South Dakota

Mackenzie Everson, South Dakota’s Miss State Tournament

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2023

Mackenzie Everson, South Dakota’s Miss State Tournament

For most high school kids, making just one state tournament in a school year as an athlete would be considered a success. But for Mackenzie Everson of Castlewood, she’s had quite the year. Not only is her team at state this week in softball, but she was a part of the state tournament teams in volleyball, basketball, and track as well for her school. And to add to it, next week, she’ll be competing in the ‘B’ girls state golf tournament, too.

That’s FIVE state tournament appearances for Mackenzie Everson IN THE SAME SCHOOL YEAR!

“It started with volleyball state tournament, and that was super cool – first time in 25 years for our program, and then it went on to basketball and we made it to state there,” Mackenzie Everson explained. “And then I realized I was going to be playing three spring sports, so I figured I’d probably make it to state track. State golf, we’ve won regions seven years in a row, so I was hoping that too, but softball was new, so I didn’t know.”

Castlewood placed 6th this fall at state volleyball, and then they won the consolation championship in March during the girls state basketball tournament. Just last week, Everson ran in the 100m dash, 200m dash, 400m dash, and 800m relay during state track. She finished 6th in the 100m and 6th in the 200m. Her 800m-relay team also reached the podium in 5th place.

And now this week, it’s state softball. Everson’s journey with softball began at a young age with tee ball. She then played slow pitch until sixth grade and started playing in a fall league in Watertown during her middle school years. Everson even played a couple summers of travel ball, so once the decision was made to sanction softball, and for Castlewood to field a team, she was all in.

“Once I found out I was going to make it to state in all three (spring sports) I was like ‘whoa, five state tournaments in one year, that’s pretty cool.’ It’s just been really fun with amazing teammates, and I wouldn’t be here without them,” Everson said. “I’ve always really loved softball, specifically defense, so just getting a new opportunity to do that, I felt really lucky. I told my parents, I was like, ‘I’m sort of sad I only got one year of it, because it’s been super fun.’ We have a lot of girls who never played, to watch people grow, so we’re really young. Just rewarding to see as a senior, the future is really bright.”

Just competing in three sports at the same time is considered a challenge, but to perform well in all three is another story. Add being a senior with graduation looming, it becomes even more of a hurdle.

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“I’ve been to one golf practice this year, literally, and my coaches just trusted me to find my own time and get that done on my own time. And then track, my track coach is super flexible and just gives me the workouts and says, ‘do them when you can and do what you can.’ And then my softball coach, I’ve been to a very limited number of softball practices, because of track meets and golf meets, and he’s just been understanding of that,” told Everson. “Even like last year at state golf, I was talking to a girl and she said, ‘oh yeah, our AD only lets us pick one spring sport.’ I didn’t even know that was a thing. So I was like ‘wow, I’m so lucky.’”

Everson’s participation also extends past just athletics. She’s a French hornist who has been the drum major of the Castlewood marching band for three years.

“That has really stretched me as a leader a lot, because I started doing it my sophomore year and the first time I did I messed up really bad, I blew my whistle at the wrong time, and it messed up the whole band. I was an underclassman, so that was hard to deal with, but I had to learn how to accept when it’s you, accept responsibility, and try to do better next time,” said Everson with a slight chuckle. “And it helped me to become more assertive as a leader too, because you have to make decisions quickly. It’s one of my favorite things that I’ve done. It has helped me as a leader, and it has carried over to athletics.”

Everson is going to the University of Sioux Falls next year for track, and she plans to study elementary education as well. And while she’ll tell you track is probably her favorite sport, there’s a special spot in her heart for all of them.

“I love the competitiveness of track and the bonds that are created from track, because it’s so hard and it’s unlike any other sport,” she said. “If you asked me this question during volleyball season it probably would have been volleyball, and basketball season, probably basketball, but – I love all my sports honestly.”

From her coaches to her teammates, and then to her family, Everson appreciates everyone who has played a role in her life at Castlewood. With her faith strong, and her readiness for the next step in her journey, she desires to remain thankful for each step along the way.

“I try to let my faith define me. I’ve just been so blessed by the lord in so many ways and he’s just been really good to me, and the way he’s been really good to me is through my family,” Everson explained. “I have awesome parents, who are super supportive, but also pushing me to be my best, but they’re also not putting pressure on me. My faith and my family are the biggest parts of my life and I’m grateful that it’s that way.”

Regarding the state softball tournament this week, Castlewood enters the ‘B’ tournament as the No. 3 seeded team. They’ll play Thursday afternoon against Deuel in the quarterfinal round at 3 pm CT.

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South Dakota

Extreme Cold Warning Issued for Southwest Minnesota and East-Central South Dakota

Published

14 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Extreme Cold Warning Issued for Southwest Minnesota and East-Central South Dakota

MARSHALL— The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Cold Warning in effect until noon CST Tuesday for portions of southwest Minnesota and east-central South Dakota.

The affected area includes cities such as Hendricks, Ivanhoe, Madison, Pipestone, Arlington, Lake Preston, Orland, Flandreau, Brookings, De Smet, Marshall, Tyler, Slayton, Lake Benton, and Fulda.

Wind chills may plunge as low as -40°F, creating life-threatening conditions. Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 10 minutes.

Limit outdoor exposure. If you must go outside, dress in layers, including a hat, face mask, and gloves. Keep pets indoors and check on vulnerable individuals, including older adults and neighbors. Use portable heaters safely and avoid indoor use of generators or grills.

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South Dakota

South Dakota Company Recycles Plastic Into Fence Posts | Aberdeen Insider

Published

22 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

South Dakota Company Recycles Plastic Into Fence Posts | Aberdeen Insider

Many farmers are frustrated with all of the plastic that clutters their farmyards.

Tarps from silage piles, plastic containers, net wrap, totes and drums pile up. It is estimated that 12.5 million tons of agricultural plastic are used annually in the U.S.

A company near Lennox transforms the plastic generated on farms and from other sources into something that every farm needs — 4-inch and 6-inch fence posts. It’s a brilliant example of waste reimagined.

Billy Pollema, vice president of sales for ZahnTech, said the company transforms waste plastic into a product needed by the ag market.

“We sell these posts nationwide, and some have gone to Florida and the Caribbean islands. In those places, they struggle with wood posts rotting due to the salt water and humidity, so this is a good fit for them,” Pollema said.

Bags and other types of plastic are recycled into fence posts by ZahnTech in Lennox. Courtesy photo.

MORE: New agricultural business program will start next fall at Northern State

“Currently, the company processes 30,000 pounds of plastic daily,” he said. “We take it in, shred it, melt it and turn it into something useful. Our goal is to triple what we can process.”

People are thinking more about being sustainable and many want to get to zero waste. The company wants to rebrand recycling and change the way the world views garbage.

ZahnTech is eager to keep plastic out of the landfill.

“We encourage people to bring plastic to us from all over South Dakota. We are even getting some from Wyoming. Our company is partnering with farmers plus different industries. We take it all in as long as it is plastic. There are seven types of plastic in our formulation,” Pollema said.

Trucks constantly pull up to drop off their loads, he said.

“We take chemical jugs as long as they’ve been properly rinsed. We get thousands of barrels from ag companies during the summer and fall, plus plastic pallets,” Pollema said. “We’ve partnered with the city of Beresford to take their curbside pickup materials. Every two or three weeks, it comes to us in bales. They’ll dump it in our shed and we’ll take it from there. We do not accept liquids, glass, metal or hazardous chemicals.”

In addition to ag plastic, ZahnTech is getting semi loads of plastic waste from many industry partners, including Glanbia Nutritionals, which has locations all over the country. Recently, 10 semi-loads of Walmart bags were dropped off. That’s 500,000 pounds of bags waiting to be shredded.

The process uses a primary shredder and a secondary shredder, reducing the plastic to three-eighths inch. Then the material goes through the hot melt extruder and flows into molds for the 4-inch and 6-inch posts.

MORE: Latest 2024 farm income forecast shows overall decrease from 2023

There’s strong demand for the posts.

“We price them to be competitive with the wood market as farmers don’t want to pay more than they have to. ZahnTech is one of the few companies using this process. In addition to the company in New Zealand, there is one in Canada and one in Pennsylvania,” Pollema said.

He was at the recent Dakota Farm Show in Vermillion showing people the pros of using the posts and explaining what the company does. The plastic posts can replace the green-treated posts or posts treated with creosote to prevent rot. Wood posts normally need to be replaced every 10 years or sooner. ZahnTech information said testing shows their posts will last 100 years.

Business sparked by frustration from lack of plastic scrap recycling options

A fence post made from recycled plastic by ZahnTech in Lennox. Courtesy photo.

The owner, Avery Zahn, started the process, and Pollema shared Zahn’s story.

Zahn has owned a pipeline business. His frustration stemmed from the lack of plastic scrap recycling options, forcing him to take the materials to the landfill. After he sold his business, Zahn noticed the railroad ties around his horse arena were rotting and needed to be replaced. Remembering the unrecyclable plastic, he searched for a way to make something usable from it, such as fence posts. He found that in New Zealand, a company developed a process to do that.

“He bought his first extrusion machine from New York, brought it to South Dakota and started figuring out a way to melt the plastic and turn it into fence posts,” Pollema said “Avery tried different formulations and produced a composite to get the posts to the needed strength. After a year and a half of research and development, the company started making and selling products. That was a year and a half ago. It all started with Avery looking at the posts and deciding, ‘I’m going to come up with a better way.’”

The biggest cost for ZahnTech is electricity, with 3,000 amps of service coming into the production facility.

“It’s our major cost and it would be great if we could reduce that, maybe by using some solar power,” Pollema said.

MORE: Invenergy plans 250 megawatt wind farm in Frederick area

While the electricity is expensive, the plastic is free.

“People are looking for places to get rid of their plastic,” he said. “We are diverting as much from the landfill as possible. It’s a great selling point for our posts as people can see we are doing something good for the environment. For years, people buried plastic, and it will take years to degrade. Many people get behind what we are doing.”

ZahnTech produces 300 plastic fence posts per day

The company produces 300 posts a day with six people in the production line who do the shredding, bundling, receiving material and fabrication. In all, there are 11 employees.

Avery Zahn founded and owns ZahnTech, a Lennox business that recycles plastic of all sorts into fence posts. Courtesy photo.

The goal is to handle 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of plastic a day with the two main lines. When ZahnTech adds another line, it will be able to handle 60,000 to 70,000 pounds a day.

Currently, ZahnTech is transforming 98% of waste into sustainable products,” Zahn said.

“We’re not far from achieving our goal — 100% waste conversion. The company wants to build a greener, cleaner world, one fence post at a time,” he said.

On its website, ZahnTech claims its posts are 10 times stronger and 20 times more durable than wood. They are flexible and can be post-driven, cut, drilled, nailed, screwed, bolted or stapled. The posts are fire-resistant, non-conductive, won’t split or rot and are impenetrable by water, frost and pests, per the website. They can also be pulled up and repositioned.

Connie Sieh Groop of Frederick is a veteran journalist and writer who has focused on all aspects of the agriculture industry during her career.

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