Category Archives: Sports

Winner High School track team will return athletes who have state experience.

The season is already underway as the first meet of the season was the Bill Pistulka Invitational which was held Friday in Winner.

Head coach of the track teams this year is Larry Aaker who is taking over from his brother, Dan Aaker, who served as head track coach for five years.

Larry Aaker says the team has some lofty goals. Some of the goals are to be the Big Dakota and region champions plus place in the top four at the state meet.

This year the state track meet will be in the Black Hills with the first day for Class A teams in Spearfish and then all classes competing in Rapid City at the South Dakota School of Mines field on the second day.

There are 17 girls out for track. The returning letterwinners are: Chloe Bartels, Sydney Fritz,  Calah Covey, Hayley Halverson, Deloris Herman, Kylie Horstman, Kyran Meek, Casey Norrid, Alexis Richey, Samantha Schuyler, Sydney Schuyler, Rachel Sherman and Skyler VanDenHul.

The Lady Warriors have a lot of girls throwing the shot put and discus. Herman competed at state last year in the weights.

Girls who will be throwers will be: Bailey Baker, Covey, Brindi Felix, Herman, Meek, Casey Norrid, Lauren Norrd.

Sprinters will be Kelsey Bertram, Covey, Sydney Fritz, Horstman, Meek, Sherman and VanDenHul.

Leading the distance runners will be Chloe Bartels, Hayley Halverson, Alexis Richey. Senior Sydney Schuyler will be in the mix as a middle distance runner and will be running some sprints.

There are not a lot of  numbers in the girls field events. VanDenHul will be a hurdler in addition to competing in the triple jump.

Aaker sees the medley relay as being the strongest for the girls. He says the girls should be competitive in relays.

The girls have had the advance of a full week of practice over the boys. With Winner boys playing in the State A basketball tournament, they did not report for track practice until March 24.

There are solid numbers on the boys side with 30 athletes out for track.

A lot of experience will return when the boys step on the track.

The returning lettermen for the boys are: Windsor Barry, Trevor Bertram, Nick Blare, Kayleb Brozik, Chet Bryan, Drew DeMers, Luke Engel, Wyatt Ewing Nathan Galbraith, Tyrel Haley, Brendan Harter, Nick Hossle, Kelly Kidwiler, John Kludt, Cameron Kuil, Isaac Naasz, Sam Naasz, Trevor Sachtjen, Jayden Schroeder, Coleton Schuyler, Ryan Sherman and Jace Voegeli.

Like the girls, the Warriors have a lot of athletes throwing the shot put and discus. The squad is led by Harter who qualified for the state meet a year ago.

Competing in shot and discus this year are: Harter, Blare, Bryan, Ewing, Kidwiler, Kludt, Levi McClanahan, Sachtjen, Alex Schaeffer, Schroeder, Sherman and Voegeli.

In the field events, long jumpers will be Hossle, Barry, DeMers, Riley Calhoon and Cameron Kuil.

Barry, Isaac Naasz  and DeMers will be in the triple jump.

Brozik will high jump.

Leaders in the hurdles will be Tyrel Haley and Sam Naasz. Aaker says Haley will concentrate on the 300 hurdles.

The field of sprinters is strong with Galbraith returning following his 7^th place finish in the 400 at state a year ago.

Other sprinters will be Barry, Calhoon, DeMers, Haley, Hossle, Kuil, Mike Massa, McClanahan, Sam  and Isaac Naasz, Schroeder, Mason Schuyler and Ian Tunnissen.

The distance runners will be led by senior Coleton Schuyler. Other  mid to long distance runners will be Bertram, Brozik, Izak Moleterno and Engel.

With the good crew of sprinters and distance runner the Warriors will be able to have a great pool to choose from for relays. Last year at state, the medley took fourth place. This relay is fortunate to have three of the four runners returning. Back on this relay are Sam Naasz, Nate Galbraith and Schuyler.

Aaker says the medley looks to be the strongest relay but all the others will also be competitive.

“One of our goals is to get all of our relays qualified for state,” said Aaker.

Assistant coaches are Glenn Carlson, Jaime Keiser, Lindsey Foster and Brett Gardner.

The Colome High School track team is looking forward to the start of the season.

The team opened Friday at the Bill Pistulka track meet in Winner.

Charles Hosford is the new track coach at Colome.

There are 14 athletes on the team including five boys.

Members of the boys team are: Reed Harter, Andrew Laprath, Cody Heath, Cole McCarty and Chase Hrabanek. Returning letterwinners for the Cowboys are Harter, Heath, McCarty and Hrabanek.

Girls competing for the Cowgirls are: Taylor Hrabanek, Mariah Kinzer, Lauren Week, Colby Taggart, Morgan Hofeldt, Callie Heath, foreign exchange student Anna Ferre, Maggie McCarty, Emily Duley and Jaclyn Laprath who will split her time between the varsity and the Colome junior high team. Laprath is an 8^th grader.

The returning letterwinners are: Hrabanek, Kinzer, Week, Laprath, Taggart, Hofeldt and Health.

Coach Hosford said the major loss from the Colome team is Terrance Kinzer who graduated and is now attending school at Morningside in Sioux City, Iowa.

Hosford noted Harter will run the 100 and 200 with Heath and Laprath will be competing in the 800 and mile. Hrabanek will run anywhere from a 200 to a 400.

Cole McCarty will do sprints and long jump.

Heath will be the team’s shot put and discus thrower plus will run relays and the open 800.

In field events, Laprath will triple jump.

On the girls side, Taggart and Hrabanek will throw the shot put and discus. Ferre will long jump and run the 100. Other long jumpers will be Heath, Hrabanek and Maggie McCarty.

Hosford said the team’s 4×800  relay team that ran at state is returning. The runners on this relay are Laprath, Heath, Week and Hofeldt.

Individually, Laprath ran in the open two mile at state last year in Sioux Falls.

Hosford said the team has been working hard in practice. He noted Colome is in one of the tougher regions with the state with Platte and Corisca.

Mende Supik is the assistant varsity coach.

Cheyenne Heath is the junior high track coach.

Winner High School girls golf team will open the season at the Stanley County Invitational on April 2.

There are 12 girls out for golf this season.

The returning letterwinners are Elizabeth Jankauskas, Samantha Marts and Ronae Klein.

This year girls golf is a coop with Colome Consolidate School District. The two golfers from Colome are Colby Taggart and Cheyenne Dougherty.

Other girls on the golf team are Dari Nelson, Haley McKenzie, Sydnie Peters, Macie Ferwerda, Addy Root, Kiersten Durrin and Kara Ewing.

Gone from last year’s team are state placer Kennede Mathis and Natalie Gronlund.

Coach Randy Kludt says the girls have been practicing for a week.

The Winner/Colome club baseball team will open the season at home on April 2 when they host Parkston. The junior varsity game will start at 6 p.m. followed by the varsity game at Leahy Bowl.

Returning letterwinners are Reed Harter, Holden Thieman, Drew DeMers, Kelly O’Bryan, Ty Bolton, Riley Calhoon and Levi McClanahan. Others on the team are Brandon Bicek, Colby Curtis, Luke Engel, Ryan Sherman, Nick Lantz, Tanner Moeller, Dalton Baker, Carter Brickman, Jamin Dougherty, Jeremiah Yeaman, Philip Jorgensen, Joren Bruun, Loren Moeller, Gage Watson, Jacob Beckers, Kameron Meiners, Oscar Pravecek, Ryder Mortenson, Fred Whiting, Nathan Monk, Pete Hughes, Hanna Rowe and Colton Schroeder.

The team is coaches by Drew Weber and Jon Hanson who are both in their second year of coaching club ball.

Weber says the team will be young with a core group of older ball players, 5 to 6 sophomores, a good group of freshmen and lots of 7^th and 8^th graders.

The team has been practicing for two weeks. Weber says the team is working on a lot of fundamentals.

The Royals will have plenty of pitchers. “Reed is returning as one of our best pitchers,” said Weber. DeMers, who threw a no hitter in the regional a year ago, injured his arm. The coach added Thieman, O’Bryan, Calhoon, Bolton, McClanahan, Brickman, Engel and Lantz may all see action on the mound.

“We are fortunate to have a lot of kids who can pitch and this will allow us to not have to over use one pitcher’s arm,” said the coach.

Harter returns as one of the leading hitters in the state.  “We will have to use our speed and quickness at the plate. We need to be able to put the ball in play,” said Weber.

He says  defense will also be good for the Royals.

The coach says the kids are enthusiastic to play. “We will be competitive and our goal is to make it to the state tournament,” said Weber.

The opener Thursday against Parkston is a non conference game. Weber says Parkston is one of the top five teams in the state. Parkston joined the Winner/Colome schedule after Chamberlain dropped out.

The first girl on the team is Hanna Rowe who is an 8^th grader. Weber says she is eager to learn.

Reed Harter and Holden Thieman of the Colome boys basketball team have been named to the SCC Conference all-conference team.

Winner High School boys basketball team made history when they took third place at the State A tournament Saturday in Rapid City.

The Warriors defeated Little Wound 60-54 in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in the third place game.

Two members of the Winner team were named to the all-tournament team. Chosen for the honor squad were seniors Brendan Harter and Nathan Galbraith.

In the first quarter, Little Wound bolted to a 17-9 lead. However, in the second quarter Winner scored 27 points and limited the Mustangs to just seven points to take a 36-24 lead at halftime.

“We were able to get some steals on our press that led to buckets and we were able to get some points that were key and a big lead at halftime,” said coach Brett Gardner.

After Winner stretched its lead to 41-27 in the third quarter, Little Wound came roaring back and cut the Warriors lead to five 48-43. Sam Naasz  scored two baskets to extend the Winner lead to 52-43. Little Wound rallied again drawing within three 55-52 with 1:20 remaining in the game.

A basket by Lattrell Terkildsen gave Winner a 57-54 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

With 17 seconds left both Brendan Harter and Terkildren made the two biggest free throws of their lives.

Harter hit  the front end of  two shots and Terkildsen was at the line with 7 seconds left making the first of two shots to seal the victory.

The huge Winner crowd was on hits feet in the final 23 seconds cheering on the home town team.

“We did not play as well as we should have in the second half but we won the game and that is what matters,” said senior Nathan Galbraith.

The senior said the key to Winner’s victory was that they were able to box out Little Wound’s 7 foot player.

Sam Naasz added after the game that the Warriors were not going to settle for fourth place. “We were not going to step off the  court without getting a third place trophy,” he said.

Leading the scoring for Winner in this game was Harter with 16 points, Galbraith, 14 and Sam Naasz, 12.

Harter had 9 rebounds and Galbraith, 7. Galbriath had 5 assists with Nick Hossle and Naasz added 3 each.

“My team trusted me to guard the seven footer and I went out and did my best to try and stop him,” said Harter.

“All year our saying was that our offense would come if we take care of the defensive end,” said coach Brett Gardner.

“We are so proud of the boys for what they have done. We wanted to end with a win,” said Gardner. “We have a great group of boys who would not quit. They wanted this so bad, especially the seniors.”

The coach said this team will leave a legacy at Winner High School.

The Warriors entered the state tournament as the Region 6A  champions after defeating Cheyenne-Eagle Butte in overtime.

In Winner’s first game of the state meet on Thursday they defeated St Thomas More 54-42. This is the first time Winner has won a first round game in a state tournament.

The Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 20-9 in the third quarter to take care of the game.

Harter led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points and Galbraith added 14.

Winner led 20-17 at the half. The second half of the game was all Winner on both sides of the ball.

Winner shot 40 percent from the field and 50 percent from the free throw line.

“We defended the whole time. If you can hold a team like St. Thomas More to 44 points you are doing a good job,” said Gardner.

The coach said Harter did what he had to do and played a monster game. Gardner added Galbraith went to the rim and got the Warriors some points. Sam Naasz defended their best player and chipped in 12 points.

The coach added Terkildsen, Hossle and Devon Leiferman played valuable minutes.

The coach said the team really stepped it up in the second half playing right way, the Warrior way.

Harter said after the St. Thomas More game that this team wanted to do something that no other Winner team has every done and that is to win a first round game.

Galbraith added the key to the victory was defense.

The senior was excited as the points added up on the Winner side of the scoreboard. “Holy cow, we are going to win this game and do something that no other Winner team has every done,” said Galbraith.

But with four minutes left in  the game, Galbraith knew that the Winner could not let up. “We kept playing as  hard as we could.”

Friday morning the Warriors had a shoot around at the South Dakota School of Mines gym to get ready for the semifinals where they faced Dell Rapids.

In a hard fought game, Dell Rapids edged Winner 52-47 Friday night.

A tight game throughout, the Quarriers biggest lead was seven points in the second half after trailing by four at the end of the first period.

The game went down to the wire with Winner having a final shot to possibly tie the game, only to turn the ball over in the finals seconds.

Dell Rapids led 25-21 at the half and it was close at the end of three quarters with Dells on top 35-32.

Galbraith led all scorers with 22 points and Leiferman added 11 points. Harter had 8 points and Terkildsen, 6.

Galbraith pulled down 10 rebounds and Harter, 8.

Winner was 17 of 55 from the field for 33 percent and 7 of 12 for 58 percent from the line.

In the fourth quarter, Winner cut the lead by three (41-38) with 3:44 left on a Galbraith three pointer and a free throw by Harter.

It was still a three point game before Dells made a three point shot and extended its lead to six. Winner cut it to 3 again on a Galbraith 3 pointer.

Trailing by five later in this period, Terkildsen made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left.

The Warriors got the ball back when Dell Rapids was called for a foul on an in-bounds pass.

Winner missed a short jumper and then missed a three pointer to tie the game.

Galbraith said the loss really hit the Winner team in the heart.  “We picked each other up with the help of the coaching staff and moved forward. We knew we had another game to play,” said the senior.

Jayd Docken of Winner, an Augustana College wrestler, added to his list of accomplishments by placing sixth at the NCAA Division II wrestling championships.

The senior 195 pound wrestler became an All-American for the second time. In his career, Docken was a four time national qualifier and had a record of 95-33.

“He’s done a lot for our program,” said coach Jason Reitmeier. “It’s extremely difficult to do what he’s done. Even getting out of our region is touch. What he has done is pretty impressive,” said Reitmeier.

The coach said at the national tournament in St. Louis, Docken was able to put a string of good matches together. “Once you get so far into the tournament it’s really difficult and tense,” said Reitmeier. “One takedown decides the match and we weren’t able to get that.”

In Docken’s sophomore year, a season that he also earned All-American, he also took sixth.

“Jayd’s been one of those guys who leads by example,” said the coach. “You can’t replace him and he’s going to do a lot in the future.”

Reitmeier noted Docken has done wonders for the wrestling program at Augie in terms of recruiting.

“It helps having South Dakota kids doing well and it just shows how good South Dakota wrestling really is,” said the coach.

The first track meet of the season will be held March 27 in Winner as the Warriors host the  Bill Pistulka Invitational track meet.

The field events will start at noon and the running events at 2 p.m. This is a state qualifying meet.

Teams invited to the meet are: Chamberlain, Colome, Todd County, Bennett County, Kadoka, Philip, Wall, Jones County, Stanley County, White River, Crazy Horse and Kimball-White Lake.

The University of Sioux Falls baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Concordia-Irvine, Calif. The game was played on March 17 in California.

The Cougars trailed 1-0 early before taking a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning on a two run double by Austin Richey of Winner.

The Cougars lost the first game 4-3 and lost the second game 14-11.

In the second game, Richey had a RBI single to score a USF base runner.

Excitement was on the faces of the Winner High School boys basketball team as Brendan Harter powered his way to the basket to give the Warriors a 63-62 overtime victory over Cheyenne-Eagle Butte in the Region 6A championship last Tuesday in Pierre.

The victory propelled the Warriors into the State A tournament which starts March 19 in Rapid City.

Winner, the No. 2 seed, will play the No. 7 seed St. Thomas More at 7 p.m. on March 19 in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The Warriors take a 21-1 record into the state tournament.

The Region 6A championship was an electrifying atmosphere in the Pierre Riggs gym.

The Warriors had a 10 point lead with 6 minutes remaining in the game but CEB clawed their way back to tie the game at 57-all at the end of regulation.

The Warriors continued to battle in the overtime and it stated off with two free throws by Lattrel Terkildsen.

“We are so proud of our student athletes for showing some guts and coming away with a tight victory in one of the most exciting games and atmosphere in a  long time,” said coach Brett Gardner.

“Our seniors, juniors and sophomores all stepped up and made plays when they needed to be made,” said the coach.

The winning basket was made by Harter who powered his way to the basket with 9 seconds left in the game. CEB took the rebound and took two shots that did not fall into the hoop. The Warriors fans were ecstatic since the team was bound to the state tournament.

Harter led Winner in scoring with 26 points followed by Nathan Galbraith with 11, Terkildsen, 9 and Devon Leiferman, 9.

Winner led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter and at the half led 35-32.

Late in the third quarter, CEB took the lead 42-41 but Winner came up with key shots to lead 49-44 at the end of the third period.

The Warriors were 22 of 37 from the two point range and 4 of 19 from the three point line.

At the free throw line, Winner connected on 7 of 16 shots.

Harter pulled down 12 rebounds, Galbraith, 11 and Leiferman, 4.

Galbraith had 6 assists.

Gardner said the team gave up too many points but still made the stops when needed.

The coach said after Harter’s shot in the final seconds then the Warrior defense got the biggest stop of the year. “We are excited to be the Region 6A champs,” said Gardner, who will be going to the state tournament for the first time as a head coach.