South Dakota
The athletes to watch at the South Dakota state track meet in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS — The 2024 South Dakota State High School Track and Field Championships run Thursday through Saturday at Howard Wood Field.
Events kick off at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 9 a.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday with the final event (the boys’ 1,600-meter relay) slated for 2:40 p.m. on Saturday.
Below, here’s at least 20 reasons (athletes/relay teams) for area fans to keep an eye on this weekend.
Halle Bauer, Great Plains Lutheran
The Panther standout and South Dakota State University recruit missed her senior season of cross country because of an injury but returned this spring and did qualify for six events. She’s slated to run the Class A 400-meter dash and 1,600-meter run and also seems likely to be used in GPL’s medley and 1,600 relays.
Bauer has placed in at least five individual events at state meets during her career.
Malia Kranz, Watertown
The Arrow sophomore heads into the state meet with the top throw in the Class AA girls’ discus (139-3) and the third-best throw in the shot put.
She took sixth in the shot put last year and broke Watertown’s school record with a toss of 43 feet, 8 inches at an indoor meet earlier this spring.
David VanVeen, Aberdeen Central
The Golden Eagle senior has come on strong this spring and enters the state meet with the second-best time in the Class AA boys’ 1,600-meter run and sixth-best in the 3,200.
Chloe Raw, Arlington
The junior speedster finished second in both the Class B girls’ 100- and 200-meter dashes last spring and has recorded the best times in both the 100 (12.03) and 200 (24.86) heading into the state meet.
Ella Boekelheide, Northwestern
Who knows how many events the sophomore standout could run if she wasn’t limited to four. She’s slated to run the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 runs in Class B girls division this weekend. She has the top time in the 800 (2:05.07), second-best times in both the 1,600 and 3,200 and fourth-best in the 400.
Her track record at state includes wins the 1,600 and 3,200 along with a fifth-place finish in the 800 in 2022 and runner-up finishes in all three races in 2023.
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Ciara Frank, Aberdeen Central
The senior is a two-time state Class AA place winner in the high jump (second in 2023 and sixth in 2022) and also finished third in the long jump last spring.
She enters the state meet No. 3 in the high jump and No. 4 in the long jump.
Owen Spartz, Watertown
The University of South Dakota recruit is looking to become the first Arrow boys’ pole vaulter to win three state titles in the event, but has spent most of the spring behind fellow USD recruit Beau Karst of Harrisburg, the new state record-holder in the event (16-3).
Keep a look out for more on Spartz in a feature story slated to come out Thursday.
Owen Fieber, Deuel & Zac VanMeeteren, Hamlin
Fieber, a junior, took fourth in the Class A boys’ 100-meter dash last spring and enters the state meet with the second-best 100 and eighth-best 200. He has been out with an injury, but is listed among the state entrants.
VanMeeteren, another junior, has stepped up during Fieber’s absence and has the second-best 200 and fourth-best 100 and 400 times among the state entrants. VanMeeteren’s teammate Luke Fraser, a senior, has ran the sixth-best time in the 400.
20 Favorites: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984
Isabelle Bloker, Sioux Valley
Bloker has placed in both the Class A girls’ 1,600- and 3,200-meter run at state each of the past two years, including victories in both races in 2023.
She enters state with the best 3,200 time (10:34.25) and second-best 1,600.
Kaleb Foltz, Tri-State
Like Boekelheide, Foltz is a distance standout who is also becoming more of a sprinter. He placed fourth in the Class A boys’ 800, fifth in the 400 and sixth in the 1,600 in the 2023 state meet. He won the 800 and 1,600 and also placed in both events in Class B in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
He’s currently No. 1 in the 800 (1:52.24), third in the 400 and seventh in the 1,600.
Deubrook Area Relays
The Dolphins are back in Class B where they’ve had success, including three-straight state Class B girls division championships from 2017-19.
Deubrook Area’s girls enter the state meet with the top time in the medley (4:22.25) and third-best time the 3,200. The Dolphin boys have the third-best 800 time and top times in the 1,600 (3:29.9), 3,200 (8;14.39) and medley (3:41.46).
Ipswich Pole Vaulters
The Tigers have the top Class B vaulters in boys (junior Rasmus Loken, 13-0) and girls (freshman Jalyssa Hutson, 10-6). Loken took third and Hutson second in last year’s state meet.
Sophomore Marley Guthmiller has placed third in the girls each of the past two years and enters state at No. 3. Sophomore Brody Davis (fifth) is also a returning state place winner for the boys.
Payton Brown & James Batchelor, Milbank
Here’s two talented senior distance runners for the Bulldogs. Brown has run the third-best times in both the boys’ 800 and 1,600 runs. Teammate James Batchelor has the fourth-best 1,600.
They could also factor in on the Bulldog relay teams that currently are second in the medley and third in the 3,200.
Boaz Raderschadt, Watertown
The senior University of North Dakota recruit is one of limited group of Watertown athletes who could win a state title. He enters state wth the second-best throw in the throw in the Class AA shot put and fourth-best in the discus. He finished seventh in the shot put last spring.
Cristhian Rodriguez, Matthew Mount, Robert Begalka & Dustin Wurtz
Here’s four more boys’ throwers to keep an eye on. Rodriguez, a senior from Hamlin, has the top throw in the Class A javelin (169-2) and third-best in the discus. Mount, a sophomore from Webster Area, is fifth in the shot put and sixth in the discus and Begalka, a senior from Deuel, fourth in the shot and seventh in the discus. Mount placed fifth in the shot put and Begalka sixth in the discus in 2023.
Wurtz, a junior from Leola, finished second in the Class B discus and sixth in the shot put at last spring and has the third-best throw in the shot put and fifth-best in the discus so far this spring.
Shawnteah La Croix, Aberdeen Christian
The sophomore sprinter has placed in the Class B girls’ 100 and 200 dashes at each of the last two state meets and and has used that speed to become successful in another event this spring. She enters the state meet No. 2 in the long jump and No. 3 in both the 100 and 200.
Lincoln Woodring, Northwestern
A runner-up in the Class B 800 and a sixth-place finishers in the 1,600 last spring, the junior has the best time in the field in the 800 (1:57.47) and fifth-best time in the 1,600. He also should anchor Northwestern’s No. 2 medley relay.
Emmett Hanson, Milbank
Acccording to numbers, the junior is the cream of the crop for area hurdlers. He heads to the state meet with the thrid-best Class A time in the 300s and the fourth-best in the 100s.
Ipswich (boys) & Potter County (girls) Relays
Ipswich has the fastest times this spring in both the Class B boys’ 400 (44.11) and 800 relays (1:31.3).
Potter County’s girls have the fastest Class B time in the 1,600 (4:08.64), second-fastest in the 3,200 and fourth-fastest in the medley.
Trevor Heinz, Ipswich & Spencer Melius, Faulkton Area
These two area athletes also head to the state meet the top distances in Class B boys’ field events.
Heinz, a senior, is No. 1 in the long jump (22-6.5) and Melius, a sophomore, No. 1 in the javelin (170-0).
State Track Meet Schedule: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.sdhsaa.com/Athletics/TF-MeetSchedule.pdf
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
South Dakota
South Dakota lawmakers push bill criminalizing deepfakes nearer to governor’s desk
PIERRE — A bill from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley to criminalize the creation or sharing of deepfakes was amended this week to more clearly define what constitutes nudity before it reaches Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk.
The amendment, added on the floor of the House of Representatives, came in response to concerns about unintended consequences.
Senate Bill 41 creates a class of felony crime for the creation or distribution of images digitally altered to depict a person in a state of nudity or involved in a sexually explicit act, commonly referred to as deepfakes.
In testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday in Pierre, Jackley pointed to the case of Mark Rathbun, a former Division of Motor Vehicles employee who is accused of taking images of women and girls from state databases and creating sexual images.“This is real, and it’s something that we unfortunately are seeing happen in our state,” Jackley said.
The judiciary committee voted 8-3 to send the bill to the House floor but not before a discussion on its potential to criminalize political memes.
The bill’s definition of nudity originally encompassed a partial state of nudity. Fort Pierre Republican Rep. Will Mortenson asked Jackley if that would include a fabricated topless photo. Jackley said yes. Then Mortenson asked if a fabricated image of Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker without a shirt, if shared by President Donald Trump on social media, would put the president in line for felony charges.
Jackley said a Pritzker image wouldn’t qualify because Pritzker is male, but Mortenson pushed back.
He noted that partially nude fabrications would be a felony if done with the intent to “self-gratify or alarm, annoy, embarrass, harass, invade the privacy of, threaten, or cause emotional, financial, physical, psychological, or reputational harm to that individual.”
Nothing in the bill specified that a person in a digitally fabricated topless image must be female.
“We just said that half-nude is a state of nudity, and so now he’s shirtless, and the point of this is to embarrass this guy,” Mortenson said of his topless Pritzker meme scenario.
Mortenson voted against the bill in committee but brought an amendment Tuesday to define nudity as inclusive of male or female genitalia, buttocks or the female nipple.
The amendment passed, but it did not address every concern about the bill.
Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman of Sioux Falls asked Jackley during the bill’s committee hearing why he didn’t use it to enhance penalties for people who film others in states of undress or participating in sexual activity against their will.
That behavior is a felony if it involves the recording of a minor, or if it happens repeatedly. The new penalties for deepfakes would be added to the same chapter of South Dakota law.
“Why is the first time hidden recording a misdemeanor generally, but a digitally fabricated image would automatically be a classified felony,” said Wittman.
Jackley said he feels that the creation of digitally manipulated sexual images, even if they aren’t shared, signals “significant criminal intent.” He told South Dakota Searchlight after the committee meeting that he’s open to addressing that issue, but that SB 41’s primary purpose was to target deepfakes.
On the House floor, Wittman was one of two representatives to say the bill’s felony penalties could be unnecessarily harsh in instances where young people make “a stupid decision” and create a deepfake.
“I feel like, in a lot of situations, this bill covers behavior that could be covered by a lower level of offense,” Wittman said.
Supporters countered that the creation of fake nudes can do real psychological damage to real people, and that the state needs to clearly signal that doing so is a serious crime.
“It’s only fun and games until it happens to you,” said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-St. Onge.
The bill passed the House 60-6. It now moves to the state Senate, which passed the bill 32-0 on Jan. 16. The Senate would need to approve the amended version of the bill before it could be delivered to Gov. Larry Rhoden to sign or veto.
South Dakota
SD Lottery Mega Millions, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for March 3, 2026
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 3, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 3 drawing
07-21-53-54-62, Mega Ball: 16
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 3 drawing
09-10-13-25-54, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
South Dakota
Nebraska volleyball to play regular-season match in South Dakota
Nebraska volleyball will play South Dakota State in a regular-season match in Brookings, S.D. The Huskers will face the Jackrabbits on September 2 at First Bank & Trust Arena.
Nebraska finished 2025 with a 33-1 overall record and was ranked No. 3 in the final AVCA poll of the season. South Dakota State was 23-5 and was the Summit League regular-season champions.
These two programs have faced each other before. They played a spring exhibition match in May 2025. The Huskers were victorious by a 4-0 sweep (25-18, 25-19, 25-17, 25-19).
Harper Murray led the Huskers in kills with 12, while also earning seven digs, five blocks and two aces. Andi Jackson delivered a double-double on the day, finishing with 11 kills and 10 blocks.
Nebraska is scheduled to play two exhibition games this spring. The Huskers will face Iowa State in Sioux Falls, S.D. on April 11 and Creighton in Omaha on April 17.
Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire (https://twitter.com/CornhuskersWire) on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebook (https://www.facebook.com/CornhuskersWire) to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.
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