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.