South Dakota

The athletes to watch at the South Dakota state track meet in Sioux Falls

Published

7 months ago

May 22, 2024

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.

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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

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South Dakota

Utah Tech 92-87 South Dakota (Dec 19, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

6 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Utah Tech 92-87 South Dakota (Dec 19, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

ST. GEORGE, Utah — — Noa Gonsalves’ 22 points helped Utah Tech defeat South Dakota 92-87 on Thursday.

Gonsalves shot 6 for 13 (6 for 11 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Trailblazers (4-10). Beon Riley scored 21 points while going 7 of 11 and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line and added 14 rebounds. Samuel Ariyibi shot 5 of 7 from the field to finish with 11 points, while adding 12 rebounds.

Kaleb Stewart led the Coyotes (9-5) in scoring, finishing with 26 points and two steals. Chase Forte added 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for South Dakota. Isaac Bruns also had 12 points and six rebounds.

——

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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South Dakota

Phonics-based ‘science of reading’ on track for South Dakota implementation • South Dakota Searchlight

Published

14 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Phonics-based ‘science of reading’ on track for South Dakota implementation • South Dakota Searchlight

Phonics-based instruction could soon be a state standard in South Dakota. The Department of Education is working to align state standards for English and language arts with the phonics-based “science of reading” framework.

The proposed standards revision had its second hearing Thursday in Sioux Falls during a South Dakota Board of Education Standards meeting. It’ll be discussed at the board’s meetings in Pierre and Rapid City next year before approval.

The revision follows a global debate — often called the “reading wars” — about how best to teach children to read. One side advocates for an emphasis on phonics, which is understanding the relationship between sounds and letters. The other side prefers a “whole language” approach that puts a stronger emphasis on understanding meaning, with some phonics mixed in. The “balanced literacy” approach gained popularity in the 2000s, which is phonics-inclusive but favors whole language instruction.

Gov. Kristi Noem and the Legislature invested $6 million earlier this year to train teachers in the science of reading.

The timing for the standards review “couldn’t be better,” said Shannon Malone, director of the Department of Education’s division of learning and instruction, during Thursday’s meeting.

Noem’s phonics literacy effort advances in Legislature

Most of South Dakota’s teachers who were trained in phonics before “whole language” and “balanced literacy” was the standard have retired. Just under 50% of South Dakota students last school year didn’t meet standards for English and language arts, according to the state report card.

“We hope to see those numbers go up. I believe there’s good evidence they will,” state Education Department Secretary Joe Graves told the board.

The department is wrapping up its current voluntary training program on phonics-based teaching and transitioning to courses through the South Dakota Board of Regents, using part of the $6 million in funding from the Legislature. The department hopes to begin classes in fall 2025, open to all public, private and tribal school teachers in the state.

As part of the higher education system, state Department of Education officials hope the program will be used to train college students majoring in teaching before they graduate.

A $54 million Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant awarded to South Dakota from the federal government will also be used to help local school districts implement a phonics-based approach over the next five years. Those competitive grants, with applications opening in early 2025, can go toward improvements such as literacy coach salaries, teacher training or curriculum reviews.

The board also held hearings for optional content standards for computer science and the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings, which educate students on culture and traditions of Indigenous South Dakotans. The computer science standards would be new standards to explore technology, such as artificial intelligence, in the classrooms and workforce. One person spoke against the revised OSEU standards, saying that the standards needed more tribal consultation and more representation of the Nakota and Dakota tribes.

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Hunting lodge in South Dakota to add golf course, with famed author as one of its designers

Published

22 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Hunting lodge in South Dakota to add golf course, with famed author as one of its designers

The design team of Craig & Coyne has partnered with planning and construction firm Landscapes Unlimited to build a golf course at Lazy J Grand Lodge in Ideal, South Dakota.

In rebranding to Lazy J Sporting Club, the facility is adding a par-72, 7,216-yard, 18-hole course scheduled to open in 2027. In a media announcement introducing the plans, the site in the southern/central portion of the state was described as featuring gentle hills, dramatic ravines, elevation changes and waterways.

Craig & Coyne is a partnership formed in 2022 between golf architect Colton Craig and noted author Tom Coyne. Coyne gained famed for several books such as “A Gentleman’s Game,” “Paper Tiger,” “A Course Called Ireland,” “A Course Called Scotland” and “A Course called America.” He is now the editor of the magazine Golfer’s Journal and also a part-owner and operator of Sullivan County Golf Course in New York.

Landscapes Unlimited will bring Craig & Coyne’s design to life, and sister company Landscapes Golf Management will oversee pre-opening activities including membership campaigns and financial management.

Lazy J – set on 20,000 acres – has long been a pheasant hunting destination, and its operators said golf would be a natural addition in turning the lodge into a private destination club. Limited memberships of various levels will be offered.

“Research shows hunters love playing golf and vice versa,” Nick Jorgensen – CEO of Jorgensen Land and Cattle and whose family owns the property – said in a recent media release announcing the course. “We are determined to provide them with a fun and safe destination escape to create unforgettable lifetime memories and experience ultra-friendly Midwest hospitality and camaraderie on the land we love.”

Planned amenities include a state-of-the-art short-game practice area and a 12-hole short course. The existing 42-bed lodge, including a lounge and restaurant, will see interior and exterior renovation.

“The Jorgensen family is world-class in everything it does, and we expect the new golf course to meet the same standards,” Tom Everett, president of Landscapes Golf Management, said in the media release. “With significantly growing participation in golf and hunting, and the premium caliber of Lazy J Sporting Club at large, members will absolutely love their experiences time and again.”

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