Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Rods Second Wednesday Sports Post

Pierre mayor Laurie Gill has announced that Carin Doyle-Hayn has been hired by the city to become the new manager and head golf professional at Hillsview Golf Course. Hayn is a native of Pierre and learned to play the game of golf at Hillsview. She has been a Head Golf Prfessional at Country Clubs in New Mexico, Florida and Kansas and was a touring professional from 2001 to 2003. Hayn is currently a member of the Hillsview Golf Course Advisory Board and she is well aware of the chanllenges ahe in Hillsview recovering frm the 2011 Flood. Hayn is a 1983 graduate of South Dakota State where she was named the female athlete of the year that year. She is also a member of the T.F. Riggs High School Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1999. Hayn replaces former manager Todd Surdez who left in 2011 to take a similar position in Kansas City.

Rod's Wednesday Sports Post

Stanley County had 3 champions in the boys division and 1 in the girls in the Miller Booster Club Track and Field Meet yesterday in Miller. All three of the championships in the boys division was captured by Cody LeCompte. The Buffalo senior won the High Jump clearing 5-09. The Triple Jump by leaping 40-07.25 and the 100 meter dash in a time of 11.41. Kelsey VanDenHemel was the winner on the girls side as she posted a time of 2:34.01 to win the 800 meter run. The Buffalo boys had a total of 5 place winners while the Lady Buffalos had 10. Stanley County returns to the track on Thursday when they travel to Presho to compete in the Cecil Johnson Invitational.

For the first time this season, the Pierre Lady Governor golf team did not win a tournament. In their third tournament of the season and fourth golf outing of the season, the Lady Govs shot a 335 to finish 15 strokes behind tournament champion Sioux Falls O'Gorman and one stroke ahead of third place finishing Aberdeen Central. Lauren Fitts of Brookings defeated Hallie Getz of Pierre in a playoff to win individual medalist honors. Both golfers ended the regulation 18 holes with identical 75 scores. Fitts won the tournament on the fourth playoff hole. The Lady Govs had two other golfers finish in the top 10 to place in the tournament. Paige Erickson fired an 81 to fnish 5th and Katie Bartlett had a 89 to finish in a tie for 10th. The Lady Govs will head to Mitchell on Friday for the Mitchell Invitatinal for their next action.

The Pierre Governor tennis team improved it's record to 10-3 on the season with a dual sweep of Huron and Spearfish yesterday. The Governors lost just 1 match on the day as Pierre downed Huron 8-1 and Spearfish 9-0. The only loss on the day came at number 5 singles in the Huron match. Jared Smith, who plays number 3 singles and teams with Hans Leong at number 1 doubles got overheated and sat out the Spearfish match. Everybody moved up a spot in singles and Zane Frederick won his first varsity match by shutting out Brett Hersch of Spearfish. Frederick also teamed with Hans Leong at number 1 doubles and defeated MIke Maskell and Nate Terveen 10-0. Governor head coach Jeff Schlekeway said his squad played great yesterday and will need to keep that intensity going this weekend when they travel to Rapid City to dual Rapid City Central on Friday and then play in the two day Rapid City Invitational tennis tournament.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Rod's Tuesday Sports Post

Ballots were mailed out yesterday from the South Dakota High School Activities Association to member schools to vote on a change of the current open enrollment policy in South Dakaota's High Schools. When open enrollment began with the 1998-99 school year, it was designed to allow a student living in one attendance area to go to school in another attendance area without his or her family having to move. Academics was the focus, but over the years, the policy has been used more frequently for athletic reasons. 31 member schools recently petitioned the High School Activities Association to change it's rules stating an athlete must sit out a year of varsity athletics if they open enroll but may compete at the Junior Varsity or lower level. School districts will have 60 days to vote on the matter and return the ballots to the High School Activities Association Office in Pierre. A 60 percent approval rate is needed for the change to go into effect July 1st.

The South Dakota High School Activities Association changed several rules last week at their meeting in Pierre. In Basketball and Volleyball, Class A District tournaments were eliminated beginning in the 2013-14 school year and the Class A school will play in either a 7 or 8 team Region tournament to qualify for the State tournaments. The seeding formula in basketball was changed in Class A and B that varies the points recieved for a win depending on the size of school. In Volleyball, a new 3 colored ball will be used. The Royal blue/gray and white ball from Baden will be used by all schools. In football, the High School Activities Association will now assign all officials for the regular season as well as the post season and beginning in 2013 the first practice for teams that have games during the first weekend of the season can begin on the Thursday of week 6 or August 15th. All other teams may not have their first practice of the season until the follwoing Monday or August 19th. In Gymnastics, Regon Meets have been eliminated at the Class A level with all teams allowed to compete during the first day on team day with a limit of 6 competitors per team. The top 50 percent of competitors on team day would then qualify for the individual day the next day as well as those who qualified during the course of the regular season.

The Pierre Tennis Association will be holding a Tennis Block Party on Saturday, May 5th at the Griffin Park Courts in Pierre from 1 to 4 pm. The public is invited to stop by and aquaint themselves with recreational tennis at anytime during the 3 hours. There will be activities for the entire family with games for young and old. There will be chances to test a new racquet while hitting balls from the ball machine (you choose the speed) and an introduction to the game for those that have not participated in the past. Registration for summer "Kids at the Court" recreation tennis program, adult beginner tennis lessons, and adult leagues will be available at the same time. Free t-shirts will be given to the first 100 youth to register for the "Kids at the Court" summer recreation tennis program. And there will be door prizes given away throughout the day. For more information on the Pierre Tennis Association's Tennis Block Party contact Heather Forney at 605-224-9914.

Oahe Speedway north of Pierre was scheduled to have their first shootout races of the season on Sunday, but a message on the speedway's website noted that while the grinding and polishing of the track was completed the cleanup was not and that the track prep work was taking longer than usual so track officials decided to cancel yesterday's season opening races. While track officials apoligize, they felt that the extra time was needed to do everything right. The scheduled starting weekend for races is now scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, May5th and 6th. Oahe Speedway is located approximatly 14 miles north of Pierre along highway 1806.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Rod's Saturday Sports Post

The Pierre Lady Governor Track and Field team scored 127 points to finish second to champion Sioux Falls Washington at the Pierre Legion Relays Friday. Washington also won the boys division with a 20 points win over Rapid City Central. Kelcey Schmitz of Pierre finished 3rd in the 200 meter dash while Tory Snyder finished 6th, Eileen Leong had a third place finish in the 400 meters and Courtney Dowling finished 6th. Leong also had a third place finish in the 800 meter run while Stevi Claussen finished 6th. Rachel Probst won the 3200 meter run in a time of 11:36.58 and she had a second place finish in the 1600 meters. Sarah Polak finished 6th in the 1600 meters and 3rd in the 3200 meters. In the hurdle races, Tess Johnson finished 4th and Kaitlyn Severyn 5th in the 100 meter hurdles and Katie Berg was 6th in the 300 meter hurdles. Pierre won the 4x400 meter relay as Leong, Anna Bondy, Elizabeth Raecke and Schmiz ran a winning time of 4:08.84. The Lady Govs had 4th place finishes in the 4x100, 4x200 relay, and 4x800 relay and 5th place finish in the 1600 Sprint Medley Relay. In the Field Events, Geena Burley finished 2nd, Anna Bondy 4th and Whitney DeMoss 6th in the High Jump. McKenna Halvorson was 3rd in the Triple Jump and Sydney Palmer had 2nd place finishes in the Shot Put and the Discus. Megan Bennett of the Lady Govs finished 6th in the Shot Put and Rhiannon Sears was 5th in the Discus.


In the Boys Division, The Governors finished 4th with a 77 point total. Kyle Anderson was a champion on the day winning the Shot Put with a toss of 52-01.50. Joe Snyder was a second place finisher in the Triple Jump while Joe Tetzlaff was 5th and Cody Kuehl 6th. Conner Berg was second in the Long Jump and Austin Lemieux had a 4th place finish in the Pole Vault. Conner Berg was third in the High Jump, won by Stanley County's Cody LeCompte who cleared 6-02. On the Track. LeCompte had a 4th place finish for Stanley County in the 100 meter dash. Steven Gordon of Pierre was a 5th place finisher in the 800 meter run while Tyler Probst was 6th in the 3200 meters. Lane Severyn won the 100 meter hurdles in a time of :15.52. Shay Reinke was third and Matt Blaseg finish 5th. In the Relays, Pierre had a 3rd place finish in the 4x200 meter relay. 5th in the 4x100 relay. 6th in the 4x400 relay and they were 4th in the 4x800 and 1600 Sprint Medley Relay.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Rod's Friday Sports Post

Pierre Governor head tennis coach Jeff Schlekeway says his team played the way he expects them to play yesterday as they swept a pair of tennis duals from Aberdeen Roncalli and Aberdeen Central, losing only 1 game on the day. The Governors defeated Aberdeen Roncalli 8-1 losing only at the number 5 singles spot. The Governors then swept Aberdeen Central 9-0 as they did not lose a set to the Golden Eagles. The Governors improved to 8-3 in duals as they return to the Griffin Park Courts on Tuesday for a pair of matches.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Track and Field teams' will host their final home meet of the season today at the Hollister Field Track. The Pierre Legion Relays begins at 1 pm with field events and 1:30 pm for running events. 11 teams will be joining Pierre in the meet including Sioux Falls Washington and Rapid City Central, the top two teams in the pre season in Class AA in Track and Field. Stanley County is also in the 12 team event.

Starting the 2013-14 school year, Class A girls’ and boys’ basketball district tournaments will be eliminated. Instead, two districts will comprise one region and have one tournament come playoff time. The South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors approved the change during its meeting, which ran Tuesday and Wednesday in Pierre. Regions will be seeded 1 thru 8. Regions that have only 7 teams, the top seeded team would get a bye with the 2 thru 7 teams playing first round games. Class A Volleyball will also go to the 8 Region post season tournament and eliminated District tournament beginning the 2012-14 school year also. Under the current District set up, District 11 and 12 would combine to make up Region 6. Chamberlain, Miller and Crow Creek make up District 11. District 12 consists of Cheyenne Eagle Butte, McLaughlin, Mobridge-Pollock and Stanley County.

Randy Gross is stepping down after 10 years as head basketball coach at Yankton High School. The Yankton School Board accepted Gross resignation earlier this week. Gross had coached 27 years in the program overall and will remain as a teacher and 7th grade boys basketball coach. His replacement is Chris Haynes. Haynes is a 2002 graduate of Winner High School and a 2006 graduate of Dakota Wesleyan. Haynes was the sophomore boys coach this year at Yankton after serving two years as the freshman boys head coach. Haynes inherits a team that went 4 and 18 this season.

Another season of drag racing in central South Dakota is about to begin at Oahe Speedway, north of Pierre. The first Test and Tune and Chassis Inspection of the season will be held on Saturday with the opening Shootout Races scheduled for Sunday. Box, No Box and Trophy Shootouts will be run as well as Junior Dragster Shootout. Spectators Gates open at 12 noon on Sunday with Elimination races in all classes beginning at 1 pm. Qualifying for all classes will be held Sunday morning at 9 am. Earlier this week, grinding of the track to make it smoother was done and a new Tower for the Speedway was delivered from Madison, South Dakota where it was constructed.

The first weekend of thuroughbred and quarterhorse races will be this weekend at the Stanley County Fairgrounds in Ft. Pierre. 8 to 9 races will be held each Saturday and Sunday for the next 3 weekends. The races are sponsored by the Ft. Pierre Chamber of Commerce and tomorrow everyone who attends the races will recieve a free hot dog or brat and a pop through the third race. After the 3 weekends of racing in Ft. Pierre, the ponies will move to Aberdeen for 3 more weekends of racing.

Pierre junior bowlers have bowled well at the State Junior Bowling Tournament. The Bombers sit 4th in the 399 and Under with a 2747 team score and the Bowling Bobbleheads from Pierre lead the 400-499 team division with a 2844 team score. In the Doubles competion, in the girls 199 and under the Pierre team of Kailey Rolf and Paige Voeltz have the lead with a 1439. Austin Rydland and Dylan Frey are second with a 1407 in the 200-249 division. In the 250-299 division, Jessica Darnall and Brianna Dufour are second with a 1395. In the Girls Singles, Becca Norris leads the 100-124 division with a 759. In the boys singles Hayes Frahm and Austin Rydland sit 1-2 in the 99 and Under division with Frahm rolling a 785 and Rydland a 764. Slater Pauley leads the 125-149 division with a 840. And in the 150 and over Jared Erickson leads with a 800. Ericksons 711 also gave him the lead in the 700 tournament by 4 pins.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Rod's Tuesday Sports Post

The Pierre Governor tennis team split a pair of duals yesterday in Brandon. The Governors downed Brandon Valley 5-4 in an ESD Conference dual but were shutout by Sioux Falls Washington 9-0. Head Coach Jeff Schlekeway says that Washington showed why they are the best team in the state. Hans Leong dropped the number 1 singles match in straight sets and Leong and Jared Smith were beaten in straight sets at number 1 doubles. The Governors did not win a single set in the match. Against Brandon Valley both Leong and number 2 singles Nathan Ellenbecker were winners in straight sets and Leong and Smith won the only doubles match the Govs won at number 1. Pierre won matches at number 1 and 2 singles, number 4 and number 6. The Governors return to the court Thursday when they travel to Aberdeen to face Aberdeen Roncalli for the first time this season and Aberdeen Central for a second time.

The Stanley County Buffalo and Lady Buffalo Track and Field teams will converge on Chamberlain today to compete in the Big Dakota Conference Track and Field meet. It will be the third meet of the season for the Buffalos and Lady Buffalos. Stanley County will be joined at the meet by the host Chamberlain squad along with Cheyenne Eagle Butte, Mobridge-Pollock, Miller, McLaughlin, Todd County and Winner. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 11:30 am. Later this week, on Friday, Stanley County will be in the field of the Pierre Legion Relays.

The Pierre Jr. Shooters participated in the American Legion State BB Gun Match held on Saturday in Britton. The match was a qualifying match to go to the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match in Rogers, Arkansas in July. The top three teams qualify to attend the national match. Molly Stulken shot a 100 in the sitting position. This entitled her to try to best the national record. The national record stands at 100 plus 8 additional bullseyes. Molly ended the day with 100 plus six bullseyes. As a team, both the 10--11 age division and the 12 to 15 age group finished second. Teams participating included Buffalo, MN, Buffalo, ND, Highmore, Humboldt, Kirley, Marshall Co., Pierre and Spink Co..

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Rod's Sunday Sports Post

The Pierre Lady Governor Track and Field squad did not have an individual event champion Saturday at the Rapid City Track O Rama but they still had some outstanding performances on the day. In the Shot Put, freshman Sydney Palmer finished second with a toss of 36-02.75. On the track, Kelcey Schmitz had a third place finish in the 200 meter dash with a time of :27.9. She also finished 3rd in the 100 meter dash with a time of :13.35. Tess Johnson had a third place finish in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of :16.36 while Kaitlyn Severyn finished 4th in a time of :16.85. Rachel Probst finished 5th in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:21.80. The girls 1600 meter medley relay did cross the finish line first in a time of 4:26.80. Geena Burley finished 5th in the High Jump while Megan Barnett was 6th in the Shot Put and Rhiannon Sears finished 6th in the Discus. Two other relay teams placed. The 800 meter relay finished 4th and the 3200 meter relay team had a 8th place finish. The best finish by a Governor boys track and field member was Kyle Anderson who had a toss of 51-07.75 to finish second in the Shot Put. Other Governor place winners were Conner Berg who finished 4th in the Long Jump with a leap of 19-10. Shay Reinke had a 6th place finish in the 110 meter high hurdles and the Governors 800 meter relay squad had a 5th place finish. The Governors and Lady Governors host the Pierre Region Relays on Friday.