Jim Sutton of Onida and Julie Thorstenson of Eagle Butte were among eight alumni whose college experiences span five decades and will be honored by South Dakota State University as distinguished alumni on Friday, Oct. 3.

Sutton, who graduated from SDSU in 1957, will be honored for service to SDSU.

Sutton was a free-throw shooting ace when he played basketball at SDSU, but the animal-science major turned down an opportunity to play professional basketball to return to his Onida ranch.

There, he has been involved with Sutton Rodeo Inc., which has been a family operation for 75 years. In addition to supplying livestock for the Jackrabbit Stampede rodeo, Sutton has been an ardent supporter of the college's rodeo club and helped start the "Steers for State" scholarship program at SDSU.

Thorstenson, originally of Isabel, grew up on a ranch in north-central South Dakota and has spent her career serving Native Americans in that area. Thorstenson, who earned degrees at SDSU in 1999 and 2005, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni award from SDSU.

In 2007, Thorstenson was hired as director of the Lakota campus of Presentation College in Eagle Butte. The Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member coordinates the only higher-education programming available on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, where she did research for her master's in biology.