Don Sovell

Don Sovell was an outstanding athlete at Washburn from 1943 to 1946 earning 5 letters.

In football, Don was a two year starter and played halfback as a sophomore and halfback and quarterback as a senior when he was named to the Minneapolis Conference All City Team. An injury forced Don to miss his junior season.

In basketball, Don was a two year starter. In 1946 he was captain of the first Washburn basketball team to win both the Minneapolis City Conference Basketball and Twin City Championships. The team went to the Minnesota State Basketball Tournament where it lost by one point. Don and Jack Marton, another 2007 hall of fame inductee, were the starting guards on the team. Don was named to the Minneapolis Conference All City Team in both his junior and senior years.

In baseball, Don played on Washburn teams that won the Minneapolis City Conference and Twin City Championships in 1944 and 1945. Don was named to the Minneapolis Conference All City Team as a junior.

After graduating from Washburn, Don attended the College of St Thomas where he won four letters in football and three in basketball graduating with many honors in 1950. In 1952, Don began teaching and coaching. Over the years, he taught and at various times coached football, boysÕ and girlsÕ basketball, baseball and golf at Marshall High School for 11 years, Mpls North for 10 years and Mpls South for 9 years.

In 1943 on his first day at Washburn, Don saw Barbara Hoffman. They were married on June 24, 1950. They had six children; five are Washburn graduates.

Don is extremely proud of his academic achievements at Washburn and in college at St. Thomas. At Washburn, Don was the senior class president, student council president and in the National Honor Society. At St. Thomas, he was the senior class president, Mr. Tommy, Class of 1950, made National Delta Epsilon Sigma (Catholic Scholastic Honor Society) and graduated Magna Cum Laude