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.

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

Rods' Friday Sports Post

The Pierre Governor tennis team improved their dual record to 5-2 yesterday by splitting with Rapid City Stevens and Aberdeen Central. The Governors dropped a 6-3 verdict to Stevens but bounced back for a 8-1 win over Aberdeen Central. The Governors lost two very close matches at number 3 singles and number 3 doubles in the loss to Stevens that proved to be the difference in the meet. They got their wins at number 2 singles and at number 1 and 2 doubles. Against the Golden Eagles, the Govs swept all 6 singles and lost only at the number 3 doubles. The Governors return to action on Monday when they travel to Sioux Falls to face Sioux Falls Washington and Brandon Valley in a pair of duals.

The Pierre Governor tennis team improved their dual record to 5-2 yesterday by splitting with Rapid City Stevens and Aberdeen Central. The Governors dropped a 6-3 verdict to Stevens but bounced back for a 8-1 win over Aberdeen Central. The Governors lost two very close matches at number 3 singles and number 3 doubles in the loss to Stevens that proved to be the difference in the meet. They got their wins at number 2 singles and at number 1 and 2 doubles. Against the Golden Eagles, the Govs swept all 6 singles and lost only at the number 3 doubles. The Governors return to action on Monday when they travel to Sioux Falls to face Sioux Falls Washington and Brandon Valley in a pair of duals.

The South Dakota State Class B Wrestling Tournament in 2014 has been moved. The tournament will now be held in Aberdeen. The State B Wrestling tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Sioux Falls in 2014, but a conflict arose in Sioux Falls and the South Dakota High School Activities Association decided to move the tournament to Aberdeen. The two day tournament will be held on February 28th and March 1st of 2014 at Wachs Arena in the Barnett Center on the campus of Northern State University in Aberdeen.

The Stanley County School held it's annual Athletic Banquet last night in Ft. Pierre. Award winners from each fall and winter sport were honored by the head coaches of the individual sport and each coach gave the crowd in attendance a recap of the season. 5 specialty award winners were also honored. Austin Lopour won the Ron Jones Memorial Award and Chantry Norman was the recipient of the Launie Rhebourg Award for football. The BJ Stoeser Award in wrestling was given to Thomas Tolton. The Kim Reeves Memorial Award for girls basketball was awarded to Tory Deal and the Grandpa Hannum Award was presented to Shantel Norman.

The Pierre Area Coaches Association named their Riggs High Athletes of the Week for the week that ended April 7th. Governor tennis player Ethan Case and Lady Gov Track Athletic Eileen Leong earned the honor. Case was nominated by his head coach Jeff Schlekeway. He started the season with a 5-0 record and outscored his competiton 44-14 proving that he is one of the top players in the state at Flight 6 singles. Leong was nominated by her head coach Misty Larson. Leong finished in 2nd place in the 400 m dash at Tuesday's Dakota Clash Meet with a provisional time of 1:02.20. She also ran a great legs in the 2nd place finishing 4 x 800 m relay and 3rd place finishing 4 x 400 m relay. On Thursday at the Huron Invitational, Eileen ran the same time in the 400 m dash, and placed 2nd in the 200 m dash.

Rod's Wednesday Sports Post

The Pierre Lady Governor Track and Field squad dominated yesterday at the Miller Quadrangular Track and Field meet with Winner, Huron and Miller taking part along with the Lady Govs. Pierre got a first place finish in every individual track event but one. Tory Snyder won the 100 meter dash and Kelsey Schmitz won the 200 meter dash. Elizabeth Raecke won the 400 meters and Rachel Propst won twice winning the 800 and 1600 meter runs. Sarah Polak took first in the 3200 meters and in the hurdles races Theesa Johnson won the 100 meter hurdles. In the Relays, the 4x100 meter relay team of Snyder, Johnson, Raecke and Schmitz won the event as did the 1600 meter relay team of Tara Stout, Baily Keller, Courtney Brandt and Allison Mientsma. Gena Burley won the High Jump clearing 5-01.00 while McKenna Halverson won the Triple Jump with a leap of 33-00.5 and Sydney Palmer was a winner in the Shot Put with a toss of 35-01.0. The Lady Govs return to the track Saturday when they travel to the Rapid City Track O Rama.

The Pierre Governor Boys Track and Field squad had another very good day on the track yesterday at Miller in a quadrangular with the Rustlers, Huron Tigers and Winner Warriors. Joe Snyder won the 200 meter dash and Steve Gordon took first place in the 1600 meter run. Lane Severyn took first place in the 110 meter high hurdles. The Governors also won the 4x100 meter dash with Conner Berg, Snyder and Jared Nielan. Berg, Caleb McKinley, Gordon and Chris Rumrill won the 4x400 meter relay. And the boys 1600 sprint medley relay also crossed the finish line first. Berg was a three time winner on the day as he captured the High Jump clearing 5-10.0. Snyder also was a three time winner on the day as he won the Triple Jump with a leap of 41-02.5. Kyle Anderson won the Shot Put with a toss of 47-10.0. The Governors return to the track on Saturday when they travel to Rapid City to compete in the Track O Rama.

The annual "Little Govs" track and field meet will be held at Hollister Field this Friday evening.　 This track meet is intended for pre-school - 6th grade students.　 Registration begins at 5:30 and the meet begins at 6:00.　 The meet is free to attend but a free-will donation will be taken.　 The Pierre high school track and field athletes will be running the meet.　

Two Pierre wrestlers who compete for the Dakota Wesleyan University wrestling program were honored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association recently. Tyler Sarringer and Dusty Paulsen were two of four DWU grapplers who had high academic honors with a 3.25 Grade Point Average. Sarringer's GPA of 3.96 was the second highest mark in the nation. As a team the DWU squad had the third highest GPA in the nation as a team at 3.26.

Rod's Friday Sports Post

Pierre Governor juniors Lane Severyn and Zach Hanson each earned all-state honors for the second consecutive year. The team was chosen by the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association and the South Dakota Sportswriters Association. The 6-9 Hanson averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 2.3 assists this season and shooting 52 percent from the field despite missing six games with a stress fracture but returned for the state "AA" tourney to help the Governors to a third-place finish. Last Week, Hanson was named the Gatorade Circle of Champions Player of the Year in boys basketball in the state. Severyn heads up the second team All State squad. Severyn averaged 13.9 points a contest to go along with 6.5 rebounds a game.

The Pierre Lady Governor golf team returned to Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City and won their second tournament in as many visits. The Lady Govs fired a 356 and recorded a 21 stroke victory over runnerup Spearfish in the firs 18 hole tournament of the season for Pierre. Junior Hallie Getz won for the second time this season firing a 79 to take individual medalist honors. Senior Paige Erickson finished 3rd individuall firing a 88. Katie Barlett had a 92 for a 7th place finish and Paige Lonbakken had a 97 which landed her a 8th place finish in the four team tournament. Rapid City Stevens and Central were the other teams taking part. The Lady Govs are off until April 19th when they compete in the Huron Invitational.

The Pierre Governor Track and Field team had 18 place winners and the Lady Govs had 11 yesterday at the Huron Invitational Track and Field meet. Connor Berg cleared 8-2 in winning the high jump for the Governor. Cody Kuehl won the Triple Jump and Tyler Propst won the 3200 meter run winning the event in a time of 10:45.0 for the Governor First place winners on the day. The Lady Govs had two individual winners. Tess Johnson won the 100 meter hurdles and Rachel Propst won the 800 meter run. The Govs and Lady Govs return to the track on Tuesday when they travel to Miller for a quadrangular with Huron, Winner and Miller.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Post

Freshman sprinter Kelsey Schmitz was the only Pierre Lady Governor track and field athlete that cross the finish line first yesterday in the Dakota Clash Track and Field meet hosted by Pierre. Schmitz won the 200 meter dash in a time of 26.99. The Lady Govs had a number of place winners in the 6 team meet that featured Bismarck and Bismark Century from North Dakota, Rapid City Central and Sturgis along with Pierre. Eileen Leong finished second in the 400 meter dash for the Lady Govs. Rachel Propst was second in the 3200 meter run. The Lady Governor 4x100 meter relay team finished second for the Lady Govs who return to the track tomorrow when they travel to Huron to compete in the Huron Invitational

The Pierre Governor Track and Field team had only two first place finishers yesterday as they host the Dakota Clash Track and Field meet at Hollister Field. Austin Lemieux cleared 12-06 to win the Pole Vault and Joe Snyder won the Triple Jump for a third consecutive meet as he had a jump of 41-05.5. Kyle Anderson had a second place finish in the Discus. Lane Severyn finsihed second in the 110 meter hurdles. Conner Berg finished 3rd in the High Jump and Steven Gordon had a third place finish in the 1600 meter run for the Govs top finishes on the day. The Governors return to action tomorrow when they travel to Huron to compete in the Huron Invitational.

The Pierre Governor tennis team opened the season with a pair of wins yesterday as they downed Mitchell and Rapid City Central at the Griffin Park Courts. The Governors opened the day with an 8-1 win over the Kernals and then followed that up with a 7-2 win over Rapid City Central. Hans Leong won his match against Jacob Cerosimo 10-3 in the Governors win over Mitchell at number 1 singles and Leong teamed with Jared Smith at number 1 doubles to down Tate Crago and Alex Hegg 10-2. The Governors got wins from Nathan Ellenbecker, Smith, Connor Shoop and Ethan Case at number 2 throu 6 singles losing only at number 5 with Brandon Vockrodt. Ellenbecker and Shoop won at number 2 doubles and Vockrodt teamed with Mitchell Hanson to win at number 3 doubles. In the Governors win over Rapid City Central, Leong lost to Nate Cherry 10-8 at number 1 singles and Cherry and Gavin Fenske defeated Leong and Smith at number 1 doubles for the only two Cobbler wins. Governor head coach Jeff Schlekeway says the team played solid throughout the day. Pierre returns to the court on Saturday when they travel to Huron for matches against Watertown, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Huron.

The City of Pierre requests that golfers remove their cart and clubs in storage by May 1st if you do not intend to use the storage facilities at Hillsview Golf Course this year. The Course is still recovering from last year's flood and it doesn't look like there will be any play on it again this year.　 Patrons with carts and clubs in storage after May 1 will be expected to pay the fee for the year as no pro-rated charge will be allowed.　 If you remove your cart and/or your clubs for the season and do not pay the storage fee’s, the City cannot guarantee you will keep the same cart or locker space in 2013.　 Fees for cart storage and locker rental in 2012 will remain the same as 2011.　 Golfers can stop at the City business office Monday – Friday from 8am to 5pm to pay the storage fee’s or to get more information.

Rods Monday Night Sports Post

The Pierre Governors opened their season 2-0 with wins over Rapid City Central and Mitchell on Tuesday in matches played in Pierre. Here are the results.



Varsity Singles
Flight
Pierre

RCC
Score
1
Hans Leong Vs Nate Cherry 8 – 10
2
Nathan Ellenbecker Vs Gavin Fenske 10 – 6
3
Jared Smith Vs Alex Norlin 10 – 4
4
Connor Shoop Vs Riley Iwan 10 – 2
5
Brandon Vockrodt Vs John Robidoux 10 – 3
6
Ethan Case Vs Tony Lyons 10 – 1

Varsity Doubles

1
Smith/Leong Vs Cherry/Fenske 5 – 10
2
Ellenbecker/Shoop Vs Norlin/Iwan 10 – 4
3
Vockrodt/Mitchell Hanson Vs Andrew Sullivan/Robidoux 10 – 1

Varsity Singles
Pierre-Mitchell Score
1
Hans Leong Vs Jacob Cerosimo 10-3
2
Nathan Ellenbecker Vs Beau Brown 10-3
3
Jared Smith Vs Brenden Lehr 10-0
4
Conner Shoop Vs Kanin Nelson 10-1
5
Brandon Vockrodt Vs Tate Crago 3-10
6
Ethan Case Vs AlexHegg 10-7

Varsity Doubles
1
Smith/Leong Vs Crago/Hegg 10-2
2
Ellenbecker/Shoop Vs Cerosimo/Nelson 10-2
3
Vockrodt/Mitchell Hanson Vs Brown/Lehr 10-6

Final Team Score
Pierre: 8
Mitchell: 1

Rod's Monday Sports Post

The Pierre Governor boys basketball team held their post season awards banquet last night. The Governors were the third place finishing team at this year's State AA Basketball tournament and were runners up for the ESD Conference title. Post season awards handed out by Governor head coach Terry Becker included, All ESD Conference and All State AA Tournament team awards to juniors Lane Severyn and Zach Hanson. Hanson also was recently named the Gatorade Player of the Year in South Dakota and he recieved that award as well as being a member of the Argus Leader First Five team given out by the Sioux Falls newspaper. Hanson also is a finalist for the South Dakota Mr. Basketball Award that will be voted on by members of the South Dakota media and Basketball Coaches. Academic All State awards were given to seniors Nate Buscher and Joe Tetzlaff. Lane Severyn received the Offensive MVP Award while seniors Conner Berg and Joe Tetzlaff were the Defensive MVP Award Winners. Junior Matt Monfore received the Hustler Award and sophomore Conrad Adam was given the Most Improved Award.

The Pierre Governor Wrestling team held it's season ending awards banquet Sunday night. The Governors, who won their first state championship in 38 years, last month are coached by Ryan Noyes who handed out several post season awards. Among them, Senior Chase Lettau, the only senior on the squad this season, won the Obenauer Memorial Award for great leadership. He also earned the award for the top record of the season as he went 36-5 on the year. Lane Lettau won the Most Pins Award as he set a school record with 32 pins on the season. Both Chase and Lane Lettau and Caleb Stoltenberg, the Governors lone state champion, were awarded with the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. Dawson Monfore and Jebben Keyes were given the Most Improved Wrestler Award. Nick Weibe won the Future Governor Award. Kyle Sarringer won the Broer Hustler Award. Aaron O'Day won the Most Escapes Award while Mark Ray won Outstanding JV Award. And the Brooks Monfore Heart of a Champion Award was given to his brothers, Tanner and Dawson Monfore. Brooks Monfore recently lost his fight with cancer.

Sunday Sports Post from Rod

The Pierre Governor Track and Field team competed outdoors for the first time this season Saturday at the Al Sahli Meet in Aberdeen. The meet was originally scheduled to be run indoors, but the mild spring tempretures brought the athletes outdoors to the Swisher Field Track. The Governor boys had two first place finishes. Joe Snyder won the Triple Jump for a second straight meet as he leaped 41 feet even to win the event. And the Governors 800 meter relay team (Matt Svendsen, Jared Neilan, Chris Rumrill, Joe Snyder) finished first in the event in a winning time of 1:36.3. The Governors had some other strong finishes on the day. Joe Snyder was 5th in the 100 meter dash. Chris Rumrill had a second place finish with a time of :55.5 in the 400 meters while Stephen Gordon had a runner up finish in the 800 meters in a time of 2:09.1. Tyler Propst also had a second place finish in the 3200 meter run with a time of 10:52.3. Nate Buscher also finished runner up in the High Jump with a leap of 5-8. Shay Reinke had a third place finish in the 100 meter high hurdles and Cody Kuehl finished third in the triple jump for the Govs as did Riley Sears in the Long Jump and the 3200 meter relay team finished third for other top finishes of the day. The Govs have their first of two home meets of the season on Tuesday when they host the Dakota Clash and Field meet at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field.

The Pierre Lady Governor Track and Field team had a pretty good day on the track at Swisher Field on Saturday in the first outdoor meet of the season led by the Lady Govs Tess Johnson who won the 100 meter hurdles in a time of :15.90. Katie Berg finished third. Kelsey Schmitz won the 100 meter dash in a time of :12.9. and Sydney Palmer had a Shot Put toss of 34-4 to win that event. Rhiannen Sears was a second place finisher in the Discus with a throw of 100-7. Rachel Probst finished runner up in the 1600 meter run in a time of 5:24.9. Geena Burley also had a runner up finish in the High Jump clearing 5-1. Kaitlin Severyn had a third place finish in the 300 meter hurdles while Sarah Polak had a third place finish in the 3200 meter run. The Lady Govs 800 and 1600 meter relay teams also had third place finishes for the top finishes sof the day. The Lady Govs have their first of two home meets of the season on Tuesday when they host the Dakota Clash Track and Field meet at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Post

The Harrisburg School Board discussed joining the ESD Conference at it's meeting last night but did not make a decision regarding the move. The ESD Conference officially invited the Harrisburg School District to join the longtime conference at a meeting last week. Harrisburg school board officials discussed the other schools in the conference and the mileage between communties at last night's meeting. They are expected to make an official decision whether or not to join the ESD Conference at their April 9th school board meeting. If Harrisburg joins the conference, they will become the ninth team in the league joining Aberdeen Central, Brandon Valley, Brookings, Huron, Mitchell, Pierre, Watertown and Yankton.

Former longtime Mitchell boys’ basketball coach Gary Munsen underwent successful hip-replacement surgery Monday morning. Munsen, who has been struggling with a bad hip for several years, had surgery at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. Munsen will start physical therapy today, and he expects to make a full recovery in about six weeks. The longtime coach finished his career with 902 wins — boys and girls combined — after retiring from Mitchell after the season that ended just a few weeks ago at the Class AA state tournament. Munsen listed heath and family for the main reasons he wanted to step down.

Player sign-ups for Pierre Post 8 American Legion and Teener baseball players will be Monday from 5:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. at the Pierre Post 8 American Legion cabin's community room. If this will be a players first summer with the Post 8 Teeners or Legion teams, please bring a copy of the player's birth certificate for their records. The initial registration fee is $25, and players will receive their raffle tickets to sell: $250 apiece for 13-14s; $300 apiece for 15-16s; and $350 apiece for American Legion. If you can't be there, please contact Head Coach Scott Hesla at scott.hesla@k12.sd.us or Post 8 Baseball board member Bob Mercer at Bobmercer1@aol.com or at 224-0399.

The South Dakota State United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for 2012. The inductees will be recognized at the annual Bowling Jamboree and Honors Banquet on July 27th and 28th at the Ramkota in Pierre. Inductees for this year include Scott Stabnow, of Pierre; Patty Fanter, of Rapid City; Gayle Bussell, of Huron; Douglas Thompson, of Aberdeen; Brandy Foreman, of Rapid City; Bill and Cheryl Cooper, of Sioux Falls; John Zilverberg, of Highmore; Julie Johnson, of Huron; Jenny Day, of Yankton; and Ryan Dufour, of Pierre.

The Stanley County Youth Wrestling Club will be having a benefit lunch this Sunday at McClellands Restraunt in Ft. Pierre. The "Grapplin Up Grub" fundraiser includes Fried Chicken with mash potatoes and gravy, Green Beans and dessert. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards the construction of a new wrestling room at Stanley County High School.

Rod's Monday Sports Post

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Track and Field team will have their first outside meet of the season this weekend. The Class AA portion of the Al Sahli Invitational Track and Field Meet in Aberdeen set for this Saturday has been moved outdoors. The meet was originally scheduled to take place at the Barnett Center, but will now start at noon at Swisher Field that day. Teams expected to compete include Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Roncalli, Brookings, Huron, Mitchell, Pierre and Watertown. The Class A and B portion of the Al Sahli Invitational scheduled for March 30 will remain indoors at the Barnett Center.


The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be hosting it's annual Spring Fling this evening. The Spring Fling is a chance for the Booster Club to show it's appreciation to all of the coaches and members of the organization. This year's Spring Fling will be held at The Pub at View 34 East of Pierre. It will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and will feature a cash bar and d'oeuvres. There will be Door Prizes and the drawing for the 46 inch TV that the Booster Club has been selling tickets for since last fall. Persons can also purchase their membership to the PABC for next year at the event. The night will also serve as the kickoff for the 2012 football season's "Lay It on the Line" fundraiser. It is an adult only function and no one under 21 will be admitted.

A couple of Pierre Governor soccer players asked their Governor football and basketball buddies to join them in forming a team for the Watertown Futsal Flurry indoor soccer tournament on March 24,25.  The result was a weekend of fun and a championship trophy.  They had appropriately named themselves The Shockers. Team members included Austin Christopherson, Matt Blaseg, Garrett Pochop, Shay Reinke, Ethan Case, Graham Protexter and Alex Gray. The team was coached by Jeff Pochop.

The Pierre Jr. Shooters BB Gun team participated in the Parkston Jr. Shooters Invitational held on Saturday in Parkston. The Pierre 10-11 age division team won their competion while the 8-9 year old and 12-15 year divison finished runner up. Adam Foreman had a third place finish overall lin the 10-11 age group while Zane Schuchard finished 6th and Nathan Schnabel was 9th. Teams participating in the competiton along with Pierre were Davsion Co., Douglas Co., Humboldt, Kirley, Marshall Co., Parkston and Spink Co.

Rod's Saturday Sports Post

The Pierre Lady Governor golf team shot a 174 to win the 9 hole Blizzard Invite girls golf tournament in Rapid City at the Meadowbrook Golf Course. Hallie Goetz of the Lady Governors fired a 39 over the front nine at Meadowbrook to claim individual medalist honors. Freshman Karissa Guthrie was next in line with a 44 followed by the Lady Govs lone senior, Paige Erickson, who fired a 45. 8th grader Katie Bartless finished with a 46 for the top scores of the day for Pierre, who returns to the Meadowbrook course in two weeks for the Rapid City Invitational. Hot Springs finished second to Pierre with a 188 in the season opening tournament.

Rod's Friday Sports Post

Pierre Governor junior Zach Hanson has been selected as the Gatorade South Dakota Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Hanson averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for the Governors who finished 18-8 on the season and a third place finish at last weekend's State Class AA Boys Basketball Tournament. A second team All State selection as a sophomore, he has been a two time All ESD selection where he has been a first team pick both seasons. Hanson has maintained a 3.9 Grade Point Average in the classroom and has voluntered locally on behalf of a youth mentoring program.

The ESD Conference Athletic Directors issued a full invitation to Harrisburg to join the conference at the ESD Conference meetings on Wednesday in Mitchell. Harrisburg had previously only been invited to join the conference as a football member only. The Daily Average Membership of Harrisburg is expected to move the school to the Class AA ranks in the 2013-14 school year. The South Dakota High School Activites Association on Monday raised the ADM for schools to become Class AA at 450 or higher and Harrisburg is expected to be at 460. The Harrisburg school board will discuss the invitation at it's meeting on Monday. If Harrisburg joins the Conference, it will make it a 9 team league.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor track and field team opened their season yesterday in Aberdeen at the John Huth Indoor meet and the two teams combined for 7 first place finishes. Joe Snyder had the best day of any of the competitors as his leap of 42 feet 3 inches in the triple jump set a new meet record. Steven Gordon won the 1500 meter run in a time of 4:30.8 and Roman Spaid ran a winning time of 10:27.0 to win the 3,000 meter run. And the Governor 1600 meter relay team crossed the finish line first in a time of 3:52.0. The 3 first place finishes for the Lady Govs came from Kelsey Schmitz in the 200 meter dash with a time of 3:52.0. Rachel Probst won the 3000 meter run in a time of 11:29.9 and Sydney Palmer threw the shot put 34 feet 7 inches to win that event. The Govs and Lady Govs will return to Aberdeen a week from tomorrow to compete in the Al Sahli Indoor Meet.

The Pierre Women's Softball Association will be meeting this evening at the Pierre Post 8 Legion Cabin. The meeting will be at 6 pm. All teams must have a representative at the meeting.

Rod's Thursday Morning Sports Post

The annual spring meeting of the ESD Conference was held yesterday in Mitchell. Expanding the ESD Conference was discussed but ESD President and Pierre Riggs High Athletic Director Dan Whalen said that specifics from the meeting were not being disclosed until later today. The Conference invited Harrisburg and Sturgis to become new members last year. Sturgis has since accepted an invitation to the Black Hills Conference. Harrisburg has not yet made a decision to accept or decline. Whalen did note that the addition of a Class 11AAA in football earlier this week by the South Dakota High School Activities Association did not effect the scheduling aspect of the meeting because it does not take effect until 2013. Dues, scheduling, technology, event sites, conference champions and other business issues were also discussed at the annual meeting yesterday.

The South Dakota High School Athletic Directors will be voting on some possible changes in several sports in the state when they meet for their annual convention in Spearfish next week. The Athletic Directors will be voting on two changes in boys and girls basketball. One would be to change the seeding formula in Class A and B basketball and the other would be to eliminate District Tournaments in Class A basketball and go with 8 Region tournaments with two districts comprising of one Region. The winners of the Region tournaments would then advance to the State Tournament beginning in the 2013 and 14 school years. In football, there are recommendations that the South Dakota High School Activities Association assign officials to work all games, regular and post season. The other is that the field for 9 man football can be either 80 or 100 yards in length but the widt of the field will be 40 yards, no matter what length. The Athletic Directors will also be voting on eliminating Region Meets at the Class A level and all teams would qualify for Team Day. All votes taken by the Athletic Directors are non binding and passed along to the High School Activities Association for a final vote on implementation. The annual Spring Convention of the State's AD's begins Wednesday and wraps up Friday in Spearfish.

The Spring Sports season begins today for the Pierre Governor and Lady Governor track and field teams. About 80 members of this year's squad will open the season today in Aberdeen at the John Huth Indoor Track and Field meet being run in the Barnett Center on the campus of Northern State University in Aberdeen. Governor and Lady Governor head coach Misty Larson says that 6 to 8 teams including a team or two from Fargo, North Dakota will be competing the meet. It is scheduled to begin at 4 pm.

A pair of seniors on the Pierre Governor boys basketball team that finished 3rd last weekend at the State AA Boys Basketball tournament have been selected by the Pierre Area Coaches Association as their Riggs High School Co-Athletes of the Week. Both players are seniors who wrapped up their Governor basketball playing career last weekend and were nominated by the Governor basketball coaches. Tetzlaff averaged 9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Berg averaged 8.3 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists during the State AA Boys Basketball Tournament, helping the Govs earn a 3rd place finish. Governor head coach Terry Becker says that Joe and Connor have been instrumental to the success of the boys basketball team all year with their ability to defend the opponent's best players, and their senior leadership will be missed.

Rod's 'Wednesday" Morning Sports Post

Pierre Governor head wrestling coach Ryan Noyes was named the Class A Region 3 Coach of the Year by the South Dakota Wrestling Coaches Association. Noyes guided the Governors to their first ESD Conference dual title since 1996 and their first State Championship since 1974 this season. Other Coach of the Year Award winners in Class A included Scott Miller of Brookings in Region 1. Marc Murren of Sioux Falls Washington in Region 2 and Rapid City Central's Lance Pearson in Region 4. The four Class B Region Coach of the Year award recipients include Jerry Salanoa of Deuel, Mike Gibson of Tri-Valley, Derek Pirner of Plankinton-White Lake and Clay Leonard of Red Cloud. Nick Bortnem and Roy Weber were named the Assistant Coach and Junior High Coach of the Year by the Association. The Class B Wrestler of the Year award was won by Ben Gillette of Redfield while the Class A Wrestler of the Year award was won by Devon O'Farrell of Sioux Falls Washington. Les Pearson of Philip was named the Friend of Wrestling Award winner and Jeff Duffy of Performance Radio in Huron was named Press Coverage of the Year award winner.

The United States Bowling Congress Open is being held in Baton Rouge La., and several South Dakota bowlers including a couple of central South Dakota bowlers are among the leaders. Randy Tennant from Onida and Tim Luken from Gettysburg teamed up as doubles partners to shoot 1,231 in the classified doubles division to land them in first place.

Rod's Tuesday Morning Sports

Ft. Pierre native Sam Ostarello's college basketball season is over as she and her Purdue Boilermakers dropped a 72-61 to South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament. Ostarello, a junior on the Boilermakers squad struggled from the field hittin only 2 of 9 from the field for 4 points on the game but she did have a game high 13 rebounds. Purdue, the 4th seed in the West Region who defeated South Dakota State in the opening round of the tournament on Saturday, ended thier season with a 25-9 record.

Walk In Registration for summer youth baseball will be from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday at the Georgia Morse Middle School cafeteria. Any player new to the either program must provide a copy of a birth certificate. The Capital City Baseball Association is open to any boy or girl in Central South Dakota ages 7-14. Divisions include PeeWee (born May 1, 2003 through April 30, 2005). Minor (May 1, 2001 through April 30, 2003). Major (Born May 1, 1999 through April 30, 2001). Registration fees range from $40 for PeeWees and $45 for Minors and Majors. With each registration, players will receive a $5 credit to the Jaycee batting cage located at the Oahe Sports Complex. Parents can also drop off registrations at Capital Sports, All Around Graphix, or mail them to CCBA, PO Box 231, Pierre, SD, 57501. No current resident registrations will be accepted after April 6. You can get more information by going to the Capital City Baseball Association website http://www.ccbapierre.org

The annual registration night for Oahe JO Girl Fastpitch players is scheduled for Thursday from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the Georgia Morse Middle School Cafeteria.  All girls that are interested in playing must register.  The registration fee is $45.  All players that have not previously played will need to bring a copy of a birth certificate that can be placed in the file as proof of age for SD ASA.  For questions, please contact Shannon Malone at 605.280.6480.

The next regular meeting for the Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be held later this afternoon. The meeting will be held in the Library of Riggs High School and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm. That is 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. Everyone interested in Governor and Lady Governor athletics is encouraged and invited to attend the meeting.

The next scheduled fund raising Pierre Post 8 American Legion Baseball Pancake and Sausage breakfast will be held this Saturday at the Pierre Post 8 American Legion Cabin in Pierre. Serving will be from 7 am to 11 am for $3 with all proceeds going to help fund the Post 8 American Legion and Tenner baseball programs in Pierre this summer. And once again, anyone who arrives before 8:30 am at the breakfast will receive a free day at a Post 8 Legion or Teener tournament this summer.

Rod's Monday Evening Sports Post

South Dakota will have seven high school football champions starting in 2013.
The state High School Activities Association board of directors voted 7-1 today to expand the annual playoffs from six classes to seven. The board’s action creates a new class called 11AAA conisting of eight schools. They are Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Sioux Falls Washington along with Rapid City Central and Stevens, Aberdeen Central, Watertown and Brandon Valley. O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls would be in the newly defined class 11AA along with Pierre. O’Gorman would have the opportunity to petition up into the bigger class. If that happens, Brandon Valley could move down to the 11AA Class.

The Activities Association board also is considering a proposal to move all state tournaments for wrestling, volleyball, and girls and boys basketball to one site starting in 2015-2016. The board of directors listened to a proposal from Executive Director Wayne Carney and the Activities staff recommending Sioux Falls be the host for five state tournaments when the new Events Center is built in Sioux Falls. But Community members from throughout the state's smaller regions were on hand at the meeting to urge the board to maintain the status quo. Carney however feels it's in the state's be st interest to keep all options open. The board eventually decided to present the proposal to member schools at next week's Athletic Directors Conference in Spearfish.



But

Rod's Monday Sports Post

Pierre Governor juniors Lane Severyn and Zach Hansen were named to the All ESD Conference Boys Basketball team named today. Hanson led the Governors in scoring this year averaging 18 points and pulling down 8 rebounds before missing 6 games late in the season with a stress fracture to his left leg. Severyn averaged just over 15 points a game and pulled down 5 rebound per contest. The Two Governor juniors are joined on the first team by seniors Brady Maxwell, Jade Miller and Tate Martin of ESD Champion Mitchell. Tanner Odegaard and Landon Busch of Brookings. Ben Schultz of Brandon Valley and Lucas Carr of Huron. Junior Tanner Hesier of Watertown also made the All Conference squad. Named to the Honorable Mention team are seniors Reid Fust and Josh White of Aberdeen Central, Conner Daugherty of Brookings, Tucker Volesky of Mitchell, Blake Heiser of Watertown, Spencer Stahly of Huron and Jacson Seitzinger of Yankton along with junior Adam Zwanziger of Huron.

Lane Severyn and Zach Hanson of the Pierre Governors were named to the State Class AA All tournament game. Hanson and Severyn were joined on the team by Robert Connot - Rapid City Central, Luke Carr - Huron, Tanner Odegaard - Brookings, Tyler Howard - Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Joey Habtemariam - Sioux Falls Washington, Jade Miller - Mitchell, Brady Maxwell - Mitchell and Connor Schaefbauer, Sam Wallin and Nick Mimmack of State Champion Sioux Falls O'Gorman.

The South Dakota High School Activities Association will hold a regular meeting of the Board of Directors today in Pierre at the High School Activities Association's office on North Euclid. The Board is expected to add a 7th class to High School Football splitting up the Class 11AA division into 11AAA and 11AA. Pierre would be in the 11AA division and would become the second largest school in the division. 11AAA would consist of the three public Sioux Falls Schools, two public Rapid City schools, Aberdeen, Watertown and Brandon Valley. If Sioux Falls O'Gorman petitions up to the 11AAA, Brandon Valley would have the opportunity to drop down to the 11AA division. The board will also review it's current state and event venues and begin discussions on where to place the state events for the 2015-16 school year. The board is also expected to approve the contract for John Krogstrand to become the new assistant executive director to replace the retiring Bob Lowery. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am. Today's meeting is the rescheduled meeting from the originally scheduled board meeting in January.

Rods Saturday Sports Post

The Pierre Governors qwest for a State Tournament championship ended last night as Mitchell beat the Governors 53-47 in Rapid City. Zach Hanson had 13 points to pace the Governors while Lane Severyn had 10 points and a game high 15 rebounds.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

Here is my list of the top 5 Pierre Governor basketball teams from the last 35 years. Let me know what you think! Is their another team that should have been considered on this list? Let me know.

Number 5

1983 Governor team. Loaded with seniors and led by Mr. Basketball Troy Scheafer, the Governors were looking to repeat as state champions. They were one game away from accomplishing that feat. They were beaten by Sioux Falls Washington in the championship game. Schaefer scored 30 points against Todd County in the Section championship game at Mission. Karl Adam, Chip Clelland, Allen Gordon and Aaron Bowers were the other four starters on the team who also had reserves in John Zimmerman, Joey Hartford, Norm Lingle and Mark Haigh on the team making it as deep of a team as there was in the state.

Number 4

2001 Governor team. This was DJ Prue's team. Prue, a second year starter was questioned about some of his antics off the court, but on the court, DJ was a good a basketball player as there was. After qualifing for the State AA tournament, Prue hit a shot at the buzzer that beat Mitchell in the opening round. The next night, he scored 29 of the teams 33 points in the second half as the Governor beat Spearfish. But the championship in 2001 went to Sioux Falls Washington once again as they defeated the Governors in the title game. Joe LaFave, Brad Wire and sophomore Pat Anderson were the driving forces behind the team, but it was DJ Prue's team.

Number 3

1979 Governor team. I did not see the 1979 team play as I arrived in Pierre in the summer of that year but I heard alot. Joe Ashley was the big man in the middle who dominated teams all season long and in the state tournament. Tom Burchill was junior starting guard who kept teams honest with his outside shooting. Bob Tinker was another player I heard was an integral part of the squad as was Bob Stally who started on the 79 State Championship team.

Number 2

2006 Governor team. This team did not win a State Championship. They were beaten in the championship game by Sioux Falls O'Gorman. It was a game they led for 34 minutes and 58 seconds until O'Gorman took the lead for good with 1:02 left in the 36 minute game. Micheal Tveidt and Sam Willard both went on to Division 1 College basketball careers. Tveidt missed some 10 games that season with an ankle injury. But he played in the State tournament and played big time for the Governors blocking a shot in overtime of the semi finals against Brandon Valley that preserved Pierre's victory. Mike Fisher and 5 other seniors all played their key roles as Pierre recorded a 19-4 season, the second best season record in 35 years of Governor basketball.

Number 1

1982 Governor team. They finished the regular season 17-1 losing only to Bismarck in Bismarck during the course of the regular season. In the post season they defeated Todd County in a semi final game in Pierre that saw senior guard Doug Smith steal a pass in the closing seconds and eventually make the fre throws that put Pierre in the championship. They scored 100 points in a single game in the championshp game against Chamberlain that year and then went through the State Tournament unbeaten to win the schools third state title in school history with a 21-1 record. The first state title came in 1944 followed by the second in 1979. Smith and Tony Miller were the starting guards with Troy Schaefer, Chip Clelland and Karl Adam the other starters. A bench that included most of the players of the 1983 team made this Governor team as deep of a squad as ever was put together and one of the all time great teams in South Dakota big school history.

Rod's Monday Sports Question

I watched some of the State High School Girls Basketball tournaments over the weekend and again I get the feeling that the quality of basketball is slipping in South Dakota. Maybe it is just me but after covering girls basketball in the state since 1979-80, i think the quality was better back then. I think the 1982 Lady Governor State Championship team could beat most of the teams of today. I don't know whether it is the style of which most of the girls try to do with the get up and down the court, or the 3 point line or what, but turnovers and sloppy ball handling seem to rule. And I don't beleive that defense is the reason. I talk to coaches on a weekly basis and they say thier teams committed 20, 25 even 30 turnovers a game, almost on a nightly basis. Again, not all of the teams are like that but there are more that are, than aren't. At least in my opinion. What is yours? I would live to hear from you.

Rod's Monday Sports Blog

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals Varsity Hockey team took home third place honors from the state varsity hockey tournament it hosted yesterday when they beat Sioux Falls 4-3. Sioux Falls was leading 2-1 going into the third period when Austin Wagner ascored 3 goals to give the Capitals a 4-2 lead. Wagner scored all 4 of the Capital goals giving him 55 or so on the season and in the process surpassed Matt Farris as the all time goal scorer in Capitals hockey history and he is only a junior. The Capitals lone loss in the tournament was a 3-1 verdict to Mitchell in Saturday's Semi Finals. They opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over Huron. Mitchell won the tournament title as they handed Brookings their first and only loss of the season beating the Ranger 2-0 in the title game. Huron beat Rushmore 7-4 in the 5th place game of the tournament.

Pierre Lady Governor sophomore basketball player Kaitlyn Severyn is the only Lady Govs named to the All ESD Girls Basketball team today by a vote of the coaches of the ESD Conference schools. Severyn was one of the leading scorers and the leading rebounder for the Lady Govs this season. It is the second time she has been named to the All ESD squad. She also earned the honor last year, her freshman season. She is joined on the team by South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year Heidi Hoff of Brandon Valley. Hoff is a senior. Other All Conference players on the squad include senior Tia Hemiller and Savanah Gravatt of Watertown along with Chloe Cornemann and Emily Fedders of Yankton. Juniors Kerri Young of ESD Champion Mitchell and Sami Knecht of Aberdeen Central. And sophomores, Macy Miller of Mitchell and Allison Koehn of Brandon Valley.

The Pierre Governor boys basketball team will have a sendoff to the Class AA State Boys Basketball tournament Tuesday at 2:35 pm at Riggs High Gym. The team will be leaving at 8 am on Wednesday and have a hour long practice session on the court of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center at 11 am mountain time as they prepare for their tournament opener against Huron. The Governors and Tigers will play for the 4th time this season at 8:45 pm central time Thursday night in the final game of the first day of the State AA tournament. The Governors are the number 3 seed in the tournament while Huron is number 6.

The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be hosting it's annual Spring Fling on Monday, March 26th. The Spring Fling is a chance for the Booster Club to show it's appreciation to all of the coaches and members of the organization. This year's Spring Fling will be held at The Pub at View 34 East of Pierre. It will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and will feature a cash bar and d'oeuvres. There will be Door Prizes and the drawing for the 46 inch TV that the Booster Club has been selling tickets for since last fall. Persons can also purchase their membership to the PABC for next year at the event. The night will also serve as the kickoff for the 2012 football season's "Lay It on the Line" fundraiser. It is an adult only function and no one under 21 will be admitted.

On Monday, March 19th there will be a parent meeting at 6:30 in the auxiliary gym at Riggs High School for all parents of athletes who are out for track and field this spring.  This meeting should take about an hour and all parents of high school track and field athletes are encouraged to attend.  If you have any questions, please contact head coach Misty Larson at 295-1438.

Rod' Saturday Post

The Pierre Ft. Pierre Capitals hockey team dropped a 3-1 verdict to Mitchell in the semi finals of the State High School Boys Varsity Hockey tournament being played at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. Austin Loes scored twice in the third period to put Mitchell into the championship game tomorrow against the Winner of Brookings and Sioux Falls. James Gilkerson scored a shorthanded goal for Pierre-Ft. Pierre in the third period. Spencer Lawrence scored a second period goal for the Marlins. Mitchell outshot the Capitals 36-24 in the contest.

Rod's Friday Sports Notes

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals Varsity Hockey team pulled off an upset in the first round of the State Boys Varsity Hockey Tournament being played at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. The defending state champion and 6th seeded Capitals downed 3rd seeded Huron 3-1 in the tournaments first game this afternoon. Jace Jerome scored a first period goal for the Capitals to put them up 1-0. After a Huron goal tied the game at 1 going into the third period, Austin Wagner scored a shorthanded goal at the 5:48 mark of the third period and Drew Leif added an insurance goal at 11:47 to put the Capitals into the semi finals of the tournament tomorrow afternoon at 5 pm against the winner of the Mitchell and Aberdeen game. Huron outshot Pierre 38-35 with Pierre-Ft. Pierre goalie Kyle Mammenga stopping 37 shots.

Rod's Thursday Sports Post

The South Dakota Boys State Varsity Hockey tournament will be played tomorrow through Sunday in Ft. Pierre at the EXPO Center. Fans are encouraged to come out and enjoy the tournament and see the top hockey programs in the state. Admission prices are $20 for a adult Weekend Pass and $10 for students. A Daily pass is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Family Passes are $45 for the weekend and $25 for a day pass. The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals are the defending state champions. This year they are the 6th seed and will open up the tournament Friday at 1 pm against 3rd seed Huron, a team that the Capitals split with during the regular season.

Pierre Governor Basketball fans can purchase all session tickets for the State Class AA boys basketball tournament next week in Rapid City yet today at Riggs High School either at the office or the Athletic Directors office. Cost of the tickets are $40 for adults and $28 for students. Fans can purchase the tickets today from 8 am to 4:30 pm at the Athletic Directors office.

If you think South Dakota and rodeo, you think saddle bronc riding. The state has produced six-time world champion Casey Tibbs, five-time world champion Billy Etbauer of Ree Heights and a host of other great bronc riders. Now, the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association reports that a large statue of Etbauer has been commissioned for the Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center in Fort Pierre. It will be erected alongside Tibbs' statue overlooking the Missouri River. It is part of the ongoing history project started by the late Johnny Smith to honor South Dakota's rodeo greats.

Rod's Wednesday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor basketball team qualified for the Class AA State boys basketball tournament last night by downing Rapid City Stevens 52-36 in a Region 2AA playoff game. The Governors never trailed in the game. After building a 22-9 second quarter lead, Stevens closed the half on a 8-0 run to trail 22-17 at the half, but it was as close as the Raiders would get as Pierre outscored Stevens 12-3 in the third quarter and build as much as a 20 point lead in the 4th quarter. Lane Severyn led the Governors with 23 points and was the only double figure scorer on the game. Eric Drake was the lone double figure scorer for Stevens with 10. The Governors outrebounded the Raiders 41-25 on the game with Severyn pulling down a game high 7. The Governors improve to 16-7 and will be the number 3 seed in next week's Class AA State tournament in Rapid City. They will open against ESD and District foe Huron in the last game of the first day of the tournament.

Pierre Governor Basketball fans can purchase all session tickets for the State Class AA boys basketball tournament next week in Rapid City today and tomorrow at Riggs High School either at the office or the Athletic Directors office. Cost of the tickets are $40 for adults and $28 for students. Fans can purchase the tickets til 5 pm today and tomorrow from 8 am to 4:30 pm at the Athletic Directors office.

A Pierre girl was the winner of her division of the Elks Hoop Shoot Free Throw Shooting Regional cmpetition last Saturday in Rapid City. Hallie Jerome of Pierre missed only one free throw to take the girls 12-13 age division. Jerome was one of 4 South Dakotans who qualified for the National Hoop Shoot Free Throw Shooting competion. Megan Fannin of Watertown won the 8-9 girls division while Abbie Strait of Castlewood won the 10-11 girls division and Mason Townsend of Yankton tok the 12-13 boys division. The national finals will be held April 26th through the 29th at Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Pierre Area Coaches Association has named their Riggs High Athlete of the Week for the week ending Saturday March 3rd. Junior basketball player Lane Severyn was selected by the coaches. Severyn was nominated by assistant coach Quentin Cermak. Lane shot 12-20 from the field, including 6-10 from 3 point-range and grabbed 8 rebounds on his way to 34 points in the Govs 77-54 win over Aberdeen Central in the District 3AA third place game.

Six youth wrestlers from Stanley County won championships last weekend at the AAU Youth Wrestling tournament held in Ft. Pierre. Winning their divisions were Otis Felton in the 7-8 age division. Lawsin Jones in the 9-10 division. J.D. Carter and Trevor Habeck in the 11-12 age division while Cutter Gillaspie and Daniel Slama finished 1st in the 13-14 age division. A total of 28 wrestlers out of 30 from Stanley County advanced to the Youth Region Tournament.

The Boys U-12 Soccer team from the Oahe Soccer Assoiation finished runner up over the Weekend at the Presidents Cup Indoor Soccer Tournament held in Rapid City at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. They went 4 and 1 on the weekend losing to Rushmore White in the championship game.

Pierre Jr. Shooters participated in the Spink Co. Invitational held on March 3 at the Hubert. H. Humphrey Auditorium in Doland, SD. The 10-11 year old age division team from Pierre won their division while the 8-9 year old squad finished third. Teams participating included Armour, Buffalo, MN, Buffalo, ND, Highmore, Humboldt, Kirley, Marshall Co., Parkston, Pierre and Spink Co.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Post

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals were tied 1-1 after two periods in yesterday's semi final game of the State Varsity Girls Hockey Tournament. But Brookings outscored Pierre-Ft. Pierre 2-1 in the third to claim a 3-2 victory and advance to the championship game. After Liz Knutson scored twice in the third period, the second to tie the game at 2, Brookings Lexi Koenig scored the game winner at 15:34. The Lady Capitals will play Rushmore for third place today in the tournament in Aberdeen.

The Pierre Lady Governors basketball season came to an end Saturday night as they were beatenb 50-39 by Rapid City Central sending the Cobblers to this week's State AA Girls Basketball tournament in Brookings. Rapid City Central outscored the Lady Govs 11-0 over the course of a 4 minute stretch in the first quarter to take a 10 point lead. Pierre trailed by as many as 15 in the game but got to within 7 with about 3 minutes to go but would get no closer. Taylor Hyde hit 3 3-point baskets to lead the Lady Govs with 12 points. She was the only double figure scorer for Pierre who saw their season come to an end with a 5 and 17 record. This will be the third consevutive year that Pierre has not made the state tournament field.

The Sioux Falls Flyers JV hockey team downed the Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals 2-1 in overtime of the semi final round of the State JV Hockey tournament in Sioux Falls last night. Grady Tibbs scored the only goal for the Capital JV's in the second period to take a 1-0 lead but Sioux Falls scored a pair of unanswered goals in the third period and the overtime stanza to advance to the Championship game.

The Mitchell Marlins beat the Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals 8-3 in the final regular season varsity hockey game for both teams Saturday at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. After a 3-2 Mitchell lead after the first period, the Marlins scored 3 unanswered goals in the second period and two more in the third before Austin Wagner scored at the 14:13 mark of the period. Wagner scored the first Pierre-Ft. Pierre goal in the first period and James Gilkerson added the second. Kyle Mammenga made 19saves on 27 shots on goal to take the loss. The Capitals are the 6th seed in next weekends State Varsity Hockey championship tournament at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre.

Rods Saturday Morning Sports Post

The Pierre Governor boys basketball team joined the Lady Governors in continuing their season last night. The Governors rode a 34 point performance from Lane Severyn and a 16 point (14 in the second half) from Joe Tetzlaff in a 77-53 win over Aberdeen Central in the 3rd place elimination game of the District 3AA boys basketball tournament. The Governors led 32-29 at the half but outscored the Golden Eagles 24-12 in the third quarter to pull away for their 15th win of the season. The Governors will host Rapid City Stevens in a Region 2AA Playoff game Tuesday night at Riggs High Gym. The winner advances to the State AA basketball tournament in Rapid City that begins March 15th.

The Pierre Lady Govs will travel to Rapid City to face Rapid City Central in a Region 2AA Girls Basketball Playoff game. Tip off is scheduled for 7 pme central time and 6:00 pm mountain time.

Rod's Friday afternoon blog

The Pierre-Ft.Pierre Lady Capitals varsity hockey team recorded a 2-1 victory over Watertown in the opening round of the Girls State Varsity hockey tournament in Aberdeen. Liz Knutson scored both of the goals for Pierre-Ft. Pierre including the game winner on a power play at the 5:34 mark of the third period. Lady Capital goalie Tessa Singleton stopped 23 of 24 shots on goal. Pierre-Ft. Pierre will play the winner of the Brookings-Aberdeen contest tomorrow at the State Tournament.

Rod's Sunday Afternoon Sports Blog

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals JV hockey team dropped a 2-0 verdict to Sioux Falls in the championship game of the State JV Girls Hockey tournament Sunday afternoon in Yankton. Sioux Falls outshot Pierre-Ft. Pierre 42-9 on the game. After a scoreless first period, Maggie Drexler scored a power play goal in the second period and Jenniks Wrightman added an insurance goal in the third period as Pierre-Ft. Pierre could not muster any offense in the game. Still, the 2nd place finish was the best for Pierre-Ft. Pierre in JV girls hockey history.

Rod's Sunday Sports Blog

THE PIERRE GOVERNOR WRESTLING TEAM IS THE SOUTH DAKOTA CLASS A STATE CHAMPION, for the first time since 1974. The Governors scored 158 points with one individual state champion in Caleb Stoltenberg at 132 lbs. to outdistance runner up Huron by 13 points. Tanner Monfore finished 3rd at 126 lbs. as did Lane Lettau at 220 lbs. for the Governors top finsihes of the tournament. The Governors had several 4th and 5th place finishes to have enough points to bring home the State Championship hardware. For a complete rundown of how the Governor wrestlers did over the two day tournament, go to one of two websites. www.sdhsaa.com or www.sdpb.org.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals Junior Varsity hockey team will play for the State Championship this afternoon in Yankton. The Lady Cap JV's downed Mitchell in a semi final game yesterday 4-0. Traci Corcoran scored a pair of goals for Pierre-Ft. Pierre and Tessa Singleton recorded a shutout in goal stopping all 17 shots she faced. Morgan Puepke and Steph Nielsen also scored for the Lady Capital JV's. The Lady Capital JV's will play Sioux Falls for the State Championship at 1:30 pm.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

The Brookings Bobcats defeated the Pierre Governors 67-54 last night in the regular season finale. Brookings led 45-43 going into the 4th quarter but outscored the Governors 22-11 in the final stanza to claim the win. Lane Severyn led the Governors with 25 points and 6 3-pointers on the game. Conner Berg added 18 but the rest of the squad scored only 11 points as Pierre finishes 14-6. The Govs also lost out on a chance to tie for the ESD regular season basketball championship and settles for 2nd place. The Governors host Huron Tuesday night in the opening round of the District 3AA basketball tournament.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team entered the second and final day of the State Class A wrestling tournament in first place with 75 points. The Governors, who have not won a state championship in wrestling since 1974 led Huron by 5 points and Sturgis by 6.5. Stanley County meanwhile is tied for 11th with 22 points after the first day of the State Class B wrestling tournament in Rapid City.

Katie Plooster scored a first period goal and Jessica LaBrie added an insurance goal late in the third period to give the Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals JV hockey team a 2-0 win over Watertown in the first round of the State JV girls hockey tournament in Yankton. The Lady Capitals JV play Mitchell in a semi final round game later toda.

Rod's Sunday Moring Sports Blog and Post

The Pierre Governor wrestling team scored 206 points to win the Region 3A tournament yesterday in Huron. The Governors qualified 13 wrestlers for next weekend’s State Class A wrestling tournament in Aberdeen. 8 Governors got to the finals with champions being Jebbon Keyes at 106. Tanner Monfore at 126. Caleb Stoltenberg at 132. Chase Lettau at 180 and Trey Maier at 195. Getting runnerup spots at the tournament were Kyle Sarringer at 170. Lane Lettau at 220 and Dylan Bennett at Heavyweight. Luke Snyder at 130 got a third place finish as did Aaron O’Day at 132 as did Dawson Monfore at 152 and Seth Scott at 160. Nick Wiebe also qualified for the State tournament next week with a 4th place finish at 113. The Governors will go into next weekend’s tournament as the pre tournament favorite to win their first state championship in several decades.

Philip scored 170 points to win the Region 4B wrestling tournament championship in Mobridge yesterday. Stanley County scored 80 points to finish 6th in the team standings. The Buffalos had two wrestlers get to the championship match and finish runner up in their weight division. Casey Henninger at 126 and Wyatt Harrowa at 138 each qualified for the State B tournament next weekend in Rapid City. Also qualifying for the Buffalos to next weekend’s state tournament with third place finishes were Michal Scott at 132 and Cody LaCompte at 182. Finishing 4th and qualifying for the state tournament from Stanley County were Lukas Chase at 113 and Thomas Tolton at 152.

Saturday was individual day at the State Gymnastics Meet in Brookings. The Pierre Lady Governors had several girls competing. In the All Around, senior Cheyna Lodge wrapped up her Lady Gov gymnastics career with a 17th place finish scoring 34.315. Shelby Spelbring finished in a tie for 19th with a 34.148 score and Melissa Bobby finished in a tie for 25th with a 33.515 score. Bobby finished a tie for 21st on the Bars. Sydney Gutenkauf finished 28th. And Spelbring finished in a tie for 31st and Lodge finished 41st. On the Beam, Lodge finished 16th. Shelby Gerber finished 24th. Splebring was 27th and Bobby was 30th. Spelbring finished in a tie for 14th on the Floor Exercise. Lodge tied for 18th. Gutenkauf tied for 36th and Bobby finished 39th. And on the Vault, Lodge tied for 15th. Spelbring tied for 19th and Bobby finished 28th.

Saturday was also individual day for the Class A Gymnastics meet and Stanley County had 3 girls in the All Around with Lexi Lapour scoring 33.548. Shelby Gienger scored 33.331 and Hailey Norman scored a 31.582. For all of the results of this weekend’s State Gymnastics meet you can go a couple of websites. They are www.sdhsaa.com or www.sdpb.org.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals boys varsity hockey team won an important game in South Dakota High School Hockey Saturday night when they defeated Huron 6-4 at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. Austin Wagner scored 4 goals to lead the Capitals and Kyle Mammenga made 35 saves in goal. Pierre-Ft. Pierre host Aberdeen this afternoon. In girls hockey, the Lady Capitals wrapped up the regular season with a 2-0 win over Brookings in the final regular season game. Tessa Singleton stopped all 35 shots she faced in goal and Gabby Vizcarra scored a goal and Liz Knutson notched a goal and an assist in the win as the Lady Capitals secured the 4th seed in the upcoming South Dakota Girls Varsity State Hockey tournament in two weekends.

Rods Saturday Morning Sports Post

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team played even in the first quarter and won the 4th quarter but were outscored 27-12 in the middle two stanza’s in a 45-36 loss to third ranked Yankton Friday night at Riggs High Gym. The Lady Govs shot 41 percent on the game hitting 16 of 39 shots and were 4 of 12 from 3 point range. The Gazelles were 18 of 47 for 45 percent shooting and hit 6 of 18 three point shots in the game. Jenn Granflaten had a game high 15 points to pace Yankton while Sydney Palmer and Kristi Livermont each scored 8 points to lead the Lady Govs who host Brookings Tuesday night in the regular season finale and home finale at Riggs High Gym.

Lane Severyn scored 24 points including 13 in the second quarter as the Pierre Governor boys basketball team topped Yankton 58-48 Friday night in Yankton. Severyn had a game high 5 baskets from beyond the arc and dunk in the game that saw Pierre take a 5 point lead at halftime at 28-23 and would not relinquish it the rest of the night. Yankton got to within two points at 33-31 in the third quarter. The Govs led by as many as 13 in the 4th quarter. Matt Monfor added 10 points and Conner Berg and Joe Tetzlaff add dunks in the Governors offensive output. Pierre is now 14-5 on the season and wraps up the regular season with a game in Brookings on Thursday night. The Governors can secure a tie for the ESD regular season championship with a win and can win the title outright and gain the top seed in the upcoming District 3AA tournament with a win and a Mitchell loss at Aberdeen Central on Tuesday.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team scored 134.212 to finish 9th during the team day of the State Class AA Gymnastics meet in Brookings Friday night. Rapid City Central won the the state title with a 150.510 score, edging out defending state champion Watertown for the team title. The Arrows had 147.262. In the Class A team day, Stanley County scored 124.161 to finish 7th in the team standings. Deuel repeated as State Class A champions with a 145.846 score edging out runner up Madison which had 141.979. Chamberlain was third with a 129.395 score.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals hockey team blited Aberdeen 12-2 in a South Dakota high school league game last night in Aberdeen. Liz Knutson had 4 goals in the game for the Lady Capitals while Traci Corcoran and Allyssia Holzer each had two goals apeice. The Lady Capitals had a total of 6 girls score. Tessa Singleton stopped 11 of the 13 shots she faced on the night. Pierre-Ft. Pierre wraps up the regular season with an afternoon game against Brookings at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre this afternoon.

Rod's Sunday Post

Pierre native Katie Lingle scored 8 points and had 1 rebound in 15 minutes of action Saturday in the SDSU Jackrabbits 79-73 win over UMKC in Womens College Basketball last night in Kansas City. Pierre's other native on the SDSU squad, Steph Paluch had 3 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assist in 19 minutes of action.

The Pierre Governors trailed 35-34 after 3 quarters but got outscored 23-11 in the final quarter as top rated Sioux Falls O'Gorman downed the Govs 58-45 before a packed house in Sioux Falls. Lane Severyn scored 17 points and Joe Tetzlaff had 15 for the Govs who played without center Zach Hanson who will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture to his right foot. The loss followed a 39-37 win over Brandon Valley on Friday night and their record is now 13-5 on the season as they travel to Yankton on Friday.

The Pierre Governors advanced eight wrestlers to the finals and crowned three champions on the way to an ESD Conference wrestling title. The Governors with 173 points edged past Huron with 170. Pierre won championships at 106 pounds with Jebben Keyes. 132 with Caleb Stoltenberg and heavyweight with Dylan Bennett. Dawson Monfore at 152 and Seth Scott at 160 were runnerups in their weight class as was Kyle Sarringer at 170. Trey Meier finished 2nd at 195 and Lane Lettau was beaten in the championship match at 220. All 8 wrestlers earned All ESD honors.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor boys basketball team slugged out a 39-37 ESD Conference basketball win over Brandon Valley Friday night. Joe Tetzlaff and Lane Severyn each scored 10 points to lead the Governors who never led by more than 7 points. Pierre improves to 13-4 on the season as they travel to Sioux Falls O'Gorman for a matchup against the top ranked Knights tonight

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team was outscored by 10 points in the second quarter last night as Brandon Valley recorded a 56-43 win. Otherwise, Pierre played the defending state champions straight up the rest of the night. Kaitlyn Severyn had 14 and Molly Tschetter 11 for the Lady Govs who fall to 3 and 15 on the season. They host Yankton Friday night.

Rod's Sunday Sports Blog

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team saw it's record fall to 3-13 on the season following a 58-43 loss to Sioux Falls O'Gorman Saturday night at Riggs High Gym. The Lady Govs shot better than their previous 2 games by hitting 18 of 43 from the field. But they were only 4 of 9 from the free throw line while O'Gorman was 12 of 16 from the line and 19 of 44 from the field. OGorman also had 8 3-pointers on the game to only 3 for Pierre. The Knight outscored the Lady Govs 18-5 in the second quarter to take a 14 point lead into the locker room. Pierre had balanced scoring led by freshman Sydney Palmer off the bench with 11 points. Taylor Hyde scored all 9 of her points on 3-3 pointers in the 4th quarter. Chandler Nielsen scored 12 of her game high 15 points in the second half for O'Gorman. Pierre host Aberdeen Central Tuesday night.

Pierre native Katie Lingle came off the bench to scored 8 points and pull down 3 rebounds for the South Dakota State women's basketball team as the Jackrbabbits downed Southern Utah 65-43 Saturday Night in Brookings. Pierre starter Steph Paluch scored 5 points and 2 rebounds and 3 assist in the win. Ashley Eide, who's mother is the former Audra Lindbloom of Pierre, led the Jacks in scoring with 11.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team scored 134.9 Saturday at the ESD Conference meet in Brookings but it was only good for a 6th place finish in the 7 team conference meet. Yankton-Bon Homme only finished lower than the Lady Govs with a 130.050 score. Watertown repeated as ESD Conference champion with a 148.4 score. Mitchell finished second with a 141.925 team score. The all-around ESD champion was Lynne Hanten of Watertown with a 38.375. Shelby Spelbring of the Lady Govs finished 9th in the All Around with a 34.325 score. Cheyna Lodge had a 10th place finish on the vault with a 8.725 score for the Lady Govs. She also had a 9th place finish on the Floor Exercise with a 9.050 score for Pierre's only top 10 finishes on the day.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals varsity hockey team scored a 3-1 win over Watertown last night in state high school league play in Watertown. Liz Knutson and Megan Johnson each scored first period goals for the Lady Capitals and Emily Weber added a second period goal as the Lady Capitals outshot Watertown 38-30 on the game. The two play Sunday in Watertown. Pierre-Ft. Pierre won Saturday's JV game 4-0.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor wrestling team recorded a 55-15 ESD dual win over Mitchell last night in Mitchell running the Governors dual record to 6-0 in ESD Conference duals. The Governors won from 132 lb all the way to heavyweight to put an exclamation point on the dual win. 6 of the Governor wins were by pin with Caleb Stoltenberg, Kyle Sarringer, Chase Lettau, Trey Maier, Lane Lettau and Dylan Bennett all pinning their opponents. Seth Scot won a major decision and Aaron O'Day, AJ Dorschner and Dawson Monfore won by decision. Jebben Keyes won his match by injury default. The Governors lost only two matches on the night and gave up a forfeit for the other Mitchell victory. The Governors can win their first ESD Conference wrestling title since 1998 on Monday when they host Watertown in the final home match of the season. The JV dual is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm and the varsity match is scheduled for a 7 pm start time.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo basketball team lost their 6th straight last night as they dropped a 47-40 verdict to Lyman. The Raiders have won 3 straight. Tori Deal led Stanley County with a game high 24 point performance. In the boys game, the Buffalos snapped a 3 game losing skid and ended Lymans 6 game winning streak with a 51-48 win over the Raiders. Kevin Anderson had 18 points and Latrell LaRouche chipped in with 17 in the win.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will have their regular monthley meeting on Monday night. The meeting will be held at 5:45 pm on Monday at the Riggs High School Cafeteria. Anyone interested in Governor or Lady Governor athletics is invited and encouraged to attend.

The Pierre Post 8 American Legion baseball board will be hosting a fund raising All You Can Eat Pancake and Sausage Feed twice this month. On February 18th and again on February 25th. The American Legion Baseball Board is calling this month's fund raising feeds "Double Up February". Any one who arrives before 8:30 am on both the 18th and the 25th will be recieving a "Free Day" at any Post home tournament this summer. The pancake and sausage feed will be served from 7 am to 11 am both the 18th and the 25th. $3 all you can eat with all proceeds going to help fund the Post 8 American Legion and Teener baseball programs this year. (Apparently the Pierre Capital Journal ran something this morning saying that the breakfast is tomorrow, but it is not until the 18th and 25th of this month).

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team will be holding a Lil Lady Gov basketball camp tomorrow at Riggs High Gym. Registration will be from 8:30 am to 9:00 am with the camp to run from 9 am to 11 am. There will be a $10 cost per particpant with each particpant recieving a T-Shirt and they will be able to attend the Lady Gov and Sioux Falls O'Gorman game tomorrow night for free.

Rods' Tuesday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governors boys basketball team fell two spots and is ranked number 4 this week in the Class AA rankings of the State High School Basketball polls from the South Dakota Sportswriters Association. Mitchell continues to top the Class AA ranks.

The Pierre Governor basketball team host Mitchell tonight with a share of first place in the ESD Conference boys basketball race on the line plus it will be a chance for Pierre to take the lead for the top seed in District 3AA and hosting two games in the post season. That is something Pierre has not done since 2006. It will also be the final regular season game that Mitchell Coach Gary Munsen will coach in Pierre and possibly the final time. Munsen has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. It will be Coach Munsens 894th game he has coached and the 95th against Pierre. He has a career record of 653 and 250 and is 62-32 against the Governors.

This Saturday's scheduled Brookings JV Invitational Wrestling tournament that the Pierre Governor JV wrestling squad will be taking part in has been moved to Brandon due to the ESD Gymnastics meet being held in Brookings. The wrestling tournament is scheduled to begin at 10 am in Brandon.

Dakota Wesleyan’s men’s soccer coach Jeremy Tosaya announced Monday afternoon that brothers Tyson and Travis Moodie will join the team next fall. The Pierre natives bring the Tigers recruiting class up to nine, including five recruits from in state. The brothers will join high school teammate Michael Hardwick on the Tigers’ roster. Tyson was the Governors team captain the last two years. The midfielder/goalie was nominated to the all-state team in 2010. Travis played midfielder for the Governors. Both also competed in track at Riggs High School.

Rod's Monday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor boys basketball team split a pair of games over the weekend as they dropped a 73-64 contest at Spearfish on Friday night but bounced back for a 63-28 win over Sturgis on Saturday. The split leaves the 2nd ranked Governors with a 11-3 record on the season. Pierre host Mitchell, the number 1 rated team in the state tomorrow night.

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team split a pair of weekend games as they upended Spearfish 50-44 on Friday night but were handled by Sturgis 42-21 on Saturday. The split leaves the Lady Govs with a 3 and 11 record as they travel to top ranked Mitchell tomorrow night.

The Stanley County girls and boys basketball teams were swept by Cheyenne Eagle Butte on Saturday in Ft. Pierre. The Lady Buffs were beaten by the Lady Braves 83-31while the Cheyenne Eagle Butte boys squad rallied for a 66-57 win over the Buffalos in a game that Stanley County led most of the way. The Buffalos and Lady Buffalos will travel to Todd County for another girls/boys doublheader tomorrow night.

10 youngsters won free throw shooting titles Saturday at the annual Ft. Pierre Knights of Columbus Free Throw Shooting Contest in Ft. Pierre. Winning the in the girls divisions were MaKenna Larson, Emily Mikkelsen, Tori Thorpe, Lynette Blue Bird and Carmelita LaTray. Boys division winners were Andrew Coverdale, Peyton Zabel, Felician Brave Hawk, Sam Edman and Darius Red Cloud. The 10winners all won a new basketball and will advance to District Competition.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team captured the team title of the Brookings Invitational wrestling Saturday in Brookings. The Governors scored 223.5 to finish 3points ahead of runner up Rapid City Stevens. The Governors had 3 grapplers gain individual championships as Jebben Keyes at 106 lbs., Tanner Monfore at 126 lb. and Chade Lettau at 182 lb. all won titles. Seth Scot at 160 lbs. and Trey Maier at 195 lb. got to the championship match of their weight divisions before losing and finishing as a runner up. All in all, 8 of the Governor wrestlers placed in the tournament. The Govs return to the mat on Friday night when they travel to Mitchell for a ESD Conference dual.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team scored 134.200 to finish second to Rapid City Central in a gymnastics dual hosted by the Lady Governors on Saturday. The Cobblers scored 144.350. The Lady Govs score was 6 points better than last weekend's Rapid City Gym O Rama score. Pierre competed without two of their top performers as Cheyna Lodge and Sydney Gutenkauf sat out due to ankle injuries. Pierre will travel to Brookings on Saturday for the ESD Conference meet.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals varsity boys hockey team split a pair of games over the weekend. The Capitals dropped a 7-5 verdict to Mitchell on Saturday night in Mitchell, but returned home yesterday and recorded a 6-4 win over Watertown. The Capitals Austin Wagner scored 7 goals over the weekend getting the hat track on Saturday at Mitchell and then scored 4 goals in yesterday's win over Watertown.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals hockey team took a major hit this weekend as they were swept all 3 games against Rushmore at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. All 3 games were one goal affairs with the Rapid City squad winning Friday night 3-2 in overtime and then coming back for a 1-0 win on Saturday and capped that off with a 4-3 victory over the Lady Capitals yesterday. Liz Knutson scored 3 goals over the weekend to lead Pierre-Ft. Pierre offensiveley.

Morgan McLain won two individual events and assisted in a relay victory, but the South Dakota State University women’s swimming and diving team dropped a 168.5-127.5 decision at North Dakota Friday night. A senior from Pierre, McLain won the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 58.88 seconds and later added a victory in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4 minutes, 35.14 seconds. McLain opened her evening by swimming the leadoff leg of the Jackrabbits’ victorious 400 medley relay, teaming with Kaitlyn Hemmingson, Ashley Valdez and Kaylin Caron for a winning time of 3:57.77.

Rods Friday Sports Blog

Stanley County senior Austin Lopour signed a letter of intent yesterday to attend Dakota Wesleyan University and continue is football playing career collegiatly yesterday. Lopour was an All Conference running back for the Buffalos this season and also led the team in tackles defensively.


The Pierre Governor wrestling team recoreded 4 pins and won 9 of 14 maches last night in a 42-19 ESD dual win over Huron. Jebben Keyes at 106 lbs., Tanner Monfore at 126 lbs., Kyle Sarringer at 170 lbs. and Chase Lettau at 182 lbs. recorded Pins for the Governors who remain undefeated on the season dual matches and is 5-0 in the ESD. The Governors go to the Brookings Invitational tomorrow.


Stanley County Buffalo wrestlers will travel to Onida tomorrow to compete in the Charger Invitational Dual tournament. The Pierre JV’s will also be one of the 6 team field at that tournaement.


Winner rolled to a 68-33 girls non conference basketball victory over Stanley County last night in Ft. Pierre. Tori Deal of Stanley County led all scorers on the night with 18 but did not get any help as the Lady Buffalos fall to 2-10 on the season. Stanley County host Cheyenne Eagle Butte in a girls boys doubleheader tomorrow in Ft. Pierre.


The Pierre Governor basketball team heads west for a pair of non conference games tonight and tomorrow. The 2nd ranked Governors travel to Spearfish tonight against a Spartan team that is 8-3 on the season coming off a 9 points loss to St.Thomas More on Tuesday. Tip off of the varsity contest is scheduled for 8:30 pm Central Time. Then tomorrow the Governors travel to Sturgis to face the Scoopers in a 4:30 pm Central Time tipoff.


The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team is looking to make a winning streak this weekend. After winning their second game of the season at Huron on Tuesday night, the Lady Govs host Spearfish tonight and Sturgis tomorrow. Spearfish is coming off their first loss of the season against St.Thomas More on Tuesday. Tip off of the varsity contest is scheduled for 7:30 pm. Sturgis, who plays at Aberdeen Central tonight, is 4 and 7 on the season. Tip off of the varsity contest is scheduled for 3:30 pm tomorrow.


The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics squad will have one last home meet of the season this weekend. Lady Gov head coach Nicki Abels says that they have scheduled a dual with Rapid City Central tomorrow beginning at noon at the gymnastics gym at the Pierre Administration building. This evening, the Dazzlers Gymnastics Club will dual the Pierre Middle School at the gymnastics gym. The Lady Govs will have a fund raising Walking Taco feed both this evening and Saturday afternoon.


The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals and Lady Capitals JV and Varsity squads are in action this weekend. The Lady Capitals have a 3 game series with Rushmore beginning tonight at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. They will play again tomorrow afternoon and Sunday morning as well. The Capitals will travel to Mitchell to face the Marlins tomorrow night before returning home for an afternoon contest against Watertown on Sunday.