Theresa Rader is a legend of the Class of 1993. Not just at the school she graduated from, Butte Central, either.

Rader was good at every sport she tried. She was a speedskater, basketball player, volleyball player, softball player. If there was a competition, Rader was ready to win it.

She started as a freshman on the varsity basketball team at BC. She also played on the school’s first-ever softball team.

Then, Rader played softball at Jamestown University in North Dakota, where she did not let a pregnancy in her senior season stop her from batting leadoff.

She is also fun. With her distinctive voice and booming laugh, Rader can still be the life of any party. More than anything, Rader was always nice to everyone, even if the legend of Rader started with a punch.

Yes, as a first grader or kindergartner, Rader punched out an older girl who was teasing her big brother on the pavement playground of the Blaine School. She pointed at the girl’s shoes. When the girl looked down, Rader delivered the greatest uppercut in the history of punches.

Yes, Rader was always looking out for the underdog, especially if that underdog was her brother Bobby.

Rader has made a career out of sticking up for the underdog. Today, Rader is the executive director of the Institute for Education Opportunities at Montana Technological University.

Last October, she received the Art Quinn Memorial Award at the ASPIRE Regional Conference in Helena. The award is the highest honor given by ASPIRE, Inc, an organization that serves more than 45,000 low-income and first-generation students in Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.

For the past 16 years, Rader has worked with young students, helping put them on the course to be first-generation college graduates from their family.

While Rader kind of fell into the job, it is a position that she basically was preparing for her whole life as she grew up in a working-class family in the Mining City.

Listen in to this podcast as Rader talks about delivering the uppercut. Listen as she talks about her speedskating days and how my mom, the Earl Woods of speedskating parents, got her started. Listen as she talks about her days playing sports for the Maroons and Jimmies.

Listen in as Rader becomes the first ButteCast quest to use the phone-a-friend feature and call in a couple of Olympic speedskater, Chris Witty and the “Flyin’ Hawaiian,” Ryan Shimabukuro, to talk about their days training in Butte.

Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.