Daniel C. Helm, of Indianapolis, Class of 1975, has been inducted posthumously into the Franklin College Hall of Fame as a player.
Helm was a two-time Most Valuable Player on the Grizzly men’s basketball team and was a standout student at Franklin.
He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and graduated cum laude in 1975. Helm received a master’s degree from Indiana University in physical education and sports medicine, where he also was a graduate trainer for basketball coach Bob Knight.
After graduate school, Helm played profession basketball in Belgium for two years. In 1979, he led his team to an undefeated season and scored 60 points during his final game to win the divisional title game in the Belgium league.
Helm returned to the U.S. and became men’s head coach and head trainer at Juniata College from 1980 to 1990. He then became an athletic trainer at Holland Community Hospital in Michigan.
In 1996, Helm returned to Indiana to be a teacher and head athletic trainer at Pike High School in Indianapolis, during which time the Red Devils won two IHSAA state championshiops in boys basketball.
He was working toward his goal of becoming athletic director when he passed away suddenly on May 37, 3006. Pike dedicated a new athletic training center in honor of Helm in 2006.
Timothy M. Dant, of Indianapolis, Class of 1981, has been inducted into the Franklin College Athletic Hall of Fame as a player.
A former captain of the Grizzlies’ wrestling team in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons, Dant was a NAIA District 21 tournament champion and finished in the top 12 in his weight class in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship meet in 1980 and 1981.
The four-year Franklin letter winner qualified for the NAIA nationals all four years of his collegiate career, which included numerous tournament achievements.
In his freshman season, Dand was name the Grizzlies’ Most Improved Wrestler and earned FC’s Stan Goodman Mental Attitude Award the following year- an honor he won again in his senior season.
He posted a school-best 27-4 record his junior year and compiled a career match record of 70-18-9.
Dant was a resident assistant in Bryan Hall dormitory his junior and senior years. He graduated with a teaching degree in physical education and health.
After college, Dant was a substitute teacher for two years before becoming employed at Frito-Lay, Inc., where he has been recognized with many management awards the past 28 years. He currently serves as a region fleet manager.
Dant enjoys weightlifting. In 1996, he set a Natural Athlete Strength Association state and national bench press record in the 165-pound weight class.
Kimberly S. Sheldon, of Osceola, Ind., Class of 1989, has been inducted into the Franklin College Athletic Hall of Fame as a player.
Sheldon played volleyball, basketball and softball in addition to competing in track and field when she was a student-athlete at FC. Head coach Mark Britner nicknamed Sheldon “Gumby” for her ability to bend and twist to play the ball however she could. She helped lead the 1986 Grizzly volleyball team to the national tournament where it finished fifth among all NAIA programs in the nation. Sheldon was named to the NAIA All-Tournament Team. Franklin also reached the NAIA nationals the following season.
In her senior year, Sheldon was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-America First Team. She led the NAIA record book. Sheldon once made 53 kills in one match and totaled 1,541 kills during her prolific career.
In basketball, Sheldon is still ranked first in scoring average among all-time women’s players at FC at 18.6 points per game. She ranked second in points (1,229), rebounds (940) and field goal percentage (52.7) at the end of her career. Moreover, Sheldon was voted the 1998-89 NAIA District 21 Player of the Year.
After graduating from Franklin, Sheldon worked in various capacities for the Greencastle (Ind.) police department and coached at the high school and collegiate levels. She went on to become an officer in the Mishawaka Police Department, where she has been the past 13 years. Sheldon also returned to coaching, now guiding a club team in the Mishawaka area.
