VERMILLION, S.D.—Longtime track and field coach Larry Buffington of Gayville-Volin High School was presented with the 2023 Dan Lennon Award on Tuesday afternoon. The Dan Lennon Award is presented annually by the University of South Dakota to recognize an individual for their contribution to the sport of track and field.
 
Buffington, a 1976 graduate of Gayville-Volin High School, coached both football and track and field at Dakota Wesleyan for 14 years prior to returning to his alma mater in 2000. Buffington was the 2009 South Dakota High School Boys Track Coach of the Year as Gayville-Volin won the state track and field championship. He also coached four girls' cross country runners to seven individual state titles. His girls cross country squad finished runner-up as a team three times at the state meet. He was the first inductee to the Gayville-Volin Hall of Fame when it began in 2006. Buffington plans to retire from teaching and coaching following the end of the school year.
 
Prior to his coaching career, Buffington was a member of the 1975 South Dakota Class B State Championship track and field squad at Gayville-Volin. He won the discus and shot put, including setting a state record. He went on to earn degrees from Northern State and a master's degree from the University of South Dakota.
 
The 2023 Dan Lennon Invitational concluded on Tuesday on the Mildred J. Hillenbrand Memorial Track inside the DakotaDome. Eight meet records were broken during the two-day high school competition. Nyariek Kur (Sioux Falls Washington) and Isaac Ochoa (Norfolk) were the Class A MVPs, while Gracelyn Leiseth (Hamlin) and Josiah Adams (Sioux Falls Christian) were the Class B MVPs. Complete results are available here.