Author Archives: Colton Hall

Three Qualifiy for National Finals

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By Shelley Heath

Rodeo athletes competed at the South Dakota State High School Rodeo Finals on June 14-16 in Belle Fourche.

Tripp County High School Rodeo Team sent 7 of their 12 members to participate in the finals. All seven members made it back to the short go performance on Saturday, but two Colome High School students will get the chance to represent SD at the National Finals held in Rock Springs, Wyo, in July.

Rodeo athletes that placed 1-4 will go onto the finals. There were 215 contestants but several competed in multiple events. Aside from cutting and reined cow horse, all other events bring back the top 15 to the short go.

Riggin Shippy, a Colome High School incoming senior, won the state title in the bull riding competition. Shippy came into state finals sitting in good shape with points, but continued to excel at the state level. Shippy won the first performance, placed second in the second performance, and won the short go. Shippy was 2nd coming into state, and rode his way to the top. Shippy received a saddle and several buckles from his efforts. There were 12 bull riding contestants.

Linkyn Petersek, a Colome High School incoming sophomore, placed second in the tie down calf roping. Petersek brought in 25 points from regionals and continued to build points at state by placing fourth in the first performance, fourth in the second performance, and placing 8th in the short go. Building points in the average and roping strong in all go’s earned Petersek a second place title. There were 58 tiedown ropers.

Blasé Steffen, a Gregory High School graduate, placed second in the boys cutting. Steffen came into state with 29 points and picked up a second place in the first performance, fourth place in the second performance, and in the short go split third place with 3 other competitors. With Steffen’s strong performance, he earned the second place spot, just one point behind the first place finisher. There were 13 boys cutters representing the state. Steffen won the All-Around Saddle, he competed in boys cutting, reined cow horse, tiedown roping and team roping.

Brandon Volmer had a strong showing at the finals with a 5th place finish, in the boys cutting.

Kolton Salonen placed fourth in the second go and placed fifth in the short go, just missing the national team and placing 5th in the state. There were 16 saddle bronc riders.

In the girls cutting there were 22 competitors, Saydee Heath and Saige Schuyler picked up points in each performance but missed coming back in the short go. They placed 15th and 16th respectively.

There were 79 breakaway ropers, Heath placed fourth in the second performance and missed the short go by 1 point. Heath finished 16th in the state. Schuyler finished 30th.

There were 74 pole benders, Schuyler ran strong at the finals but didn’t pick up any points in the first and second performance but ran a pretty pattern in the short go with a second place finish. When all numbers are figured, she placed 10th in the state. Heath also participated in the poles, but did not put together a good run and finished 69th.

Steer wrestling brought 27 competitors, including Beau Dean of Platte and Finn Hanson of Burke. Hanson placed 6th in the second performance and 9th in the short go. Hanson finished 15th in the state followed by Dean with an 18th place finish.

Team Roping brought 50 teams to compete, Dean & Steffen placed 19th, Kade Starr & Phillips placed 22nd, and Schuyler & Volmer placed 37th.

Along with Petersek in the tiedown roping, Dean placed 5th in second performance, finishing 7th; Steffen placed 5th in the first performance, finishing 10th; Phillips finished 21st; Starr finished 40th; and Weston Vanderpol finished 56th.

The reined cow horse event, boys and girls participate together. Blasé Steffen placed 5th in the state followed by Dawson Phillips and Saydee Heath tied for 7th place.

Digger Rutten, of Colome, is the Public Relations Director for the SDHSRA. Rutten puts in many hours of hard work to promote the high school rodeo athletes.

 

 

26 Participate in Fishing Tournament

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Twenty-six youth took part in the fishing tournament June 16 at the Winner Bass Pond.

Winners include:

3 to 6-year-old group

1—Jeb Rolf, 2. Barrett Sampson, 3 Remington Rohde

Big odd fish/turtle—Jeb Rolf

7 to 10 year olds girls

  1. Nora Poither, 2. Tenley Rohde, 3. Gracie Rohde

7 to 10-year-old boys

  1. Aiden Semrad Schroeder, 2. TysonStands, 3. Tayson Stiehl

Big bass—Tenley Rohde

11 to 15 year olds

  1. Brianna Gilchrist, 1. Lane Moser

First place received a fishing pole, second place received a tackle box, third place received a tackle pack. All participants received a goody bag of fishing items.

Junior Teeners Play Lots of Games

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It was a busy weekend for the Winner Junior Teeners as they hosted the annual Father’s Day tournament at Leahy Bowl.

On Saturday, Winner defeated Onida 5-3.

Winner scored four runs in the third inning.

Leading hitters were Aiden Barfuss, 1-3; Owen Duffy, 1-2; Adam Bohnet, 1-2.

Justin Hausmann was the pitcher for the local team.

Sunday morning, Wagner nipped Winner 6-5.

Winner took an early 3-0 lead with Wagner coming back to tie the game at 3-3.

Leading hitters for Winner were Pierce Nelson, Aiden Barfuss, Charlie Pravecek, Adam Bohnet, all 1-3. Justin Hausmann was 1-1.

Pitching for Winner were Pierce Nelson, Coy Brickman and Charley Pravecek.

In the third and fourth place game Sunday afternoon, Winner fell to Platte-Geddes 12-1 in the third and fourth place game of the Father’s Day tournament in Winner.

Winner’s run came in the second inning.

Aiden Barfuss was 1-2 at the plate and Adam Bohnet was 1-1. Barfuss had a double.

Pitching in this game were Barfuss, Silas Chasing Hawk and Ashton Klein.

Winner Junior Teeners defeated Mission 10-4 in a game Thursday in Mission.

Winner’s big inning was in the third when they scored five runs.

Leading hitters were Pierce Nelson, Ashton Klein, Riley Orel, Kaden Bennett and Adam Bohnet, all with one.

Pitching for Winner were Nelson, Orel and Coy Brickman.

Junior Legion Concludes a Successful Campaign

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Winner Junior Legion defeated Hamlin 8-4 Thursday at Leahy Bowl.

On offense, Kameron Meiners was 1-2 with two walks and an RBI. Fred Whiting was 1-4 with 2 RBIs and Phil Jorgensen was 1-4 and scored three runs.

Joren Bruun started on the mound and pitched 5 inning giving up 3 hits and 1 earned run to go along with 6 strikeoutsKameron Meiners pitched the last 2 innings, allowing one hit and 3 runs (0 earned).

“Our pitchers did a nice job tonight, only allowing 4 hits total, but our defense really struggled and that allowed Hamlin to make it a game late,” said coach Kory Foss. “The errors we had were basic mistakes too, things you expect to improve upon as the season moves forward. These kids know how to field, and they know what they need to do in most situations, so it’s just a matter of putting it all together. We’re 7-2 now, but I don’t think we’ve played close to our best game yet, which tells me that this group has a lot of potential. Now we just need to get our offense and defense on the same page at the same time. So far, when the offense puts up runs the pitching seems to struggle, and vise-versa. We’re not to the halfway point of our season yet, so there is still plenty of time left, but you want to bring your best each time you step on that field,” said Foss.

Winner Junior Legion baseball team lost 5-4 to Wagner on June 12.

On offense, Fred Whiting ws 3-4 with 2 RBIs, Oscar Pravecek was 1-4 with an RBI.
Winner had six hits for the game.

Jacob Beckers started on the mound and pitched 4 1/3rd innings giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and had 6 strikeouts. Evan Farner and Fred Whiting finished the game on the hill in relief, neither giving up an earned run.

“Our offense had a hard time getting going,” said coach Kory Foss.

“After a 3-run, 3-hit 1st inning we only had 3 hits the rest of the way. I credit Wagner’s two pitchers who kept us off balance for the most part, with an effective combination of fastballs and off-speed pitches. We didn’t play particularly well in the field, and some basic mistakes led to 4 unearned runs.

“I thought all three of pitchers threw well and gave us a chance to win, we just didn’t capitalize on it. We led the entire game and had a 1 run lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, but a hard grounder to shortstop that could have ended the game took a nasty hop and the tying and winning runs scored from 2nd and 3rd when the ball kicked away. It’s a tough way to lose a ball game, but I told the kids we should have never been in that position in the first place, had we played a solid game on offense and defense.

“In the end, I think it’s a good learning situation for our players, as they hopefully discover that anyone can beat anyone on any given night if you don’t come ready to play your best. But we’ll be okay. We’ll bounce back,” said Foss.

 

Jr. Legion Nipped in Championship Game lost to Gregory 3-2

Joren Bruun 2 for 2 with an RBI and Fred Whiting 1 for 2 with a walk.

Kameron Meiners started on the mound and threw 6 innings giving up 3 runs on 10 hits while striking out 3.
Fred Whiting threw a scoreless 7th inning allowing no hits and striking out one

“We had played Gregory earlier in the year and beat them 9-7, but it was a tough game and we know they’re a solid ball club with some talented players, so it was going to be a good battle. It was close from the get-go as it was tied 2-2 in the 2nd inning. They got a run in the 4th off a couple of our miscues and that was it, neither of us could muster a run the rest of the way. Their guys did a nice job of shutting down our offense which has been putting up some runs recently. Kameron Meiners just battled on the hill for 6 innings for us, and I give him a lot of credit. He didn’t strike out a lot of guys or anything, but he made pitches when he needed to and gave us a chance to win,” said the coach.

“All-in-all, i think it was a great tournament for our kids. We won a big game on Saturday night and then had another close one in the championship game. That’s where you want to be in your home tourney I told the kids, playing in the championship game, and we were able to do that.”

The loss to Gregory was the team’s first loss on the season, as they move to 6-1 on the year.

Winner Junior Legion won by the score of 15-4 over Stanley County. Game ended in the 5th inning due to 10-run rule.

Phil Jorgensen was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s.  Jesse Colson was 2 for 2 with an RBI.  Eight different players had at least 1 hit in the game.

Evan Farner started on the mound and threw 2 scoreless innings striking out 3. Aaron Gilchrist and Phil Jorgensen both had scoreless relief appearances.

“We had a pretty good idea going into this one that Stanley County was going to be a bit shorthanded so it was one of those games where you want to try to keep the score at a respectable level while getting in as many of your own subs as possible. We came out and played well, scoring 10 runs in the first inning. From that point on we just wanted to get some game time for subs and we were able to do that so it was a nice way to start the tournament,” said coach Kory Foss.

Winner Junior Legion beat Parkston by a final of 8-7.

Phil Jorgensen was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, Kameron Meiners was 2 for 4 with an RBI, Oscar Provecek was 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Evan Farner was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s.

Joren Bruun started on the hill and threw 6 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits and struck out 6.  Jacob Beckers threw the last inning, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits.

“This was a fantastic game to be a part of,” said Foss. “Parkston is a very good ball club and we knew it was going to be a battle going in. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but we battled back to tie it in the bottom of the 6th. Parkston scored 2 runs in the top of the 7th to take the lead and sent their ace out the mound to close down the game. We knew it was going to be a challenge against their guy, as he’s had some pretty big success at the high level this season, and really has a live arm. We put some guys on with a walk and a couple hustle plays and then Evan Farner had just a huge hit down the line that scored 2 runners and tied the game. We had the winning run on 3rd and Joren Bruun drove him in with a 2-out single up the middle for the walk-off win. It was really just a fun atmosphere as the crowd was into the game and the kids were fired up knowing it was a big win and that we did it against the toughest pitcher we’ve faced so far this year,” said Foss.

 

Amateur Teams Picks Up Two Wins

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(Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Daily Republic)

Winner/Colome amateur baseball team used an eight run sixth inning to fuel a 19-14 Sunshine League win over Parkston Mudcats on Sunday.

Dillon Lambley, Reed Harter and Kelly O’Bryan powered the Pheasants offense with three hits each. Lambley drove in five runs which Harter had four RBIs. O’Bryan knocked in two runs.

In the sixth inning, Harter capped off the scoring with a three run double.

The Pheasants scored two more runs in the seventh inning and three in the eighth.

Parkston scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

J. J. Farner earned the win on the mound striking out six batters.

Winner/Colome 16, Wagner 6

Winner/Colome Pheasants defeated Wagner 16-6 in a Sunshine League amateur baseball game on Thursday. The game was called after the seventh inning.

Drew Weber earned the win after striking out six batters and giving up six runs in six innings of pitching.

Kelly O’Bryan and Reed Harter had three hits each and three runs scored. Winner/Colome scored nine runs in the first inning.

Winner/Colome will host Mount Vernon on Thursday in Winner.

Donald Covey, 73

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Donald Covey, 73, of Winner, SD passed away on Monday, June 11, 2018 at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
Mass of Christian Burial was held on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Winner. Burial followed in the Winner City Cemetery. A visitation was held one hour prior to the service.

Donald Eugene Covey, born on Jan. 28, 1945, in Winner, South Dakota, died on June 11, 2018, in Sioux Falls, SD, surrounded by his loving family. He was the fifth child and second son of Chester and Winnifred (Ferguson) Covey. He grew up in the Hamill and Winner area, graduating from Winner High School in 1963, the Homecoming Warrior. He lettered in football, basketball, and track and once hit the centerfield fence at Leahy Bowl on a 3-2 pitch.

On June 11, 1965, he married the love of his life, Vicki Hruska. He graduated from USD with a degree in government in 1967 (a Farber Boy). After a time farming with his dad, he answered the call of the public service and he entered USD Law School. He graduated in 1973, having served as the Copy Editor of the USD Law Review, and moved to Aberdeen to be one of the first law-trained magistrates. He entered private practice for a time in Aberdeen and then moved to Winner, SD, and practicing for 41 years, taking his turn serving as Tripp County State’s Attorney and doing his share of court appointed defense work.

Don believed in serving his community. He was a member of the Winner School Board, Rotary, Winner Investment Club, the Hamill, Clearfield, and Keyapaha Conservation Districts, among many other organizations. He was active in the South Dakota State Bar and Rosebud Bar Associations, serving on many committees, including but not limited to the Ethics, ALPS, and Victims/Witness committee. One of his proudest accomplishments was bringing medical professionals to rural areas through the Regional Primary Medical Search.

In his youth, he loved athletics, including handball, golf, bowling, and racquetball. He loved fishing and hunting with his family, mostly for the companionship of family and friends. He loved music and was a gifted singer. He sang at countless weddings and funerals, providing comfort and joy to many. He served as a cantor, Eucharistic minister, lector, and Parish Commission member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and was honored to be chosen as cantor for the Rapid City Diocese Centennial Mass. Don greatly enjoyed singing with barbershop choruses in Aberdeen and Winner. Leading his fellow Rotarians in song was a highlight of his week.

In addition to the law (he carried a copy of the United States Constitution with him), he loved and cherished his family, who loved him right back.

He is survived by his wife of exactly 53 years, Vicki, his children: Chet and Jamie (Bradley, Zachary, and Abby); Tom and Amy (Hannah and Faith); Paul and Andrea (Emmalynn, Hyatt, and Willa); and Heather and Bill Feller (Lonnie and Mellissa and Stetson and Natalie); Siblings: Della (the late Harry) Snethen, Bob (the late Barbara), Donna and Bill Bunn, Shirley and Denny DeMers, and Gwen and Jack Ragsdale; dear cousin and friends Bill and Joan Ferguson; many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister-in-law Barbara, his brother-in-law Harry, and nephews David and Randy, and countless other family, clients, and friends.

May the choirs of angels come to greet you.
May they speed you to paradise.
May the Lord enfold you in his mercy.
May you find eternal life.

Bentley Assman

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Bentley Joshua Assman was born at the Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 5 a.m. He was placed in the loving arms of his parents, Darcy Maier and Colter Assman. Bentley was sleeping peacefully in his daddy’s arms when God called him home a short time later.

Bentley will forever be in the hearts of his parents along with grandparents Les Maier and Kim Maier and Cory and Trisha Assman, his aunts Beth (Steven) Storms and cousins Kaysen and Karsten Storms, Kristin Maier and Jayce Assman; great grandparents Burton and Mary Dimond, Shane and Shirley Bingen, Jim Assman and Peggy Douglas and Stanley Maier; great-great grandmothers Donna Dice and Geraldine Bingen and numerous other relatives.

Vince Svoboda, 81

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Funeral services for Vince Svoboda, 81, Iona, were held on June 15 at the Methodist Church in Gregory. Burial was at the Iona Cemetery.

Vincent Anton Svoboda was born on April 21, 1937 in Gregory, SD to Joe and Theresa (Dite) Svoboda. The third of six children, Vince was brother to Franklin, Marilyn, Gwendolyn, Eleanor, and Joan. Vince lost his baby sister, Joan, shortly after birth, and his mother, Theresa, followed just months later. Vince’s family grew when his father married Elsie Christensen in December of 1953, and he was proud to gain five siblings, Donald, Robert, Joan, Melvin, and Marvin (Short).

Vince grew up in the Dixon area and later moved to Iona with his family in 1956. As a child, Vince developed a love of horses and spent many happy years wild horse racing with good friends, Charlie Kennedy and Warren Hammerbeck, roping, and working cattle. He was the rancher of the family and took great pride in raising Hereford cattle and Quarter Horses.

In 1980, Vince met Linda Strand from Mitchell, SD through his good friend, George Hammerbeck. Vince and Linda were married on March 6, 1982. They welcomed daughter, Jami, in March of 1983 and son, Bart, in September of 1984. A few years later, Vince acquired his other son, Rod Whitney.

Vince had a generous spirit. He was well known for gifting horses or calves and sharing the great love he had for his animals. If you were lucky, he may have gifted you with a hard fought for pie from a local benefit auction. (If you were unlucky, you were bidding against him for that pie, and you were never forgiven) He very much enjoyed visiting neighbors, friends, and family, and was often found socializing in town at dinnertime.

Vince was preceded in death by his parents Joe and Theresa, stepmother Elsie; brothers: Franklin Svoboda, Robert Christensen, and Melvin Christensen; sisters: Joan Svoboda, Marilyn Elwell, Eleanor Salmon, and Gwendolyn Meinen; brothers-in-law: Everett Meinen, Darrel Salmon, Lester Songer, and Leon Elwell; sisters-in-law: Mavis Svoboda and Carolyn Christensen.

He is survived by his wife Linda, daughter Jami, sons Bart (Sarah) and Rod (Lori) Whitney; brothers Donald (Dorothy) Christensen and Marvin (Janice) Christensen; sister Joan Songer; sisters-in-law Carol Christensen and Dorothy Christensen; many cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and his cowdog, Sammy.

 

Jo Anne Bainter, 80

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Jo Anne Bainter, 80, of Winner, SD passed away on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at the Winner Regional Health Care Facility in Winner, SD.

Funeral services were held on Friday, June 15, 2018 at 2 p.m. at the Winner United Methodist Church in Winner. A visitation was held one hour prior to the service.

Jo Anne “Jodee” Bainter was born on Nov. 29, 1937 in her home in Coffeyville, Kan. She was the second youngest of 9 siblings born to Edgar and Iva Hepner. Her presence came as a surprise to her siblings. As her sister, Mary, said “I did not know that Momma was expecting. I came home from school… there she was. I did not have a doll… but I had a real baby.”

Jodee shared many fond memories with her sister, including the fact that the reason she was such a good speller was because her older sister would play “teacher and student” with her. Yes, Jodee was expected to actually learn- not just play. It proved beneficial as Jodee went on to skip 2 full grades, graduating high school at age 16. A few years later, she met Max while he was the quarterback for Coffeyville Junior College. She won Max over with her compassionate personality and striking beauty- which had won her a beauty contest at the age of 14. They were married Aug. 25th, 1957. Jodee and Max went on to have 3 children, Rebecca (Becky), Steven, and Kirk. They moved around for Max’s teaching career, eventually settling in Winner, South Dakota. While Max was busy teaching, fishing, and hunting, Jodee found her niche selling Avon and engaging in volunteer work. Thanks to her love for Avon (which she sold for close to 50 years), Jodee’s children and grandchildren always received an abundance of Avon-ordered gifts for every birthday and Christmas.

She was also highly involved in the national Epsilon Sigma Alpha (ESA) Women’s Sorority for several decades. There, she played an important role in successful fundraising for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and was voted ESA’s South Dakota State Woman of the Year.

Once Jodee became a grandmother, she never stopped “showing off” her grandkids. If she went for “coffee with the girls,” or visited a friend- she had her grandkids in tow if they were visiting. With her spunk and humor, she always enjoyed “tricking” her grandkids into thinking that the football, baseball, or other games they were looking forward to watching were “cancelled due to bad weather.” Of course, it was her way of wanting to spend more time with them. Overall, her grandchildren are grateful for their time with her and realize that they could never spend enough time with Grandma.

Jodee Bainter is survived by two of her siblings: Mary Atkinson and Bobby Hepner; three children: Becky (Duane) Hatch of Hartford, SD, Steven (Mary) Bainter of Opelouses, LA, and Kirk (Mary) Bainter of Winner, SD; 10 grandchildren: Trevor Bainter, Sara Bainter, Stephanie Hatch, Michael Hatch, Kristin Bainter, Steven Hatch, Robert Bainter, Eric Bainter, Lauren Bainter, and Kierra Bainter. She is also survived by her 7 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Max Bainter; her siblings: Leon Hepner, Wilma Tesh, Clarys Alvey, Edgar Hepner Jr., Kenneth Hepner, and Donny Hepner; and her parents: Edgar and Iva Hepner.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting for a donation to a charity of your choice.