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South Dakota’s state cheer & dance, cross country championships scheduled for this weekend

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5 months ago

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South Dakota’s state cheer & dance, cross country championships scheduled for this weekend


This is a big weekend for South Dakota high school sports, with state championship events scheduled for competitive cheer and dance and cross country.

The 19th annual cheer and dance competition is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 24 (Class A) and Saturday, Oct. 25 (Class AA) in the Watertown Civic Arena.

The three-class state cross country meet is slated for Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron.

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Here’s some pertinent details from each of the state events.

Cheer & Dance

  • Where & When — Friday and Saturday in the Watertown Civic Arena.
  • Schedule — Class A competition will run from 5:15 p.m. to around 7:20 p.m. on Friday, with awards scheduled for approximately 8 p.m. Class AA competition opens at 11:15 a.m. Saturday and continues past 3 p.m. with awards to follow at about 3:30 p.m. (Dance teams can perform in two of three dance categories: hip hop, jazz and pom).
  • Teams & Defending Champions — Class A features 20 schools in cheer and six dance. Sioux Valley has won all 18 cheer titles in state history and Dakota Valley has won the past 15 dance titles. Class AA includes 19 schools in cheer and 18 in dance. Defending champion Harrisburg has won two of the past three cheer titles and Brandon Valley is the four-time defending champion in dance.

2024 STATE CHEER & DANCE: SIoux Valley claims 18th-straight Class A cheer title; Watertown cheer takes fifth in Class AA

  • Judges — Cheer: Performance judges include Renee Cummings of Watertown (head judge), Christian Bennett of Pierre and Krista Inman of Rapid City and safety judges are Brandy Gangle of Lake City and Katrina Schnabel of Aberdeen. Dance: Performance judges are Tammy Griffith of Aberdeen (head judge), Dacia Starks of Pierre and Darcy Nagel of Rapid City along with safety officials Taylor Hageman of Watertown and Salena Reimer of Sioux Falls.
  • Awards — Grand champions will be crowned in cheer and dance with other awards related to the number of teams in each division.
  • Tickets — Tickets for adults are $15 and students $10 per day.
  • Northeastern South Dakota Squads — Area Class A competitive cheer squads include Deubrook Area, Elkton-Lake Benton, Faulkton Area, Iroquois-Lake Preston and Sioux Valley. There are no area Class A dance squads. Watertown and Aberdeen Central each will field cheer and dance squads in Class AA.

Cross Country

  • Where & When — Saturday at the Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron.
  • Schedule — Races (all 5,000 meters) include Class A boys at noon, Class AA boys at 12:30 p.m., Class B boys at 1 p.m., Class A girls at 1:30 p.m., Class AA girls at 2 p.m. and Class B girls at 2:30 p.m. Awards will be held following the conclusion on the final race.
  • Returning Individual Champions — Returning individual race champions include Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern, Class B girls; Faith Wiese of Flandreau, Class A girls; and Brianna Reilly of Harrisburg, Class AA girls; Tate Grabow of Hill City, Class A boys and Cole Reilly of Sioux Falls Washington, Class A boys. There will be a new champion crowned in Class B boys.
  • Defending Team Champions — Kimball-White Lake (Class B girls), Sioux Falls Christian (Class A girls, 3-time), Harrisburg (Class AA girls), Philip (Class B boys, 3-time), Sioux Falls Christian (Class A boys) and Sioux Falls Lincoln (Class AA boys, 2-time).

2024 STATE CROSS COUNTRY: Twenty-six area runners, five area teams earn special honors in state cross country meet

  • Officials — Tim Casper of Lake Preston, meet referee; Bob DeBoer of Huron, assistant meet referee and starters Tina Baum and Steve Carron of Huron.
  • Awards — The top 25 indivdiuals and six teams in each division receive awards.
  • Tickets — Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students in grades 1-12.
  • Northeastern South Dakota Runners — The field includes 14 area runners in Class AA girls (Watertown and Aberdeen Central), 31 in Class A girls (including school eligible for team honors Milbank, Aberdeen Roncalli, Sioux Valley and Clark-Willow Lake), 35 in Class B girls (eligible teams Gettysburg, Herreid-Selby Area, Ipswich, Arlington, Northwestern and Deubrook Area), 14 in Class AA boys (Watertown and Aberdeen Central), 29in Class A boys (eligible teams Milbank, Deuel and Sisseton) and 35 in Class B boys (eligible teams North Central, Frederick Area, Herreid-Selby Area and Northwestern).

ESD Cheer & Dance

A number of the Class AA cheer and dance squads tuned up for state by competing in the ESD Championships on Oct. 16 at Brookings.

Harrisburg won the cheer division for the eighth-straight year with a score of 295.5, followed by Brookings (288.0), Watertown (275.5), Yankton (245.5), Tea Area and Mitchell (each 244.5), Huron and Pierre (each 213.5), Brandon Valley (192.5) and Aberdeen Central (188.5).

Brandon Valley won the dance division for a third-straight year with 40 points, followed by Harrisburg with 39, Yankton and Pierre each 37, Aberdeen Central 35, Watertown 33, Tea Area 32, Mitchell and Brookings each 29 and Huron 26.

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Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com



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South Dakota

Governor Rhoden signs school lunch bill into law

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9 hours ago

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March 27, 2026

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Governor Rhoden signs school lunch bill into law


SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Governor Rhoden officially signed HB 1082 into law on Friday, March 27.

HB 1082 is a bill that establishes parameters for reimbursing school districts that provide free or reduced-price meals to students.

Representative Kadyn Wittman, who has worked to pass the bill for several years, expressed excitement and gratitude in a post to Facebook on Friday.

“10,000 kids across our state will now have access to free school meals. No stigma. No barriers. Just the support they need to learn and grow,” wrote Wittman.

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“So incredibly grateful to everyone who made this happen. This is a big win for South Dakota families!”

You can see the full bill and its sponsors here.

Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.



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South Dakota

Retired Air Force four-star general Maryanne Miller speaks at South Dakota Mines

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21 hours ago

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March 27, 2026

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Retired Air Force four-star general Maryanne Miller speaks at South Dakota Mines


RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.

Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.

She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.

“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”

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Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.



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South Dakota

USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms

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1 day ago

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March 26, 2026

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USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms


SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.

“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.

FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.

“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.

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For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.

Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.



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