sport landed her numerous top 10 finishes and Big 10 records. Upon graduating from Penn State, Swenson was in the top 10 All Time at Penn State in all three throwing events.

Among her collegiate personal bests are the following: Shot put – 48-8.25 (indoor) and 52-6 (outdoor); 20 lb. weight – 58-8 (indoor); discus – 150-2 (outdoor); and hammer – 172-4 (outdoor).

All of Swenson’s success may hot have been possible had it not been for a birthday gift she received from her grandpa.

It was a discus.

“I just found this note that he wrote with it,” she tells. “It was for my sixth or eighth birthday, and he got me this thing and of course, I had no idea what it was. Little did I know it would take me down the road it did.”

Team dinners the night before competitions and bus rides to and from events are some of her favorite memories as a BV Lynx. Swenson said she enjoyed the time she spent with her teammates, piling into buses and ultimately, bonding as a team.