‘Championship Baby’ Born at Brookings Health System

  • January 10, 2023

Shelby and Kelin Rang hold their championship baby, Bailey. Bailey was born at 4:06 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Brookings Health System, just as the South Dakota State football team officially became FCS college football champions.
Shelby and Kelin Rang hold their championship baby, Bailey. Bailey was born at 4:06 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Brookings Health System, just as the South Dakota State football team officially became FCS college football champions.

Just as the South Dakota State Jackrabbits officially became the FCS college football champions in Frisco, Texas, little girl Bailey was born to Shelby and Kelin Rang at Brookings Health System. Her official birth time was 4:06 p.m. on Jan. 8. She came in at an exact eight lbs. and measured 20 inches long.

Bailey was due on Jan. 23. Shelby and Kelin were planning to watch the Jan. 8 championship game with family, but their first baby made them change plans. They came to Brookings Hospital on Saturday evening. With labor continuing Sunday afternoon, they turned the game on inside their labor and delivery suite.

OBGYN Dr. Emily Abele of Avera Medical Group delivered the championship baby and placed her on Shelby’s chest just as SDSU’s Coach Stig and NDSU Coach Matt Entz were shaking hands. Making the championship delivery even more perfect: one of the obstetrics nurses who helped deliver Bailey was Andrea Quam, a cousin of leading Jackrabbit receivers Jadon and Jaxon Janke.

Shelby and Kelin are taking their championship baby home to Estelline, S.D., today, Jan. 10.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.