Category Archives: Sports

Winner High School boys golf team competed in the Rapid City Central junior varsity tournament on Aug. 21.

Jayd Whitley led the Winner golfers as he placed 15th with a 58.

Gage Watson placed 17th with a 59 and Nathan Monk placed 24th with a 69.

The No. 2 Colome Cowboys started their season with a 50-0 victory over Centerville Friday night.

The game ended in the third quarter due to the mercy rule.

Colome, the defending Class 9B state champion, had a total of 371 yards of total offense.

Scoring for Colome were Chase Dufek on a 24 yard run, Layton Thieman on a 5 yard run, Beau Bertram on a 15 yard run, Bertram on a 67 yard run, Chase Dufek on a 78 yard run, Jackson Kinzer caught a 48 yard pass from Thieman for a touchdown and Jaikob Week on a 18 yard run.

“We started out slow but after we got going we made some big stops,” said first year coach Ben Connot. “We really got rolling on big plays.”

Connot said he was excited to get the season started and glad to get the first win under his belt.

Leading the offense was Dufek with 119 yards rushing followed by Bertram, 95 yards, Jackson Kinzer, 61 yard.

In passing, Thieman was 1-3 for 48 yards.

On defense, leading tacklers were Nash Atteberry, 6 and 2 sacks; Dawson Varilek, 6; Bertram, 5 and a fumble recovery; Calvin Ringing Shield, 4 tackles and a blocked punt.

Connot said a lot of younger players were able to get into the game and they played hard and moved the ball.

“Overall, we played hard,” said Connot.

The Cowboys will host Tripp-Delmont-Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian Friday night in Colome with the game starting at 7 p.m.

The Sioux Falls Christian football team moved quickly and defeated the Winner Warriors 24-6 Friday night on the Warriors home field.

The Chargers took advantage of Winner turnovers defeating the two time Class 11B state champion. The loss ended a 24 game win streak for Winner.

“We knew they were going to be a good football team and we were going to be challenged,” said Winner coach Dan Aaker.
The coach noted the first quarter the Warriors were in kind of a reaction mode all the time. “We cannot do that, we have to be focused and ready to go. We let some plays affect us.

“It was all mental. They did not do a thing we did not expect them to do. We were not getting lined up right and were not reading keys,” added Aaker.

The Chargers struck early. Winner muffed a punt and the Chargers recovered on the Winner 24 yard line. Two plays later, Jacob Just scored on a 1 yard run to give the opposing team an 8-0 lead.

Winner responded with a 10 play drive to the Charger 28 yard line but turned the ball over on downs.

Three plays later a Sioux Falls Christian player broke loos and ran 66 yards for the touchdown.

The Warriors had a nice screen play to move the ball only to fumble and give it back to the Chargers. Sioux Falls Christian then scored on a 1 yard run giving them a 24-0 lead.

“That was a huge chain of events,” said Aaker. “We went from a great defensive stop to hopefully getting a drive going to giving them the ball back.”

Just before he half the Warriors got a break, forcing a punt and downing it on the Chargers 1 yard line. On the next play, Elijah Blare recovered a fumble in the end zone to put the Warriors on the scored board.

At the half, Sioux Falls Christian took a 24-6 lead. That was all the scoring there was for the rest of the night as the second half of the game was defensive battle.

The Warriors had 102 yards in total offense. The Chargers had 317 yards rushing.

In passing, Winner quarterback Carter Brickman was 4-8 for 28 yards.

Levi McClanahan led the defense with 13 tackles with Brandon Volmer adding 8 and Shea Connot, 7 and Riley Calhoon, 6.

Aaker said in the second half the Warriors battled hard defensively. “We could have easily rolled over and let them steam roll over us but we kept fighting.”

The coach said the Warriors have to get a lot better in a lot of areas. “Now it is the challenge to come back and get ready for Stanley County.” The Warriors will travel to Stanley County on Friday, Aug. 25. This will be an SESD conference game. Stanley County defeated Mt Vernon-Plankinton Thursday night.

In practice, Aaker says the team has to get back to more fundamentals. “We really have to focus on the mental side of being aligned and being ready to go every single snap. Offensively, we have to solidify some stuff on the line and be better blockers.”
Aaker says the road is not going to get any easier as Winner takes its first road trip on Friday.

Winner High School volleyball team has one match under their belt and are looking for a strong season.

The next match for Winner will be at home as they will host Miller on Aug. 24.

The returning letterwinners are Addy Root, Daesha Klein, Gracie Littau, Alexis Richey, JaiWanda Roubideaux, Morgan Hammerbeck, Abby Marts, Samantha Marts and Sierra Hansen.

The team lost two seniors– Sydney Hollenbeck and Rachel Sherman.

There are 23 girls on the team this season. The two seniors are Daesha Klein and Samantha Marts.

The rest of the team incudes six juniors, six sophomores, five freshmen and four 8th graders.

Coach Jaime Keiser says the team will have a lot of potential at all three levels. She says the varsity will be very competitive. “I think we will be overlooked just because we were down last year,” said the coach.

Keiser says the girls jell and work well together. “They have one goal and that is winning and they do not care about who is getting the stats,” said Keiser.

Even thought they are young, the Lady Warriors have the potential for being a good team. In practice, they have been working on serve receive, passing and attacking with power.

The coach added the team has been working on a lot of out of system things when the ball does not go directly to the setter.

The Lady Warriors play in the SESD and Big Dakota Conference. The SESD tournament will be coming to Winner this year for the first time and Keiser says the team is excited to be hosting the tournament.

Jenna Phillips is the junior varsity and freshmen coach.

The WHS volleyball schedule includes:
Aug. 24—Miller, home
Aug. 29—At South Central
Aug. 31—At Valentine-Ainsworth—Triangular
Sept. 5—Bennett County/Gregory, home
Sept. 12—Lyman, home
Sept. 16 at Stanley County, Big Dakota
Sept. 18—Mobridge/Pollock, home
Sept. 23—at Tri Valley
Sept. 26—at Todd County
Oct. 3—Gregory, home
Oct. 5—White River, home
Oct. 7—at Chester Area
Oct. 10—Chamberlain, home
Oct. 16—At Mt. Vernon/Plankinton
Oct. 17—Wagner, home
Oct. 21—SESD Conference tournament in Winner
Oct. 23—at Platte/Geddes
Oct. 30—Region
Nov. 2—Region
Nov. 7—Region
Nov. 16-18—State at Rapid City

The Colome Cowgirls volleyball team will open the season at home on Aug. 26 when they host Burke/South Central.

The returning letterwinners are: Maggie McCarty, Alexa McKenzie, Jaclyn Laprath, Rayne Hermsen, Kaydee Heath and Haley Krumpus.

The seniors on the team are McCarty, Lynn Baker; juniors Kaydee Heath, Hermsen, Laprath, McKenzie, Matrix Noteboom; sophomores—Krumpus, Carleen Burger, Cheyenne Dougherty, Jordyn Seegers and Sara O’Bryan; freshmen—Clarissa Ringing Shield, Baylee Hoffine, Abby Kortan, Saydee Heath, Makayla Shippy and Lanie Bolton; 8th graders—Elizabeth Yeaman, Katie Welker, Casie Leighton and Shambrea Bettcher.

The only loss from last year’s team is Callie Heath who is playing volleyball at Dakota Wesleyan University.

Coach Kathy Hrabanek says the team returns experience but also has a lot of youth. “We are developing setters among our younger girls,” she said.

The coaching staff and girls are excited for the season to start. Hrabanek says this group of girls wants to play volleyball and she thinks the team will see improvement as they season progresses.

The assistant coach is Dee Temple.

The schedule includes:
Aug. 26—Burke/South Central, home
Sept. 2—Gregory tournament
Sept. 5—Lyman, home
Sept. 7—Jones County, away
Sept. 9—Tripp-Delmont/Armour, home
Sept. 11—Marty, away
Sept. 12—Platte-Geddes, home
Sept. 19—Avon, home
Sept. 23—Kimball tournament
Sept. 26—Andes Central/Dakota Christian, home
Oct. 3—Stuart, Neb, home
Oct. 3—Ainsworth, Neb., home
Oct. 5—Todd County, away
Oct. 10—Gregory, home
Oct. 12—White River, away
Oct. 14—Andes tournament
Oct. 16—St. Francis, away
Oct. 20—Crow Creek, away
Oct. 23—Kimball/White Lake, home

Winner Area cross country team will open the season at the Winner Invitational on Aug. 25 at the Winner Country Club at 10 a.m.
In addition to Winner, several area teams will be running.

The returning letterwinners on the girls team are Sidda Schuyler, Aryn Meiners, Jaclyn Laprath, Saige Schuyler, Meagan Blare, Katherine Jankauskas and Charlotte Shopene.

Returning letterwinners for the boys are Atlas Willuweit, Dawson Phillips, Kade Watson and Wyatt Turnquist.

Atlas Willuweit is the only senior on the team.

Last year the girls placed 6th at state.  Sidda Schuyler took seventh place.  At the end of the season, Schuyler was named to the all-state cross county team.

The boys on the cross country team are Dawson Phillips, Wyatt Turnquist, Kade Watson and Atlas Willuweit.

The girls on the team are Meagan Blare, Melanie Brozik, Katherine Jankauskas, Joselin Kludt, Gabiel Kocer, Jaclyn Laprath, Aryn Meiners, Saige Schuyler, Sidda Schuyler, Charlotte Shopene and Madison Thieman.

Lost from last year’s girls team are Chloe Bartels and Samantha Schuyler.

Coach Jayd Schuyler says the team will be young.

“We lost a couple of good girls. Replacing them we have some experience coming back,” said Schuyler.

The coach said practice has been going well. Practice started Aug.10 and the team has been doing two a day practices.

Schuyler says the Warriors will have tougher schedule this year. They have added the Rapid City Invitational which is a very tough meet. The team will see a lot of schools from the Hills area plus Wyoming and North Dakota. The Rapid City meet is Sept. 22.

The coach is looking for a good year.  Schuyler’s assistant coach is Jon Hanson.

The Winner Area schedule includes:
Aug. 25—Winner Invitational
Aug. 29—McCook Central/Montrose Invitational
Sept. 5—Scotland Invitational
Sept. 14—Chamberlain Invitational/Big Dakota meet
Sept. 16—Lyman Invitational
Sept. 22—Rapid City Invitational
Sept. 26—Todd County Invitational
Oct. 2—SESD at Gregory
Oct. 12—Region 4A in Chamberlain
Oct. 21—State meet in Rapid City

There are three golfers on Winner Area boys golf team this season.  The three sophomores are Gage Watson, Jayd Whitley and Nathan Monk.

New boys coach this year is Larry Aaker.  The coach says the team will be young.

The first meet of the season was Aug. 21 when the Warriors traveled to Rapid City Central.

The golf schedule includes:
Aug. 31—at Chamberlain
Sept. 7—at Pierre, Big Dakota Conference tournament
Sept. 12—Winner Invitational
Sept. 19—pre-regional in Pierre
Sept. 25—Regional in Pierre
Oct. 2-3—State meet at Dakota Dunes Country Club

It was so close, and for the second consecutive year, Winner/Colome amateur baseball team saw their season end at the hands of Garretson.

In the quarterfinals of the State B tournament in Mitchell, Garretson nipped Winner/Colome 6-5 Thursday afternoon.

Trailing 6-2 at the start of the 9th inning, the first five Pheasants found a way to get on base. Reed Harter came around to score on a Austin Richey RBI single while Derek Graesser scored on an error and Richey scored on a Zach Harter fielder’s choice to make it a one run game.

Jared Donahue took the loss for Winner/Colome allowing six runs on eight hits with 12 strikeouts and eight walks in seven innings.

Tarrell Bauld pitched in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Winner/Colome out-hit Garretson 13-8.

The Pheasants scored its first run in the top of the fifth inning when Geno Katz scored on an RBI single by Reed Harter.

The Pheasants had the bases loaded with one out but failed to add another run until the top of the seventh inning. Lakin Neugebauer scored on a Richey RBI single in the seventh.

Neugebauer went 3-5 while Richey, Austin Calhoon and Derek Graesser had two hits.

Austin Richey of the Winner/Colome baseball team won the batting championship at the State B tournament in Mitchell.
Richey batted .600 for the tournament.

It is hard to believe that high school football is here and we are playing a game this Friday.

The Winner Warriors open the season on Aug. 18 when they host Sioux Falls Christian, one of several new teams on the schedule this season. The game will be at Warrior field at 7 p.m.

The Warriors are coming off back to back state champions and are the defending Class 11B champions.

However, the Warriors lost 17 seniors who saw a lot of action in the four-year career at WHS.

This year there are 42 players on the team. This includes 10 seniors, 11 juniors, 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen.

Coach Dan Aaker says of the 22 starters Winner has lost 21 of them. The only returning starter on defense is Ty Bolton. There are no returning starters on offense.

Aaker says the two positives that come from this are that the current players got a fair amount of varsity action. But Aaker notes that most importantly, these athletes, who were the underclassmen, had to practice against that award winning team for two years. “This just makes the current players better.”

Returning lettermen on the team are Joren Bruun, Levi McClanahan, Oscar Pravecek, Nate Smither, Ty Bolton, Zach Lapsley, Trevor Peters, Phillip Jorgensen, Brandon Volmer, Carter Brickman, Matt Smither, Riley Calhoon, Nick Lantz, Loren Moeller, Ryder Mortenson, Ethan Velely, Kamerom Meiners, Trey Welch, Tyson Westendorf, Casey Stickland, Dalton Baker, Elijah Blare, Colton Schroeder, Justus Gregg, A. J. Roubideaux, Shea Connot, Logan Tunnissen, Jerry Long Crow, Jacob Clay and Nolan Sachtjen.

The coaching staff is trying to replace a lot of pieces on the team. “This is no surprise. We knew that at the end of last year. In the off season I was looking where our leadership will be,” said Aaker.

He has named captains Levi McClanahan, Riley Calhoon, Carter Brickman and Justus Gregg.

The coach noted this group of football players are excited as they want to show what they can do.

Brickman will be the starting quarterback for the Warriors. Backing up Brickman will be Volmer and freshman Brady Fritz can fit into this mix.

Bolton and Calhoon will return as running backs. Matt Smither and Phillip Jorgensen will fit into the running back rotation.

Up front on the offensive line, the Warriors will not be as big as they have been in the past two years. Serving on the line will be Gregg, McClanahan, Roubideaux, Connot, Blare, Schroeder and Oscar Pravecek.

Tight ends and wide receivers will be Nick Lantz and Nate Smither. Into this rotation will be Jerry Long Crow.

On the defensive side of the ball will be McClanahan who played a lot at linebacker last season. There are some returners in the secondary including Bolton, Calhoon, Brickman and Volmer.

Aaker added Jorgensen and Connot may also play linebacker.

Defensive tackles will be Gregg, Roubideaux along with Oscar Pravecek.

Defensive ends will be Nick Lantz, Elijah Blare and Jerry Long Crow.

Bolton, Roubideaux will be the kickers with help from Welch. Punters will be Jorgensen and Bolton.

As far as expectations, Aaker said the Warriors will be competitive. “But we have to be realistic. It is going to be a dog fight in some games and we are going to have to paly really well to compete at a higher level.”

A big change for the Warriors will be the schedule as Winner has several new teams and three of the them Warriors have never seen before.

Also, the Warriors will play in the SESD Conference which will be made up of Stanley County, Mt. Vernon/Plankinton, Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central, Winner, Chamberlain and Wagner.

“I wish we could have had this schedule the past two years,” said Aaker. “It is a really competitive schedule.”

The coach feels Class 11B will be balanced and he sees Bridgewater/Emery-Ethan as the pre-season favorite.

Assistant coaches will be Trent Olson, Kevin Keiser, Sam Olson and Glenn Carlson. Larry Aaker, who had been a full time assistant coach, is now the WHS boys golf coach. Aaker says Larry will help on some Fridays.

The Winner football schedule includes:
Aug. 18—Sioux Falls Christian, home
Aug. 25—Stanley County, there
Sept. 1—West Central, there
Sept. 15—Valentine, Neb., home
Sept. 22—Mt. Vernon/Plankinton, there
Sept. 29—Chamberlain, here, homecoming
Oct. 6—Wagner, home
Oct. 13—Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central in Wessington Springs
Oct. 19—First round of the playoffs
Oct. 26—Second round of the playoffs
Nov. 3—Semifinals
Nov. 10—Championship in the Dome in Vermillion

Colome High School football team has a new head coach who is working hard to prepare the team for the season opener which is just two days away on Aug. 18.

The Cowboys, the defending Class 9B state champions, will open on the road Friday at Centerville. The game will be at 7 p.m.
Ben Connot is at the helm of the Colome Football team this year. He is a 2013 graduate of Winner High School where he was a standout on the Warrior football team. He is two time all state defensive back.

Connot played football at South Dakota School of Mines and then transferred to Black Hills State University where he is currently a senior majoring in special education.

Connot will be a paraprofessional in the Colome district this year and will do his student teaching in Colome the second semester.
“I knew Colome’s coach had resigned and they also had an opening is special education,” said Connot. He called Supt. Ryan Orrock and told him he was interested in both the football coaching job and the special education position.

Connot said everything fell in line and he was approved by the Colome School Board.  “I am excited, I am looking forward to the season,” he said.

The Cowboys graduated a good class form the state championship team but have 12 returning lettermen. The returning lettermen are Nash Atteberry, Jamin Dougherty, Zane Rohde, Kolton Salomen, Beau Bertram, Wyatt Cahoy, Chase Dufek, Jackson Kinzer, Calvin Ringing Shield, Layton Thieman, Dawson Varilek and Jaikob Week.

Other members of the team are: Cody Assman, Kaylub Hansen, Evan Cole, Greg Seitz, Jacob Beckers, Adam Cole, Cailob Week, Casey Assman, Rhet Bertram, Luke Bolton, Nathaniel Hansen, Allen McKenzie, Linkyn Petersek and Michael Supik.

In practice, the Cowboys have been working on a new offense and new defense. “We play a week earlier this year and there is not a lot of time to prepare so there is a sense of urgency to make every rep count,” said Connot.

The Cowboys have some of their key positions back from last year.

Layton Thieman will be the quarterback and last year was named the Joe Robbie MVP in the state championship game.  Kinzer, who played a big role for the Cowboys last year, will return as a running back and defensive back.  On line will be Kolton Salonen, Beau Bertram and Nash Atteberry.

Calvin Ringing Shield has been working as the kicker and Salonen will be the punter.

The Cowboys offense will be able to run the ball and also pass. Connot says they want to establish the run first.

The defense will be strong with experience in the secondary coming from Thieman and Kinzer.  Chase Dufek played some last year but thecoach says he will be asked to play a bigger role this year.

When asked what kind of coach he will be, Connot said he likes effort. “I am not going to get mad at a lack of results but I will get mad at a lack of effort. I want my kids to be going 100 percent every time,” he said.

Gene Bertram is the assistant coach and defensive coordinator. Other assistant coaches are: Charles Hosford, Kory Foss, Colton Seegers and Terrance Kinzer who will be helping with the defensive backs and special teams.

Expectations are high for the Cowboys. “We have a good opportunity in front of us,” he said. “We have experienced players in key positions. What I expect is for everyone to embrace that opportunity. We cannot get complacent. We need to realize what kind of opportunity we have and take a hold of that and stay focused and execute.”

Connot added: “I can’t wait for the opening game of the season.”

The Colome football schedule includes:
Aug. 18—at Centerville
Aug. 25—Tripp-Delmont-Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian, home
Sept. 1—Burke/South Central, home
Sept. 15—Gayville,-Volin, away
Sept. 22—Alcester-Hudson, away
Sept. 29—Scotland, Colome, homecoming
Oct. 6—Corsica-Stickney, home
Oct. 13—Avon, away
Oct. 19—First round of the playoffs
Oct. 26—Second round of the playoffs
Nov. 3—Semifinals
Nov. 9 – Championship in the Dome in Vermillion