Daily Republic Fall Sports Preview 2016 by Mitchell Republic

FALL

SPORTS PREVIEW September 2016 Special supplement to The Daily Republic

C M Y

THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

With key returners, Kernel girls tennis seek more success By MARCUS TRAXLER The Daily Republic

There were both highs and lows in the Mitchell High School girls tennis season a year ago. In 2016, another year of experience and an improved focus should help the Kernels find more success. The team has just one senior — Kaihlen Smith — and five of the six starters in singles are return to the team. “Last year, there were some ups and some highs but there were definitely some lows,” Mitchell head coach Pat Moller said. “I feel that, from the very first day of practice that we’re a more goal-oriented group. They have some high expectations of themselves and there’s just a lot more focus this year and that’s good to see.” The Kernels were 14-12 as a team during the regular season and finished in fifth place at the Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament, preceded a 12th-place team finish at the state tournament. Mitchell’s No. 1 singles player, junior Sammy Pooley, said another year of experience on the court has already helped them prepare for a new season. She will be playing her third season in the top flight. “Mentally, we just know we have to be tough,” she said. “That’s been a weakness that we had last season. Some of us kind of gave up at times or got flustered and it made us probably lose matches that we could have won.” The Kernels’ offseason included practice

sessions, summer league play, tournaments and camps. Because of that work, Smith said the team is already closer to mid-season form. “I feel like we’re in our prime, in a way,” she said. “We’ve put in the time and we’re ready for the season.” Moller said the nucleus of the team was “more committed to the offseason than we ever have been.” “I’ve been saying it for at least two years now, that we have a lot of young talent and now that young talent is starting to be juniors and seniors,” he said. “We’re going to use our experience that we gained last year to our benefit. We probably return more girls than any other team in the ESD and I think that sets us up pretty well. In addition to Pooley, Avery Larson returns for her second season at No. 2 singles, while freshman Kelsey Dahme will play No. 3 singles and Smith will play No. 4, flipping flights from where they played last season. Madison Bohlen and Ashley Jones are currently slotted for No. 5 and No. 6 singles. The doubles teams will include Pooley and Larson at the first flight, Dahme and Smith at No. 2 doubles and Bohlen and Sarah Zimmerman at No. 3 doubles. Juniors Bailey Roden and Hannah Miller round out the varsity. Mitchell will play at home four times in September. The Kernels hosted a triangular on Sept. 2, a dual with Sioux Falls Washington on Sept. 8 and triangulars with

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell High School girls tennis team are, from left, Kaihlen Smith, Ashley Jones, Avery Larson, Madison Bohlen, Sammy Pooley, Kelsey Dahme and Sarah Zimmerman.

Sioux Falls Lincoln and Yankton on Sept. 13 and Spearfish and Yankton on Sept. 17. The ESD tournament is Sept. 29 at Brandon Valley and the season will come to an end at the three-day state tournament Oct. 8-10 in Rapid City. Watertown won the conference a year ago, with Brandon Valley and Huron in

second and third, respectively. Moller said there’s no reason Mitchell shouldn’t be in the mix for a conference title. “We’re a team with high expectations. Those teams above us graduated a lot and we should be right there,” he said. “At the end of the day, I hope we’re right there in the mix for the championship.”

Summer sets up season for Mitchell boys golf team By ERIC MAYER The Daily Republic

The Mitchell High School boys golf team has impressed head coach Mark Horan in the early part of the 2016 season. “We’re looking pretty good after our first full week of practice,” Horan said. “In all my years coaching, I don’t think I’ve ever had more players play all summer long.” Mitchell placed 10th at the

Class AA state meet last year and returns three players from that team. Cade Carpenter returns for his senior season as CARPENTER Mitchell’s top golfer. Carpenter placed 21st at the state meet last year. Carpenter, along with Sam Mock and Ethan Huber, will be counted on as

leaders for the team this year. “The other three (varsity) spots are going to be up for grabs,” Horan said. “We’ll be trying different players all year long. MOCK I’m looking to see how our four, five and six spots play.” Mock placed 44th at the state meet last year and Huber tied

for 50th. The Kernels opened the season at the Brandon Valley Invite and will have two home meets this year — the Mitchell Quad was HUBER on Sept. 2 and Mitchell Invite on Sept. 16. The Eastern South Dakota Conference meet is on Sept. 24 in Brandon and the

state meet is for Oct. 3-4 in Aberdeen. With plenty of time to prepare for the state meet, Horan said the team will try to build confidence and consistency throughout the season. “We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” Horan said. “We’ll ease into the season and see what we can do. We are working on the mental part of the game and keeping our emotions calm.”

Pitching, defense likely to power MHS softball team By MARCUS TRAXLER The Daily Republic

Generally, defense and pitching can take a softball team a long way. The Mitchell High School softball team is hoping that can happen for them, bringing the offense along as soon as possible in a season that is roughly six weeks long.

“I think we will have the pitching and the defense,” said Mitchell coach Jim Misiaszek “The key factor is when we’re going to be able to hit our stride offensively. Hitting is a fickle thing so we’re really going to focus on the offense during the early part of the season, because defensively, we have a lot of our questions answered.”

But coming on the heels of the club season, Misiaszek said he hopes the team’s offense will be ready to roll earlier because many of the players were busy during the summer months. “The hardest adjustment as a high school softball coach, and it’s something all softball coaches at this level deal with, is that we

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell softball team include, front row from left, Haylee Schoenfelder, Hannah Sibson and Alyson VanderPol. Back row: Haley Rust, Tori Misiaszek and Jayci Hinker.

Credits Cover art: Jennifer Phillips Section editor: Marcus Traxler

Contributors: Ryan Deal and Eric Mayer Production assistance: Lisa Nelsen, Jennifer Phillips and Stacey Schleich Photos: Matt Gade/Republic

take girls from all different teams,” he said. “They all have different disciplines and philosophies and that makes for an interesting little learning curve each year because there’s not open gyms or team camps that we all go to.” Mitchell will play all of its games at the Cadwell Sports Complex games this season. “We are a completely new team, mainly because we lost a lot of seniors from last year,” said senior center fielder Haylee Schoenfelder. “I’m excited to see our results at the end of the year because we’re going to be a work in progress but I think we can come together and have some success.” Mitchell was 8-19 last year and lost five seniors off that team. Senior Jayci Hinker said that will likely mean that opponents aren’t expecting much out of the Kernels. “I think we’re one of the underrated teams and we just want to come out and shock some teams and just try to play our best,” she said. “If we do that, we’re going to be in good shape.

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a year ago in the six-team league (Aberdeen Central, Huron and Pierre don’t have varsity teams), with Watertown winning the championship. Misiaszek said Brandon Valley will be among the top teams in the ESD this season, while spotlighting Sioux Falls Washington as the statewide favorites, along with Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central. “There’s a lot of talented players out there,” Misiaszek said. “You’re constantly playing top-caliber ball and you have a lot of players that have decided that softball is their sport. Our goal is to get the next group of our players ready and we have some players who have at least a cup of coffee with the varsity, so hopefully that helps.” Schoenfelder is a believer in her team’s abilities. Now it’s a matter of making plays. “I believe there’s a lot of talent on our team and if we bring it all together on the field, we’re going to be a pretty good team,” Schoenfelder said.

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Teams are going to underestimate our strength and we’ve added some good players.” The team will lean on senior Alyson VanderPol and sophomore Tori Misiaszek to carry the team with pitching. Haley Rust, Hannah Sibson, Schoenfelder and Hinker also return as letterwinners from a year ago. Hinker, who plays both catcher and first base, said she thinks VanderPol and Misiaszek are among the top pitchers around, making them tough to beat. “I think our two pitchers have some of the better arms and better spins in the state and that’s going to set everything else up for us,” Hinker said. “Our defense is really solid and teams are going to have to lift the ball to the outfield to beat us.” The Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament is scheduled for Sept. 17 and Mitchell will be in the state tournament Sept. 30, meaning the season flies by quickly. Mitchell finished fifth at the Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament

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n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

After season of struggles, MHS volleyball chasing improvement By MARCUS TRAXLER The Daily Republic

After just three wins a year ago and starting underclassmen throughout the year, it was a rough go for the Mitchell Kernels volleyball team in 2015. But another offseason of work and more experience should allow the Kernels to compete a bit more in the rough world of Class AA volleyball in South Dakota, leaning on athleticism and depth to build themselves into a better team. “The thing is that we’re just a year older and a year better, especially with our younger kids,” Mitchell coach Deb Thill said. “I’ve been very happy with our kids and their level of commitment. They love to play and it shows in our early practices.” The Kernels bring back four seniors — defensive specialist Megan Sebert and libero Lauren Larson, along with hitters Haley Burdick and Jenna Weich. There’s no juniors or freshmen on the roster and in between are 14 sophomores, including eight who were letterwinners a year ago. Sebert said the team spent time playing together last year, even with growing pains. During the offseason, she said the team was able to pick up where they left off and only improve.

“A lot of us played together last year but it helps to build our confidence and our chemistry,” Sebert said of the offseason. That offseason time included open gyms twice a week, four team camps, individual camps and time in the weight room, which also involved a specific team strength program that the team did together and Sebert described as “challenging.” As a result, Thill said she has a team that is not only older but a bit tougher, too. “When you’re young at the double-AA level, it’s hard,” she said. “Those teams play their juniors and seniors and the competition level is pretty high. Our team out here is four seniors and 14 sophomores. We have some really talented kids all the way from 1-to-18.” Larson said the 3-21 season last year has been on the team’s collective mind. “We’ve been working really hard in the offseason to be a better team because we didn’t have the type of record we wanted last season,” she said. “We know we’re capable of being much better this season.” Burdick said the competition for playing time is good, because it raises the level of the team’s play. “If we’re playing together and

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell High School girls volleyball team are, front row from left, Megan Sebert, Mandy Schmidt, Bridget Thill, Maggie Kattner, Tess Limberg and Sage Jorgensen. Second row: Laruen Larson, Mackenzie Miller, Haley Burdick, Carly Haring, Jenna Weich and Chelsea Brewster.

competing, we’re going to be in a better position at the end of the year,” Weich added. Thill credited her seniors for not letting the team be satisfied with how things went in 2015. “They have raised their level of intensity,” Thill said. “They’re driven to be better than we were last year.” Aberdeen Central won the ESD

a year ago, powered by three firstteam, all-conference selections in Megan Kingsriter, Mia Bergan and the state’s Miss Volleyball, Brianna Kusler. But those players have since graduated and Thill didn’t hesitate in saying Harrisburg will be the favorite to take the league crown in 2016. The Tigers boast 6-foot-2 hitter Samantha

Slaughter, who has committed to playing college volleyball for Creighton University. As for where Mitchell stands in the conference, Thill said she doesn’t care. “I don’t want us to fit in there right now,” she said. “I want to be the team that nobody is thinking about and we go out and take care of business.”

Kernel boys soccer seeks to pick up the pace in 2016 By ERIC MAYER The Daily Republic

The Mitchell High School boys soccer team wants to play at a high rate of speed this season. Heading into the new season, Mitchell has been busy working to improve its speed and decision-making on the ball. “We need to play our game and with the speed of play that we want to,” MHS head coach Ken Novak said. “It’s going to be key for us to move the ball through midfield quickly.” In preparation for the season, the boys soccer team had three-a-day practices starting on Aug. 1. “It’s been incredible dedication and commitment by these guys,” Novak said. “This team

has tremendous chemistry. We have a lot of mutual respect and good leadership.” The Kernels have 38 boys out for soccer and will have six seniors on the team, with plenty of varsity experience returning. Seniors Seth Paulson, Kelby Escobin and Luke Novak as well as juniors Micah Moen and Riley Kurtenbach, plan to be key contributors for Mitchell this season. Along with the upperclassmen, Mitchell has 13 players in eighth and seventh grade, for a mix of youth and experience. Despite the age variety on the team, Novak said the team gets along really well together. “Chemistry is everything in this sport, because as a coach,

we get them ready but there’s no timeouts. It’s 80 minutes of decision making,” Novak said. “The chemistry factor is huge and we have some guys that are returning. We have some key players and they’re going make sure there is continuity.” Novak is entering his second season as the head coach of the boys soccer program and has three assistant coaches — Jason Gebhard, Bryan Compas and Eric Nelson. Novak said the team has plenty of short-term and longterm goals for the season, ranging from getting so many shots on goal during a half and eyeing a national sportsmanship Eric Mayer/Republic and ethics award. “It’s been really good so far,” Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell High School boys soccer team are, in front from left, Kelby Escobin, Luke Novak, Seth Paulson, Micah Moen, Trevor Lambert, Novak said. Riley Kurtenbach, Andrew Christiansen, Mark Novak and Jordan Jelinek.

MHS girls soccer enters with new identity plish this season. “For as young as we are, I’m very excited with how we’re coming together as a unit,” said Wear, who is in his third year coaching the MHS girls team. “It’s a new system and basically a whole new team.” Wear said the team is switching to a 4-3-3 formation and has been using its preseason practices to learn the basics of the new formation, a formation commonly used by professional soccer teams. “We’re going to do our best to keep teams from scoring on us, but a 4-3-3 it gives the opportunity to expand and it’s the mother of formations,” Wear said. “Instead of having

By ERIC MAYER The Daily Republic

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell High School girls soccer team are, in front from left, Courteney Sprinkel, Madison Arnold, Nicole Sanderson, Kayla Weitzman, Marianna Novak, Grace Endorf, Caitlyn Weins, Sara VanErdewyk, Becca Wahlen, Seemela Novak, Caroline Titze, Rachael Wahlen and Caitlin Baltzer.

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After one of the most successful seasons in school history, the Mitchell High School girls soccer team will be searching for a new identity this season. Mitchell finished with a record of 5-8 last year and missed the playoffs by two spots. This year, the team will be without five starters due to graduation — most notably, Kayla Stangeland, who set the school record for goals in a season (15) and is now playing for the University of Minnesota-Crookston. Despite losing nearly half of his starters, MHS head coach Jason Wear is looking forward to seeing what the Kernels accom-

season goals, we are going to have week-to-week goals. Things we can set, hopefully achieve, and then build off. We can get stronger from those and the 4-3-3 is going to allow us to do that.” In total, the team has 26 girls on the roster, with five seniors and 10 eighth-graders. Leading the youth movement is eighth-grade forward Grace Endorf and freshman forward Seemela Novak. Each scored three goals for the Kernels last year. The team selected three captains — juniors Nicole Sanderson and Caitlin Baltzer as well as sophomore Sara VanErdewyk.

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THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

In new year, Kernel defense looking to improve The Mitchell Kernels know defense wins championships. Through the team’s first handful of practices, an emphasis on keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard was on the mind of both players and coaches. Mitchell’s defense allowed 281 points in 11 games last year, for an average of 25.5 points per game. On the flip side, the Kernel offense averaged 32.1 points per game, allowing the team to have its first winning season since 2011 and reach the Class 11AA semifinals. Heading into the 2016 season, Mitchell would like the gap between points allowed and points scored to widen, starting with lower point totals for opponents. “I think we’re working a little more on our defense, because last year, we gave up so many points,” Mitchell linebacker Spencer Neugebauer said. “Last year, our offense was there and with our line returning, we should keep scoring. This year, we want to keep our defense in the game and give up fewer points.” For Mitchell head coach Kent VanOverschelde, finding ways to limit teams from scoring was a high priority during the postseason run

last year and he’d like to see the unit continue to improve. “We have to understand the football game and understand what needs to be done,” VanOverschelde said. “To win games (last year), we had to keep scoring or we had to stop teams. We want our defense to go out there with confidence and to eliminate the big play.” Mitchell will welcome back eight returning starters and a handful of players that earned varsity experience on defense last year. The unit lost top tackling linebackers Brandon Krogman (105 tackles) and Austin Getty (69 tackles) to graduation, but will return Cody Reichelt (85 tackles), Briggs Havlik (29 tackles) and Neugebauer (66 tackles) as linebackers. The defensive line returns in its entirety, with Spencer Mohr, Bryce Geraets, as well as Myles and Michael Horton. “Up front, we need to play physical,” VanOverschelde said. “They have to be disciplined, too. We want to allow the athletes to play and make plays on the defensive end.” Mohr, who had 32 tackles and five tackles for loss a year ago, said the defensive unit wants to be proactive rather than reactive in fac-

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell football team include, front row from left, Kiel Nelson, Myles Horton, Spencer Neugebauer, Chris Wahlen, Trevor Kerr. Middle row: Michael Horton, Jed Schmidt, Zeb Parsons, Kyle Foote, Jarod Uher, Logan Reitveld, Tate Larson. Back row: Cody Reichelt, Briggs Havlik, Connor Morgan, Spencer Mohr, Bryce Geraets, Reed Overweg, Chris Corbett and Spencer Morgan.

ing the opposing offense. “We want to be a lot more aggressive,” Mohr said. “Our D-line wants to play the run a lot better and focus on containing.” Finding a defensive identity is a high priority for the Kernels early in the season.

Wahlen ready to orchestrate Kernels’ high-powered offense

Mitchell did not record a shutout last year and allowed more than 30 points four times last year. “Consistency on the defensive side was something that we lacked and that’s what we are going to need moving forward,”

By ERIC MAYER The Daily Republic

Fasten your seatbelts, Mitchell High School football fans. The start of the 2016 season is only a few days away and the race to the top of Class 11AA appears to be extremely close. Both the South Dakota Sportswriters Association football poll and an Eastern South Dakota football coaches poll, conducted by The Daily Republic, have slim margins separating the top teams. In the coaches poll, all six 11AA ESD coaches were asked to rank each team — except their own — one through five. Teams picked to finish first received five points in a system that awards five points to first place, four for second, third for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. The poll was conducted via e-mail and had three teams — Mitchell, Harrisburg and Yankton — all receive two first-place votes. In the poll, Mitchell finished third with 17 points and two firstplace votes. Two-time defending state champion Yankton was picked first with 20 points and two firstplace votes, while Harrisburg was tabbed second with 19 points and two-first place votes. “(Class 11) AA is wide open and it’s exciting,” Mitchell head coach Kent VanOverschelde said. “We’re humbled to be in consideration (at the top) at the preseason, but we

By ERIC MAYER The Daily Republic

For the past three seasons, the Mitchell High School football team had the same starting quarterback — Kanin Nelson. Nelson, now a third-string quarterback as a freshman at South Dakota State University, is long gone and the Kernels will have a new signal-caller heading into the 2016 season — Chris Wahlen. Wahlen served as Nelson’s backup the past two seasons and gained varsity experience with the Kernels last year. The senior quarterback played in four games, completing 2-of-3 passes for 29 yards and one touchdown. “My role has changed, but I’ve worked hard, prepared hard for it and I’m ready,” said Wahlen, who added Nelson helped him grow as a quarterback. “We want to get over the hump this year and finish strong at the end of the season.” Replacing a three-year starter is a tall task for any player, but Mitchell head coach Kent WAHLEN VanOverschelde said he’s been impressed with how Wahlen has adapted to being the Kernels’ quarterback. “He knows the role he’s going to play within our offense,” VanOverschelde said. “He’s the one kid throughout camp and throughout our offseason was talking about the team first.” It’s the team approach and previous varsity experience that really stood out for VanOverschelde when he named Wahlen the starting quarterback over sophomore Kiel Nelson, who is the younger brother of Kanin Nelson. Nelson, who also gained some varsity experience last year, still plans to be a factor as a possible See QB, Page 5

know we need to take it one game at a time. I don’t think we’ll change our approach and look for the outcome, we’ll focus on the process.” The ESD coaches poll was similar to the Class 11AA SD Sportswriters Association poll as Mitchell, Harrisburg and Yankton each received first-place votes. Yankton held the top spot with 31 points and five first-place votes, while Mitchell was in second with 28 points and two first-place votes and Harrisburg was in third place with 26 points and one first-place vote. “That’s what I love about the development of 11AA football, every year there’s an opportunity for six teams to win a state title,” VanOverschelde said. “The ingredients are very simple. You have to work, you have to have a skilled team, but you have to stay healthy. You have to play well at the end of the year. The parity and competitiveness, in my opinion, makes 11AA football very exciting.” Last year, Pierre won the Class 11AA Eastern South Dakota Conference title but fell to Yankton in the Class 11AA state championship game. Both Mitchell and Harrisburg fell in the semifinal round of the 11AA playoffs. All four teams plan to be in the mix for both an ESD and state title, with Brookings and Huron also factoring in. In the 11AA ESD coaches poll, Pierre finished in fourth place with

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“Communication is important,” Neugebauer said. “Our safeties and (defensive backs) really need communicate with our linebackers and line. (It) is going to be key for us this year.”

ESD coaches poll has 11AA division wide open in 2016

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15 points, Brookings placed fifth with 14 points and Huron was in sixth place with five points. “You have to survive a couple weeks here and there,” VanOverschelde said. “Every game counts for playoff significance. You have to be ready every week for a very good opponent, plus you have to play those (11) AAA teams and take care of business.” In the Class 11AAA portion of the poll, three out of five coaches responded ranking the five 11AAA ESD schools. Aberdeen Central received the most points (13) and one first-place vote, while Brandon Valley, which was last year’s 11AAA ESD champion, finished second with 10 points and two first-place votes. Rapid City Stevens was voted third with eight points, Watertown was tabbed fourth with seven points and Rapid City Central was picked fifth with two points. This is the second year both Rapid City Central and Rapid City Stevens are in the ESD for football. ESD Class 11AA coaches poll Totals: (First-place votes in parentheses) 1. Yankton, 20 (2) 2. Harrisburg, 19 (2) 3. Mitchell, 17 (2) 4. Pierre, 15 5. Brookings, 14 6. Huron, 5 ESD Class 11AAA coaches poll *Two coaches not voting Totals: (First-place votes in parentheses) 1. Aberdeen Central, 13 (1) 2. Brandon Valley, 10 (2) 3. RC Stevens, 8 4. Watertown, 7 5. Rapid City Central, 2

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n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Kernels’ cross country brings back bigger squad The Mitchell High School cross country teams are growing and that’s a good start to improving the quality of the Kernel running squad in 2016. The Kernels have 42 runners out for the team, which excited coach Keith Christensen. His passion has been passed on to the rest of the team, feeling energetic about this season. “We’re excited to get going,” said Mitchell girls senior and team captain Mary Krause. “We know you have to have a good morale and good attitude to come every day. You have to do your best and put everything out there.” The girls team has five returning letterwinners, led by Krause. Jazmyn Brinkman-Wall, TyAnn Hart, Annika Vermeulen and Avia Haley are also back on the squad after lettering a year ago. Christensen said he was

particularly excited about Hannah Ziebarth, a junior who moved to Mitchell over the summer from Sturgis, where she was a state meet runner for the Scoopers a year ago. She said she’s excited to run on flat land, as opposed to the hilly nature of western South Dakota. “It’s a lot more competitive in that regard,” she said. “I don’t know exactly how it will go because I haven’t run a competitive meet yet but it’s exciting.” The boys team brings back four runners from a year ago, including Kelton Vincent, Gage Nelson, Jacob Jarding and Lucas Moller. Moller, Jarding and Vincent were state meet qualifiers a year ago, with Moller finishing 79th in a field of 104 as a seventh-grader. Jarding, a junior, is also a team captain, the first junior captain Christensen has ever had in his long coaching career, coaching

Photos by Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Mitchell boys cross country include, from left, Kelton Vincent, Gage Nelson and Jacob Jarding. (Not pictured: Lucas Moller.)

Returning letterwinners for Mitchell girls cross country include, from left, Jazmyn Brinkman-Wall, TyAnn Hart, Mary Krause, Annika Vermeulen and Avia Haley.

17 seasons for the Kernels from 1979 to 1996 and now in his second season in his second stint with MHS. “I guess that’s a pretty big role,” Jarding said. “It feels pretty good knowing how much he trusts me to lead the team.”

the spring,” he said. Christensen said he’s been continuing to build energy in the program and said it will take a collective effort from everyone on the team to get it done. Mitchell’s boys team was 12th at state a year ago, while the girls were 16th in

Jarding, who considered playing football this year but stayed with cross country, was Mitchell’s top mile-runner during the spring track season. “I’ve been working all summer and I think it will carry over and I’ll be even better than I was during

Mitchell Christian volleyball faces season’s challenge with youth By MARCUS TRAXLER The Daily Republic

With the season drawing closer, Mitchell Christian’s volleyball team was already facing its share of challenges. The team, which finished 15-12 and lost in the District 8B championship game to Hanson a year ago,

has just three returning letterwinners in Kaitlyn Asmus, Grace Garrels and Abbie Reynen. Reynen won’t be able to help the Golden Eagles this season after she tore her ACL in her knee over the summer. That means coach Chris Nemec isn’t quite sure how the Golden Eagles will start the season, expecting the

team to find its way and its identity in the first few weeks. Mitchell Christian’s season opens Tuesday when the Golden Eagles host Sunshine Bible Academy. “Going into the season, we’re going to have to find out where we’re at and it’s probably going to have to take some time,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Mitchell Christian volleyball, include from left, Abbie Reynen, Kaitlyn Asmus and Grace Garrels.

Continued from Page B1

option as Mitchell’s quarterback and will serve as Wahlen’s backup throughout the season. “It’s been healthy to have a competition because Kiel Nelson has been right there working with (Wahlen),” VanOverschelde said about the two quarterbacks. “That competitiveness helps drive you to

do the things you need to do to keep your spot.” The Kernel offense returns nine starters from last year’s 7-4 team, including the entire offensive line anchored by allstate honorable mention linemen Spencer Mohr and Bryce Geraets. “The big guys up front are so important and they’re so good,” Wahlen said. “They’re the most important people out there, if you ask me.”

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There’s plenty of energy and excitement surrounding the Mitchell High School competitive cheer and dance teams heading into the 2016 season. Both teams open the season at the Watertown Invite on Tuesday in Watertown. “We’re excited about this year, we’ve really grown as a team,” said MHS dance coach Cassey Ver Hey said. “Our hip-hop routine is looking great.” The Kernels will compete in pom, jazz and hip-hop and will add the kick routine later in the season. After debuting their hip-hop routine during halftime of the Kernel Bowl on Saturday, Ver Hey said the team hopes to continue to build momentum each time they perform. Mitchell’s dance team continues to grow, since the team debuted in 2011. This year, Mitchell’s pom routine grew from six girls last year to 16 girls this season. In total, the team has 22 girls with two seniors — Emma Hoffman and Alexis Vander Wilt Ver Hey pointed out freshman Trinity Schroeder as a young dancer that has stood out early in the season and added junior Kayla Armstrong is one the team leaders. Last year, Mitchell placed 12th in the dance competition and the hip-hop routine placed sixth overall at See CHEER/DANCE, Page 6

asked to help keep the Kernels’ ground-and-pound offense rolling. VanOverschelde said the team feels confident with Wahlen under center and called the Kernel quarterback “humble.” “He understands he’s a piece of the whole picture,” VanOverschelde said. “Because of that humility he has, it makes him a really good teammate and he’ll be a good leader for us.”

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make that big play every single play. He just wants to execute the offense. He understands the group around us will be successful if he leads us to the line of scrimmage, gets us in the right position and executes the play.” Mitchell racked up a total of 3,757 yards of offense and rushed for 2,994 yards in 11 games last year. Both were single-season MHS program records since the playoff era (1981) and Wahlen will be

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Joining the offensive line are proven playmakers Spencer Neugebauer (running back), Sam Michels (running back) and Reed Overweg (wide receiver). With so much talent returning around him, the Kernels’ won’t be counting on Wahlen to be the team’s No. 1 playmaker. “He’s very good at focusing on what he needs to do and he keeps things simple,” VanOverschelde said. “I don’t think he wants to go out and

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but we just have to trust our kids.” Nemec said it will provide a chance for the team’s younger players to assert themselves, “I think being young will be a good thing because the kids will be more willing to just go out and play hard and they don’t have to worry about much else,” he said. The Golden Eagles graduated two seniors a year ago and Reynen and Asmus were the only two of the four juniors from last season’s team to return this year. Mitchell Christian will also play in the Custer Battlefield Highway Conference Tournament in Plankinton on Sept. 10 and the Cavalier Clash in Tyndall on Sept. 17. They’ll host a season-ending triangular with Freeman and James Valley Christian on Oct. 27. “I think it will be a good year,” Nemec said. “We have some kids that can play and we’ll just have to see how they do on the varsity level.”

Class AA. “It starts at the beginning with everyone committed,” he said on the first day of practice this season. “We will find out what kind of team we are soon enough but I’m ready to go.”

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By MARCUS TRAXLER The Daily Republic

THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Area volleyball preview

Class A change creates new playoff path By RYAN DEAL The Daily Republic

The Class A volleyball postseason will have a new feel to it this year. The South Dakota High School Activities Association approved the “Sweet Sixteen” postseason format, effective this 2016-17 season. According to the SDHSAA, using a single elimination format — each region will play until it has two teams remaining. When each region is down to two teams remaining, those final 16 teams will be re-seeded to have 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc. The winners of those Sweet 16 contests (played on a neutral court) will advance to the state tournament. So-called “stacked” regions could have more than one team represented at the Class A state volleyball tournament, which is Nov. 17-19 in Watertown. “There are going to be proponents for it and there are going to be opponents for it,” Wagner coach Amy Tyler said. Tyler is for the change. Wagner was in a tough region last season that featured eventual state runner-up Mount Vernon/ Plankinton and Bon Homme. Wagner, Mount Vernon/Plankinton and Bon Homme were frequently among the ranked teams last year. “We are all in the same region and we all beat each other at least once during the season,” Tyler said. “It was unfortunate that more than one of us couldn’t go last year.” Tyler also noted that

other regions in the state should benefit from the new change. “I think if you look at some of the regions, not just last year, but throughout the years, there is some really great programs,” she said. “It is really unfortunate that they can’t have a showing at the state tournament when they are very competitive at that level.” Wagner has been competitive at a high level for the past several years. However, the Red Raiders failed to make the state tournament last season for the second straight season. Wagner had made six straight state tournament appearances from 2008-to-2013. “Since it has been two years since we have gone, I think the girls have kind of a new competitive focus in the gym and I think they are hungry for it,” Tyler said. “They just need to make sure that they work on the little things that make teams great.” The Red Raiders are again in a tough region with the likes of Mount Vernon/ Plankinton, Bon Homme, McCook Central/Montrose and Tri-Valley. “I think this region overall has had a lot of good volleyball played in it over the years,” Mount Vernon/ Plankinton coach Darcy Deinert said. “A lot of times you get to the state tournament and do well because our region is tough.” That was the case last year when the Titans made a run to the state title match. MVP returns only two regular players from last season’s team in Erin Denning and Destiney Haak.

“I think we will be ready to go by regions,” Deinert said. “We are trying get ourselves some experience at this level and hope to be in contention at the end.” Mount Vernon/Plankinton is No. 4 in the South Dakota Sportswriters Association preseason volleyball poll, which was released today. Wagner was receiving votes.

Blackhawks expect to contend in Class B Sanborn Central/ Woonsocket returns 10 letterwinners from last season’s sixth-place team at the state tournament and coach Rick Olsen said it is one of his most experienced squads during his 12-year tenure. Last season was also Sanborn Central/ Woonsocket’s first state volleyball tournament berth as a co-op. Olsen expects to get everybody’s best shot each match because of the experience coming back. “You make the state tournament and people know about you,” Olsen said. “It will be interesting to see how we react.” Olsen is also interested in how his team will handle being without returning all-state senior Myah Selland, who will be out until mid-September due to undergoing surgery on a hip injury in the summer. “I will be curious to see how the other girls handle things with her out, which to me, is only going to make us better,” said Olsen about Selland, who verbally committed to play basketball at South Dakota State University earlier this year. Sanborn Central/

Matt Gade/Republic

Mount Vernon/Plankinton’s Erin Denning set passes the ball during a match against Red Cloud in the first round of the 2015 Class A state volleyball tournament at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

Woonsocket might be the favorites in District 6B, but Olsen also expects James Valley Christian to contend. Olsen said Arlington will be tough again in Region 3B. The Cardinals did not make the state tournament last season for the first time since 2004 as the Blackhawks knocked them off in the region championship match.

Sanborn Central/ Woonsocket has its sights set on another tourney berth. “Hopefully, we can improve and by the end of the year, we can be at Huron for another state tournament, but it will be tough,” Olsen said. “There is some good competition around here.” Sanborn Central/

Woonsocket lost to PlatteGeddes in the consolation match in last year’s state tournament. The Black Panthers made their fourth state tourney appearance since 2007 last season. Platte-Geddes and Sanborn Central/Woonsocket are both receiving votes in the preseason poll.

CHEER/DANCE Continued from Page 5

Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell competitive cheer team include, front Returning letterwinners for the Mitchell competitive dance team include, front row from left, Chloe Mikuska, Emma Hoffman, Kaylie Zens and Alisen Young. row from left, Kendra Jennings, Alisen Young, Alexis VanderWilt, Kaylie Zens, Middle row: Lauren Alexander, Kayla Armstrong, Delaney English and Caitlyn Emma Hoffman and Joanna Muilenburg. Back row: Lauren Alexander, Chloe Vaughan. Back row: Joanna Muilenburg and Maci Bradley. Mikuska, Caitlyn Vaughn, Kayla Armstrong, Madison Gehrke and Kennedy Wantoch.

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the state meet, after taking second place at the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet. In competitive cheer, Mitchell has 20 girls on the roster, including two seniors in Josie Dierks and Hoffman. “We’ve made a lot of changes this season,” MHS cheer coach Alisha Lockhart said. “We’ve changed choreographers, we have new uniforms but our number one focus is clean, safe, sharp routines.” The Kernels placed 13th at the Class AA state meet, while Sioux Falls Roosevelt won the 16-team competition. Along with the dance team, Mitchell’s lone home meet will be the Mitchell Invitational on Oct. 8 at the Corn Palace. Lockhart said she thinks the team can find success throughout the season. “We have a really experienced group,” Lockhart said. “Maybe not all of

n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Pictured is the Andes Central/Dakota Christian football team, returning letterwinners are: Leo Hopkins, Darrel Jones, Hunter Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic Vasek, Jasiah Caple, Jacey Garcia, Kendall Veenstra, Ethan Black Cloud, Jo Hart, Burton Archambeu, Cliff Johnson, Jacob Pictured is the Andes Central/Dakota Christian volleyball team, Maynard, Alex Maas, Micah Mitchell, Daaron Tronvold, Andrew returning letterwinners are Shaylin Stotz, Megan Mudder and Beulah Blackcloud. Vasek, Mitchael Stone and Gabe Baas.

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Pictured is the Avon volleyball team, returning letterwinners are Ashley Cap, Courtney Buchholz, Hanna Powers, Hannah Reeves, Hannah Van Gerpen, Kacie Mudder, Taylor Johnson and Lauren Sees.

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Pictured is the Avon football team, returning letterwinners are: Brady Cameron, Jacob Cihak, Wyatt Duncan, Levi DeJong, Sam Eben, Jimmy Schuurmans, Domingque Stout, Tate Wynia and Hayden Powers.

Pictured is the Bon Homme volleyball team, returning letterwinners are: Sierra Mesman, Jeni Schmidt and Deann Jelsma.

prep football previews Avon Coach: Tom Culver Record last year: 2-6. Top returnees: Brady Cameron, 11, QB; Jacob Cihak, 11, RB/DB; Wyatt Duncan, 11, RB/LB; Levi DeJong, 11, FB/DE; Sam Eben, 12, TE/DT; Jimmy Schuurmans, 11, TE/DE; Dominque Stout, 12, C; Tate Wynia, 11, LB; Hayden Powers, 12, LB; Jacob Cihak, 11, DB. Top newcomers: Lukkes Mudder, 12, FB/LB; Brady Petrik, 12, Line; Kainen Blaha, 12, FB/LB; Riley Namminga, 12, RB/DB; Damond Pohl, 11, Line; Max Mach, 10, Line; Jason

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DeJong, 10, Line; Weston Frank, 11, TE/DE; Dylan Raysby, 12, TE/DE. Coach’s comments: The most important thing for our team success is they get stronger in the weight room during the offseason. We have quite a few kids with considerable varsity experience, so getting bigger, faster and stronger will be vital to compete in our tough conference.

returning: 13 Key players: Chase Kortan, 12, RB/S; Bryce Scieszinski, 11, QB/LB; Nathan Schenkel, 12, TE/ DE; Mace Merkwan, 11, WR/CB; Sam Caba, 12, OL; Clay Wittmeier, 12, OL; Kade Hellman, 12, DL; Conner Frasch, 12, DL; Austin Kotalik, 12, LB Coach’s comments: We return six starters on both sides of the ball and at most of our skilled positions. Each new season brings a new team and challenge but staying healthy is the most important.

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Coach: Chad Bietz Years as head coach: 1st year Conference: Great Plains Record last year: 3-6. Top returnees: Leo Hopkins, 12, RB/LB; Darrel Jones, 12, TE/DE; Hunter Vasek, 12, Line; Jasiah Caple, 11, RB/LB; Jacey Garcia, 11, QB/DB; Kendall Veenstra, 11, OL/LB; Ethan Black Cloud, 11, FB/LB; Jo Hart, 11, RB/LB; Burton Archambeu, 11, RB/LB; Cliff Johnson, 10, DE/TE; Jacob Maynard, 10, Line; Alex Maas, 10, C/DL; Micah Mitchell, 10, Line; Daaron

Tronvold, 10, TE/DE; Andrew Vasek, 10, Line; Michael Stone, 10, Line; Gabe Baas, 9, Line. Top newcomers: Shawn Goehring, 11, RB/LB; Preston Neal, 12, RB/LB; Cody Vanden Hoek, 12, Line; Beau Greger, 11, RB/ DB; J.B. Brugier, 11, QB/ LB; Matt Bryant, 12, RB/LB. Coach’s comments: We have good experience and a lot of speed. The kids and new coaching staff are working well together. The toughest challenge will be adapting to the different style of play from last year. I am excited about our team and the potential that we have.

Pictured is the Bon Homme football team, returning letterwinners are: Chase Kortan, Bryce Scieszinski, Nathan Schenkel, Mace Merkwan, Sam Caba, Clay Wittmeier, Kade Hellman, Conner Frasch and Austin Kotalik.

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Area

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Eric Mayer/Republic Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Bridgewater-Emery volleyball include, front row from left, Kristin Kotas, Abigal Arend, Andrea Gorriz, Libby Bailey, Katelyn Kotas. Back row: Kadra Kayser, Hannah Horberts, Autumn Hilton, Sydney Hoffman, Miah Schallenkamp, Joslyn Schrank.

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Burke/South Central volleyball include, front row from left, Santanya Matucha, Teah Serr, Madison Wischmann. Back row: Tressa Bull, Taylee Indahl, Lahna Matucha and Ryahna Schweigert.

Returning letterwinners for Canistota football include, front row from left, Bryce Dannenbring, Charles Harberts, Jett Dubs, Parker Schulte. Middle row: Levi Waldhauser, Austin Parry, Jacob White Lance, Cole Anderson, Jared Tieszen, Tristan Pierce. Back row: Austin Thu, Andrew Weber, Dylan Werren, Kasey Buse, Xavier Ward, Scott Jolley, Carson Roshone.

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan football include, front row from left, Lucas Berg, Tanner Hines, Jamin Arend, Tyler Van Roekel, Colton Plagmann, Mason Potter, Derek Storm. Middle row: Garrett Clendening, Boyd Hanselman, Jesse Grosdidier, Cole Gassman, Sawyer Schultz, Jevin Eddy, Jacob Eddy. Back row: Zack Leitheiser, Duot Van Sickle, Sam Arend, Bradlee Schultz, Jaysten Riggs, Carter Dye, Cade Schmitt, Abiah Plastow.

Coach: Mike Sebern Years as head coach: 16 Conference: Great Plains Record last year: 5-4 Number of letterwinners returning: 7 Top returnees: Vladik Johnson, 12, RB/DB; Landon Schoenefeld, 12, OL/DL; Michael Preslicka, 11, FB/LB; Darrin Witt, 11, OL/ DL; Brock Karbo, 10, QB/LB;

Chamberlain Coach: Jerry Rhodes, Jr. Record last year: 7-3 Top returnees:

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Numbers of letterwinners returning: 14 Top returnees: Kelly O’Bryan, 12, RB/LB; Will Cahoy, 12, RB/ LB; Wiley Heath, 12, RB/LB; Isaac Kortan, 12, OL/DL; Holden Thieman, 12, End; Nathan Krumpus, 12, End; Jackson Kinzer, 10, RB/LB; Beau Bertram, 10, End. Top newcomers: Matt Campbell, 12, OL/DL; Kolton Salonen, 11, Line. Coach’s comments: Looking forward to this season. This year’s team returns a lot of returners on

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Hawk, 9, RB/LB. Coach’s comments: We have a lot of young talented players. After the first practice, I am very impressed with our kids. They are a disciplined group of young men. We had a great group of seniors last year that set the tone for Chamberlain football. Younger players will need to fulfill those spots we lost from a year ago.

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Burke/South Central

Rich Marone, 12, WR/DB; Dodge Knippling, 12, WR/DB; Jared Houska, 12, OL/DL; Jett Evans, 11, RB/LB; Marc Schwenk, 11, WR/DB; Collin Powell, 10, RB/ DB; Nash Hutmacher, 9, OL/ DL; Will Mahnke, 10, OL/DL; Kordel Chmela, 10, OL/DL; Max Donovan, 10, WR/DB; Dillen Anderson, 11, WR/DB. Top newcomers: Jazz Dominguez, 10, QB; Carson Powers, 11, WR/DB; Riggs Priebe, 11, WR/DB; Jake Mutziger, 11, WR/DB; Remington Rossow, 9, OL/DL; Cole Hickey, 9, OL/DL; Ruger Forester, 9, OL/DL; Isaac

Returning letterwinners for Canistota volleyball include, from left, MiKenzie Kirby, Kassidy Engbrecht, Kalli Ortman, Noelle Hofer, Jordan Engbrecht and Cassidy Keller.

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Line; Sam Comp, 12, Line. Coach’s comments: We have some holes to fill due to graduation. Will also need to have some young players take a step up to give us some depth.

Tyrone Mizner, 10, RB/DB; Caden Andrews, 10, OL/DL. Top newcomers: Borden Rolf, 10, TE/LB; Joseph Reiser, 10, TE/ LB; Kaleb Wells, 10, TE/LB; Jaden Frank, 9, QB/DB; Tyson Mayer, 9, QB/DB; Finn Hanson, 9, FB/LB; Cade Bailey, 10, OL/DL. Coach’s comments: We will be very young this year, with only four juniors and five seniors on our roster. Our younger kids will have to step up quickly. Our schedule starts out tough, so we need to hang together earlier. We feel we can compete with time and experience.

Ryan Deal/Republic

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Continued from Page 7

Returning letterwinners for Burke/South Central football include, front row from left, Tyrone Minzer, Darrin Witt, Michael Preslicka. Back row: Caden Andrews, Vladik Johnson, Landon Schoenefeld, Brock Karbo.

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FOOTBALL

Eric Mayer/Republic

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n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Ryan Deal/Republic Photo courtesy of Drew Weber

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Chamberlain football include, front row from left, Dilen Anderson, Max Donovan, Collin Powell, Jett Evans and Marc Schwenk. Back row: Will Mahnke, Dodge Knippling, Rich Marone, Nash Hutmacher, Conner Graves, Jared Houska.

Returning letterwinners for Colome football include, front row from left, Isaac Kortan, Wiley Heath, Jackson Kinzer, Dawson Varilek, Will Cahoy, Zane Rohde; Back row: Jordan Shippy, Nathan Krumpus, Kelly O’Bryan, Noah Hermsen, Beau Bertram, Holden Thieman, Nash Atteberry, Matt Campbell, Kolten Salonen.

Returning letterwinners for Corsica-Stickney football include, front row from left, Bryce Plamp, Bailey Anthony, Lane Koch, Josh Moser, Blake Moke, Jacob Joachim, Gavin Zomer, Josh Gerlach, Landon DeBoer. Back row: Clayton Menning, Reed Baan Hofmann, Cole Van Gorp, Cordel Menning, Landon Bruinsma, Hunter Johnson, Colin Lagge, Christian DeLange, Cole Gerlach.

Ryan Deal/Republic Eric Mayer/Republic

Colome Coach: Dale Krumpus Years as head coach: 1st year Conference: Great Plains Record last year: 9-2 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 14 Top returnees: Kelly O’Bryan, 12, RB/LB; Will Cahoy, 12, RB/LB; Wiley Heath, 12, RB/LB; Isaac Kortan, 12, OL/DL; Holden Thieman, 12, End; Nathan Krumpus, 12, End; Jackson Kinzer, 10, RB/LB; Beau Bertram, 10, End. Top newcomers: Matt Campbell, 12, OL/DL; Kolton Salonen, 11, Line. Coach’s comments: Looking forward to this season. This year’s team returns a lot of returners on both sides of the ball and with our depth of players, it looks to be a good season.

Corsica-Stickney Coach: Jason Broughton Years as head coach: 15 Conference: Great Plains Record last year: 9-2 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 18 Top returnees: Landon Bruinsma, 12, 6’1”, 160, QB/S; Hunter Johnson, 12, 6’, 170; TE/LB; Clayton Menning, 12, 5’11”, 160; RB/LB; Christian DeLang, 12, 6’1”, 180; L; Cole Gerlach, 12, 6’, 160; TE; Cordel Menning, 11, 6’5”, 245, FB/DT; Reed Baan Hofman, 12, 6’2”, 230, G/ DE. Top newcomers: Blake Moke, 10, 6’1”, 185, RB/ DE; Colin Lagge, 12, 6’, 205, C/DT; Bailey Anthony, 11; 5’10”, 160, RB/CB;

Gregory Coach: Brian Allmendinger Conference: Missouri Valley Record last year: 5-4 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 8 Top returnees: Joseph Veskrna, 12, WR; Robert Vomacka, 12, WR/LB; Colten Nelson, 12, C; Jayd VanDerWerff, 11, RB/LB; Andy McCance, 11, QB; Triv Vosika, 12, DB; Jon Bakke, 11, LB; J.J. Beck, 10, DL. Top newcomers: Jon Bakke, 11, RB; Cade Fortuna, 11, OG; Ridge Oliver, 11, DL. Coach’s comments: We will need some younger guys to step up and develop to take key spots on the line — on both sides of the ball. We also look for guys who gained first year starter experience last year to take the next step in their development as players to make us a better overall team.

Hanson Coach: Jim Haskamp Years as head coach: Conference: Cornbelt Record last year: 4-5 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 16 Top returnees: Drew Ferry, 10, RB/DB; Landon Sapp, 11, QB/DB; Donnie Weber, 11, QB/DB; Caleb Hernes, 10, Line; Austin Stoltz, 11, Line; Will Kayser, 10, RB, LB; Nathan Stewart, 11, Line; Brandon Mentele, 10, Line; Thomas Arend, 12, Line;

Howard Coach: Pat Ruml Conference: Cornbelt Record last year: 1-6 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 11 Key players: Michael Hofer, 10, RB/LB; Mitch Kramer, 11, LB/QB; Aidyn Feldhaus, 11, OL/DE; Evan Kizer, 11, OL/DE; Gavin Reisdorfer, 10, RB/ DB; Ethan Cramer, 11, RB/ DB; EJ Leetch, E/LB; Noah Anderson, 10, End; Zach Pardy, 10, FB/LB; Trevor Petrik, 10, NG; Connor Hamilton, 12, FB/DB. Coach’s comments: We are very young again and will not have much depth, so we need to stay healthy and try to use everyone to keep the starters fresh. A challenge will be getting enough boys out for football to compete because our boys numbers in high school are very low. All of our schedule is packed with quality 9AA and 9A teams. It would be nice to play some 9B schools our own size.

Linebacker, 12; Cory Peters, End/Linebacker, 11; Austin Moore, OL/DL, 12; Chandler Fredrickson, DB/ Rec; 11. Top newcomers: Tanner Blasius, Rec/DB, 12; Garrett Wessel, Rec/DB, 12; Jrajan Andersen, End/DB, 11; Tyler Resick, OL/DL, 10; Ty Nammany, Back, DB Coach’s comments: We have some return athletes on the field this year that should help us out. We did not make the playoffs last year so that would have to be our first goal and then if you get there you never know what might happen.

Lyman

See FOOTBALL, Page 10

Coach: Dale Taylor Years as head coach: 27 Conference: Missouri Valley Record last year: 2-6 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 15 Top returnees: Seth Kirsch, AB, DB, 12; Devon Monson, FB, LB, 12; Devon Dethlesen, OL/ DL, 12; Josh Taylor, RB/

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Returning letterwinners for Ethan volleyball include, front row from left, Karly Gustafson, Jessica Bartscher, Kailey Feiner, Rachel Hawkins. Back row: Amanda Mililer, Janae Gustafson, Ellie Hohn, Mollie Miiller.

Coach: Mike Kieffer Years as head coach: 10 Conference: Western Great Plains Record last year: 6-3 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 15 Top returnees: Jesse Schindler, 12, QB; Cameron McManigal, 12, OL/DL; Devon Urban, 12, C; Kyler Schindler, 12, TE. Top newcomers: Carter Collins, 10; Bristol Cleveland, 11; Tate Wagner, 11. Coach’s comments: We have some big holes to fill from last year’s team. I Eric Mayer/Republic look forward to young guys stepping up, growing and Returning letterwinners for Freeman volleyball include, front contributing. row from left, Caitlyn Gronewold and Karli Maske. Middle row:

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Eric Mayer/Republic

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both sides of the ball and with our depth of players, it looks to be a good season.

Matt Kayser, 12, Line; Riley Mackey, 11, Line; Morgan Deppe, Coach’s comments: We need to do a much better job of getting stops on defense, especially in the area of defending the opposing team’s passing offense. Most of our returning experience comes from our offensive and defensive lines.

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Continued from Page 8

Returning letterwinners for Colome volleyball include Kaydee Heath, Callie Heath, Rayne Hermsen, Alexa McKenzie.

Returning letterwinners for Corsica-Stickney volleyball include, front row from left, Kassidy Clark, Bridget Burke, Alissa Kuyper, Brooke Wieczorek, Courtney Menning. Back row: Kaylee Clark, Hannah Matzner, Haley Keizer, Cameo Irwin, Alyee Weerheim.

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FOOTBALL

Cole Van Gorp, 12, 6’, 270, C/DT; Devin Tronvald, 12, 5’8”, 222, G/DT; Josh Moser, 12, 6’1”, 170, TE; Boyce Plamp, 11, 6’, 170; RB/S. Coach’s comments: We are excited about the season and return a lot of experience at several positions

Photo courtesy of Drew Weber

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Returning letterwinners for Chamberlain volleyball include, front row from left, Taylor Sharping, Jamie Pazour, Grace Yeaton and Izzy Tyrell. Back row: Allison Comp, Paige Reuer, Alayne Daly, Madi Harmon.

THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Ryan Deal/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Hanson volleyball include, front row from left, Brooke Slaba, Tayah Waldera, Hannah Marquardt, Returning letterwinners for Hanson football include, front row Heather Kayser, Allison Bahmuller, Kelsey Bender, Brookelyn, from left, Drew Ferry, Riley Mackey, Brandon Mentele, Will Weber and Ashley Moe. Kayser, Landon Sapp, Caleb Hernes, Morgan Deppe, Jaimes Nelson, Donnie Weber, Austin Stoltz, Sam Tuttle, Nathan Stewart, Thomas Arend and Matt Kayser. Marcus Traxler/Republic

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Gregory football include, front row from left, Triv Vosika, Jeremiah Beck, Joseph Veskrna, Jayd VanDerWerff, Robert Vomacka, Andy McCance and Colten Nelson.

Eric Mayer/Republic Marcus Traxler/Republic Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Howard football include, front row from left, Ethan Cramer, Mitchell Kramer, Michael Hofer, Returning letterwinners for Howard volleyball include, front Zach Pardy and Gavin Reisdorfer, Evan Kizer, Aidyn Feldhaus, row from left, Katelyn Kampshoff, Citori Rentz, Sarah Borgers, Cayla Koepsell and Martina Albrecht. Connor Hamilton, Trevor Petrik and EJ Leetch.

Coach: Ryan Evans Conference: Big East Conference and I-29 Conference Record last year: 3-6 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 16 Top returnees: Collin Cleveland, 12, RB; Joey Eickman, WR, 12; Kyle Tuschen, C, 11; Caleb Krouse, G, 12; Tanner Grocott, G, 11; Caleb Wobig, TE, 12; Ryan DeBoer, T, 12; Brenden Ecklein, DL, 12; Trevor Wilkinson, LB, 12; Kendall Gassman, LB, 12; Top newcomers: Bryce Smart, 11; Dawson Hopkins, WR, 12; Colin Sabers, WR, 12; Trey Hawks, OL, 11; Paul Lauck, 11; Cole Schock, OL, 12; Nate Krempges, DL, 12; Logan Dalton, DL, 11; Matt Wegener, 11; Brock Catrett, 12 Caleb Woblig, LB, 12; Tate Reiner, 11. Coach’s comments: We bring back a ton of experience. Our players work extremely hard and compete in athletics year round.’

Menno/Marion Coach: Todd Obele Years as head coach: 5 Conference: Cornbelt Record last year: 0-7

Mount Vernon/ Plankinton Coach: Brent Olson Record last year: 6-2 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 13 Top returnees: Hayden Schmidt, 12, QB/LB; Tanner Risseeuw, 12, FB/ LB; Devin Rihanek, 12, RB/ DB; Eli Van Horn, 12, OL/ DL; Jed Vissia, 12, OL/DL; Jacob Clark, 11, LB; Marcus Urban, 12, DB. Top newcomers: Taylon Trisco, 12, E/LB; Jesse Hastings, 9, RB/LB; Hayden Haak, 10, DB/QB; Dane Rihanek, 11, RB/DB; Cole Bathke, 12, OL/DL; Jesus Apodaca, 12, OL/DL; Cody

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Lyman football include, front row from left, Bae House, Ty Schindler, Bristol Cleveland, Sage Mowry, Tate Wagner, Jerwyn Wilson, Carter Collins, Jacob Hoffer, Cameron, McManigal, Jadeon Biggers, Corwin MohrEymer, Jack Miller, Kyle Welter, Jesse Schindler and Skyler Scott and Devan Urban.

Muilenburg, 12, E/LB. Coach’s comments: We will be replacing both ends on offense this season. The progress of the players moving into those spots will determine much of our offensive success. Defensively, we need to make shore things up against spread pass-first teams. Overall, we need to be willing to put in the effort it takes to compete with the top level teams in our class.

Parkston Coach: Eric Norden Conference: SESD Record last year: 5-4 Top returnees: Blake Bietz, 12, RB/LB; Jordan McKean, 12, WR/DB;

Kyler Holzbauer, 12, RB; Austin Hoff, 12, OL; Paul Petersen, 12, OL/DL; Noah Reichert, 12, OL/DL; Dawson Semmler, 11, RB/ DB; Brady Albrecht, 11, OL; Brady Schoenfelder, 11, OL/ DL; Luke Bietz, 10, RB/LB; Brayden Leischner, 11, TE/ LB. Top newcomers: Trenton Weber, 11, DB/WR; Tulsa Janish, 11, RB/LB; Slayton Neugebauer, 10, Line; A.J. Schoenfelder, 12, Line. Coach’s comments: We will need to stay healthy and develop our younger players. Starting with the line we will need to establish our game. We have a lot of experience coming back. There are a lot of athletes

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Platte-Geddes Coach: Marc Aisenbrey Years as head coach: 2 Record last year: 1-7 Returning letterwinners: 13 Top returnees: Ricky Knecht, 12, TE/LB; Riley Hoffman, 12, QB/DB; Casey Steffel, 12, WB/DB; Blaine Olson, 12, OL/LB; Kade Johnson, 12, OL/DL; Peyton Nelson, 11, FB/LB; Jackson Johnson, 11, TE/DL; Riley Stegmeier, 11, OL/DL; Trevor Sprik, 11, WB/LB; Xavier Marshall, 11, RB/LB Top newcomers: Peyton Foxley, 11; Hayden Sluka,

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10; Sawyer DeGroot, 10 Comments: We have a rough schedule but are looking forward to the challenge. We have spent a lot of hours in the weight room and it will show this fall. We are looking to be involved in a lot of dog fights. We don’t have the most size in the state, but we really like our explosiveness off the ball and look to take advantage with our quick play.

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Returning letterwinners for Lyman volleyball include, front row from left, Quinn Lulf, Kacie Wagner, Kadi Terca, Hanna Thiry, Carly Uthe, Sara Herman, Shelby Schindler, Haley Booth, Raeann Patrick, Brooklyn Halverson, Bailey DeJong and Ashton Smith.

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Eric Mayer/Republic

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McCook Central/ Montrose

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Continued from Page 9

Numbers of letterwinners returning: 9 Top returnees: Spencer Schultz, 11, RB; Eli Huber, 12, OL/DL; Jacob Hertz, 12, OL/DL; Trey Bohlmann, 10, RB/LB; Jacob Vaith, 12, LB/E; Jordan Mehlhaf, 12, FB/DL; Landon Langerock, 12, OL/DL; Nick Mueller, 11, OL/DL; Dominic Lehr, 12, E/S Top newcomers: Kyle Munkvold, 10, S/WR; Todd Obele Jr., 9 OL/LB; Gavin Pankraz, 9, QB/S; Danny Cremer, 0, RB/DB, Preston Engbrecht, 10, RB/DB. Coach’s comments: We want to improve on all fundamentals and compete in every game. We have a good mix of kids and want to learn how to finish!

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Returning letterwinners for Kimball/White Lake football include, front row from left, Jackson Nockels, Chandler Frederickson, Seth Kirsch, Dylan Mohnen, Kory Peters, Tanner Blasius, Garrett Wessel, Josh Taylor, Ty Namanny, Trajan Anderson, Devon Munsen, Devin Dethlefsen, Austin Moore and Bo Donald.

n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Eric Mayer/Republic

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for McCook Central/Montrose volleyball include, front row from left, McKenna Kranz, Nicole Bies, Harley Miles, Natalie Gottlob, Morgan Koepsell, Hayley Miles, Danielle Hansen, Abbie Cleveland and Allison Schallenkamp.

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Returning letterwinners for McCook Central/Montrose football include, front row from left, Tanner Grocott, Paul Lauck, Bryce Smart, Dawson Hopkins, Collin Cleveland, Caleb Krouse, Brenden Scklein, Michael Deters, Trevor Wilkinson, Kenny Gassman, Brock Catrett, Joey Eickman, Caleb Wobig, Kyle Tuschen, Nate Krempges, Ryan DeBoer and Colin Sabers.

Returning letterwinners for Mount Vernon/Plankinton football include, front row from left, Jed Vissia, Hayden Schmidt, Tanner Risseeuw, Jacob Clark, Dane Rihanek, Cody Muilenburg, Taylen Trisco, Marcus Urban, Dustin Frank, Eli Van Horn, Devin Rihanek, Hayden Haak and Jesse Hastings.

Eric Mayer/Republic Eric Mayer/Republic

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Mount Vernon/Plankinton volleyball include, front row from left, Camie Walz, Stephanie Faulhaber, Grace Bultsma, Hannah Clark, Kaleigh Erdahl, Destiney Haak, Mariah Swenson and Erin Denning.

Returning letterwinners for Parkston volleyball include, front row from left, Sammi Murtha, Faith Rands, Paige Semmler, Nicky Weber, Taylor Akre, Mariah Weber and McKenzie Meyer.

Coach: Ryan Robb Conference: Great Plains Record last year: 9-2 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 14 Top returnees: Chase Mogck, 12, RB/DB; Chandler Diede, 12, FB/ LB; Jeremiah Wagner, 12, C; Tanner Skorepa, 12, TE/ DE; Travis Skorepa, 11, RG/NT; Derek Pedersen, 11, LB; Bryan Vaughan, 11, DB. Top newcomers: Tanner Van Driel, 11, QB; Lucas Pedersen, 10, QB/RB; Tristan Sedlacek, 12, LB; Braeden Wolf, 11, TE; Jimmy Baker, 11, NT; Dane James, 10, LB; Dallas Fuerst, 10, RB/DB; Seth Willett, 12, OL/DL; Michael Lange, 11, OL/DL; Micah DeBoer, 9, OL/DL; Mason Dennis, 9, RB/QB; Ty Mogck, 9, TE/LB. Coach’s comments: I

Coach: Jan Mudder Conference: Great Plains Record last year: 1-7 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 22 Top returnees: Alex Fischer, 12, QB/LB; Noah Schafers, 12, RB/DL; Nic Brown, 12, OL/DL; Cooper Strand, 12, WR/LB; Logan Fechner, 12, RB/S; Tucker Hawley, 12, TE/DE; Austin Shirey, 12, OL/DL; Hunter Stoltenburg, 11, RB/LB; Cody Fischer, 11, OL/DL; Riley Hrdlicka, 11, OL/DE; Jacob Kriz, 10, OL/DL. Top newcomers: Mason Koehn, 11, TE/LB; Ty Sparks, 11, WR/LB; Jason Schnabel, 11, OL/DL; Cade Gemar, 10, QB/S; Andrew Wilson, 10, RB/S; Preston Buchmann, 10, TE/DE. Coach’s comments: With a new coach and mostly first-year starters, last year was going to be tough, but an unusually high number of injuries made it even more difficult. We saw some leaders emerge and almost everybody had opportunities to play, so we now have a much more seasoned team. We still have not had much time to play together as a single healthy unit, so we need to be growing closer as a team, maturing and learning as the season progresses. As much as any of that, though, we need to remain healthy. We have some talent, some size and some players with experience, so there is potential for improvement.

Winner Coach: Dan Aaker Years as head coach: 15 Conference: SESD Record last year: 12-0 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 39 Top returnees: Drew DeMers, 12, QB/DB; Cameron Kuil, 12, RB/DB; Isaac Naasz, 12, TE/LB; Chase Kingsbury, 12, TE/ LB; Jordan Turgeon, 12, T/ DT; Krockett Krowlikowski, 12, T/DE; John Kludt, 12, G/DT; Wyatt Ewing, 12, Line/DE; Jayden Schroeder, 12, FB/LB; Kayleb Brozik, 12, RB/DB; Chet Bryan, 12, T/DE; Tre Doren, 12, G/ DT; Ty Bolton, 11, SS/FB; Riley Calhoon, 11, C/RB; Avery Gilchrist, 12, RB/DB. Coach’s comments: We return a very veteran and senior-laden group. Their leadership will be the key to our season. We will approach this season like any year and work to be

Howard

Area high school football schedule, week-by-week

Woonsocket/Wess. Springs/Sanborn Central Coach: Jason Kolousek Years as head coach: 12 Conference: 281 Record last year: 11-1 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 4 Top returnees: John Witte, 11, RB/LB; Logan Feistner, 12, WR/DB; Trent Kingsbury, 11, QB/LB; Drew Olinger, 12, TE/LB. Top newcomers: Lane Knipfer, 12, TE/DE; Allen Schaller, 12, OL/DL; Riley Schmiedt, 12, OL/DL; Shay Swenson, 12, OL/DL; Devon Weber, 11, OL/DL; Logan Wolter, 11, RB/LB; Trey Weber, 11, WR/DB; Alex Wormstadt, 10, WR/ DB; Wyatt Stevens, 12, WR/ LB; Jordan Hines, 11, OL/ DL; Chandler Flowers, 10, OL/DL. Coach’s comments: We have a number of larges holes to fill. The keys will be find players to fill those positions. It will depend on how much these players have improved physically from last season. There will be some growing pains to play through. We have to maintain that aggressive/ confident attitude. The main key to success will be if our line on both sides of the ball can perform to their potential.

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Sept. 2 Yankton at Mitchell; Winner at Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, in Eagle Butte; Andes Central/Dakota Christian at Menno/Marion in Marion; Gregory at Platte-Geddes in Platte; Tripp-Delmont/Armour at Avon; Colome at Gayville-Volin; Woonsocket/ Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central at Hanson in Alexandria; Parker at Howard; Mount Vernon/Plankinton at Kimball/White Lake in Kimball; Milbank Area at McCook Central/Montrose in Salem; Burke/South Central at Scotland; Bridgewater-Emery/ Ethan at Sioux Falls Christian; Parkston at Tri-Valley; Beresford at Wagner; Lyman at Wall. Sept. 9 Mitchell at Watertown; Little Wound at Chamberlain; Burke/South Central at CorsicaStickney in Corsica; McCook Central/Montrose at Elk Point-Jefferson in Elk Point; Bon Homme at Gregory; Platte-Geddes at Hanson at Alexandria; Stanley County at Lyman; Viborg-Hurley at Tripp-Delmont/Armour in Tripp; Flandreau at BridgewaterEmery/Ethan; Howard at Canistota, in Freeman; Avon at Gayville-Volin; Vermillion at Parkston; Andes Central/Dakota Christian at Scotland; Wagner at Winner; Deubrook Area at Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central in Woonsocket. Sept. 16 Mitchell at Sturgis (8 p.m. CT); Hanson at Baltic; Colome at Burke/South Central; Kadoka Area at Platte-Geddes; Lyman at Rapid City Christian; Winner at Valentine (Nebraska); Gayville-Volin at Andes Central/Dakota Christian in Lake Andes; Corsica-Stickney at Avon; Kimball/White Lake at Bon Homme in Tyndall; Howard at Chester Area; Canistota at Elkton-Lake Benton; McCook Central/Montrose at Flandreau; Mount Vernon/Plankinton at Irene-Wakonda; Oldham-Ramona/Rutland at Menno/Marion; Gregory at Miller; Chamberlain at Red Cloud; Parkston at Redfield/Doland; Scotland at Tripp-Delmont/Armour in Tripp; Jones County/White River at Wagner; Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan at West Central in Hartford. Sept. 23 Spearfish at Mitchell; Menno/Marion at Bon Homme in Tyndall; Andes Central/ Dakota Christian at Corsica-Stickney in Corsica; Chamberlain at Winner; Gregory at Wolsey-Wessington in Wolsey; Tea Area at Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan in Bridgewater; Hanson at Canistota; Avon at Colome; Burke/South Central at Howard; Crazy Horse at Lyman in Presho; Beresford at McCook Central/Montrose in Salem; Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central at Mount Vernon/Plankinton in Mount Vernon; Wagner at Parkston; Chester Area at Scotland; Kimball/White Lake at Sully Buttes in Onida; Platte-Geddes at Sunshine Bible Academy in Miller. Sept. 30 Mitchell at Sioux Falls Lincoln, 5 p.m., at Howard Wood Field; Colome at Andes Central/Dakota Christian in Lake Andes; Todd County at Chamberlain; Bon Homme at Colman-Egan in Colman; Corsica-Stickney at Irene-Wakonda in Irene; Parkston at Jones County/White River in White River; Miller at Kimball/White Lake in Kimball; Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan at McCook Central/Montrose in Salem; Hanson at Menno/Marion in Menno; Wagner at Aberdeen Roncalli in Aberdeen; Avon at Burke/South Central in Burke; Tripp-Delmont/Amour at Gayville-Volin in Gayville; Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central at Gregory; Canistota at Mount Vernon/Plankinton in Mount Vernon. Oct. 7 Mitchell at Brookings, at Dykhouse Stadium; Andes Central/Dakota Christian at Burke/South Central in Bonesteel; Bridwater-Emery/Ethan at Elk-Point-Jefferson in Elk Point; Lyman at New Underwood; Winner at Parkston; Chamberlain at St. Francis Indian; Corsica-Stickney at Tripp-Delmont/Armour in Armour; Canistota at Alcester-Hudson in Alcester; Wolsey-Wessington at Bon Homme in Tyndall; Parker at Colome; Scotland at Gayville-Volin in Gayville; Hill City at Gregory; Mount Vernon/ Plankinton at Hanson in Alexandria; Menno/Marion at Howard; Platte-Geddes at Miller; Groton Area at Wagner; Kimball/White Lake at Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central in Wessington Springs. Oct. 14 Pierre at Mitchell; Chamberlain at Aberdeen Roncalli in Aberdeen; Tripp-Delmont/ Armour at Colome; Gregory at Kimball/White Lake at Kimball; Lower Brule at Lyman; Bon Homme at Platte-Geddes in Platte; McCook Central/Montrose at Sioux Valley; Avon at Andes Central/Dakota Christian in Lake Andes; Wagner at Canton; Canistota at Menno/Marion in Menno; Howard at Mount Vernon/Plankinton in Mount Vernon; Corsica-Stickney at Scotland; Redfield/Doland at Winner; Woonsocket/ Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central at Wolsey-Wessington in Wolsey. Oct. 20 Mitchell at Huron; Sioux Valley at Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan in Bridgewater; Cheynne-Eagle Butte at Chamberlain; Parkston at Groton; Lyman at Kadoka; Kimball/White Lake at Platte-Geddes in Platte; McCook Central/Montrose at Sisseton; Burke/South Central at Tripp-Delmont/Armour in Armour; Menno/Marion at Viborg-Hurley; Jones County/White River at Winner; Alcester-Hudson at Avon; Bon Homme at Canistota; Scotland at Colome; Gayville-Volin at Corsica-Stickney in Corsica; Mount Vernon/Plankinton at Garretson; Howard at Hanson in Alexandria; Dakota Valley at Wagner; Hitchcock-Tulare at Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/ Sanborn Central in Forestburg.

001468436r1

Scotland

Tripp-Delmont/Armour

Coach: Jason Knebel Record last year: 1-7 Numbers of letterwinners returning: 15 Top returnees: Caden McBride, 12, WR/DB; Truman Ashes, 11, OL/ DL; Ben Soukup, 12, WR/ LB; Cole Soulek, 12, OL/ LB; Jace Johnson, 11, OL/ DL; Alex Sully, 11, RB/LB; Brycen Zephier, DB/WR/ RB, 12, WR/RB; Dawson Petrik, 12, LB; Noah Flying Hawk, 12, LB. Top newcomers: Tyler Wilson, 11, OL/DL; Daighton Wood, 11, DB/ WR; Kelby Kafka, 10, OL/ DL; Colton Frei, 11, DB/ RB; Michael Noriega, 11, OL/DL. Coach’s comments: Our key to success is to improve every day and use the experience we gained last year to improve on where we ended last season. To continue to stay healthy and improve the depth and experience of your younger players.

fundamentally sound, physical and look to improve every day. We are excited for the season to start.

001468432r1

13 Top returnees: Ricky Knecht, 12, TE/LB; Riley Hoffman, 12, QB/DB; Casey Steffel, 12, WB/DB; Blaine Olson, 12, OL/LB; Kade Johnson, 12, OL/DL; Peyton Nelson, 11, FB/LB; Jackson Johnson, 11, TE/DL; Riley Stegmeier, 11, OL/DL; Trevor Sprik, 11, WB/LB; Xavier Marshall, 11, RB/LB Top newcomers: Peyton Foxley, 11; Hayden Sluka, 10; Sawyer DeGroot, 10 Coach’s comments: We have a rough schedule but are looking forward to the challenge. We have spent a lot of hours in the weight room and it will show this fall. We are looking to be involved in a lot of dog fights. We don’t have the most size in the state, but we really like our explosiveness off the ball and look to take advantage with our quick play.

Wagner

(605) 351-6638

granitespringssd.com

001464610r1

Continued from Page B1

love how they believe in this program and they try to outwork one another all year long. They know that nothing will be given to them. They must earn everything. Our guys also believe in each other. We call ourselves a family. This is a group of great kids who know how to work and have fun.

001464595r1

FOOTBALL

Returning letterwinners for Parkston football include, front row from left, Dawson Semmler, Jonah Zwinger, Slayton Neugebauer, Kellan Culbert, Brayden Leischner, Luke Bietz, Brady Schoenfelder, Brady Albrecht, Tucker Bigge, Kyler Holzbauer, Noah Reichert, Jordan McKean, Blake Bietz, Paul Petersen, Tulsa Janish, Austin Hoff and AJ Schoenfelder.

(605) 933-9221 001464618r1

THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Ryan Deal/Republic Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Returning letterwinners for Platte-Geddes volleyball include Jada Nelson, Hallie Hallock, Sarah Erickson, Emma DeNeui, Alexis Peterson, Carly Sprik and Hailey Wagner.

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Returning letterwinners for Scotland volleyball include Elyssa Walloch, Taylor Gall, Taylor Bietz and Shannon Fanning.

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Platte-Geddes football include, front row from left, Riley Stegmeier, Hayden Shuka, Jackson Johnson, Riley Hoffman, Peyton Nelson, Xavier Marshall, Kade Johnson, Casey Steffel, Ashton Porter, Ricky Knecht, Blaine Olson, Trevor Spirk and Sawyer DeGroot.

Returning letterwinners for Sanborn Central/Woonsocket volleyball include, front row from left, Kayla Olson, Sarah Morgan, Maddie Vermeulen, Destiny Brick, Tristan Ziebart, Abby Doering, Myah Selland, Tesa Jensen, Erica Howard and Kyla Morgan.

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Returning letterwinners for Scotland football include Chase Mogck, Jeremiah Wagner, Damien Fuerst, Tristan Sedlacek, Zane Weidenbach, Chandler Diede, James Baker, Bryan Vaughan, Robbie Willett, Tanner Skorepa, Derek Pedersen and Travis Skorepa.

Ryan Deal/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/ Sanborn Central football include, front row from left, Logun Feistner, Trent Kingsbury, John Witte, Lane Knipfer and Drew Olinger.

Ryan Deal/Republic Ryan Deal/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Tripp-Delmont/Armour volleyball include, front row from left, Jackie Nuss, Alexis Gregerson, Whitney Fuerst, Alyssa Whitney, November Bialas, Brianna Stoebner, Haley Dufek, paige Neugebauer, Mattilynn Reiner, Pipley Schafers and Erica Koster.

Area

Returning letterwinners for Tripp-Delmont/Armour football include, front row from left, Cade Gemar, Andrew Wilson, Carson Kappenman, Tucker Hawley, Jason Schnabel, Tristin Bialas, Hunter Stoltenburg, Mason Koehn, Riley Hrdlicka, Ty Sparks, Jacob Kriz, Logan Fechner, Cooper Strand, Alex Fischer, Nic Brown, Noah Schafers and Cody Fischer.

Coach: Rocky Brinkman Key players: Shaylin Stotz, 12, OH/MH; Beulah Black Cloud, 11, OH/MH; Taylor Gray, 11, S; Megan Mudder, 11, OH.

Avon Coach: Tina Cameron, 10 years Conference: Little Missouri Valley Last year’s record: 11-12 Top returnees: Hanna Powers, 12, S; Kacie Mudder, 11, MH; Ashley Cap, 12, DS; Hannah Reeves, 12, DS; Hannah VanGerpen, 11, OH/S;

Lauren Sees, 10, OH/MH; Courtney Buchholz, 12, OH. Top newcomers: Livi Jurrens, 11, OH; Taylor Hamilton, 11, OH; Madisyn Cameron, 9, OH/S Coach’s comments: We have some great leadership and talent coming back to our program, as well as our newcomers. It’s going to be an exciting year for our girls. We have high expectations for ourselves!

Bridgewater-Emery Coach: Mary Ernster, first year Conference: Cornbelt Record last year: 10-14 Letterwinners returning:

11 Top returnees: Hannah Harberts, 12, setter; Autumn Hilton, 12, MH; Kadra Kayser, 12, OH; Sydney Hoffman, 10,MH; Katelyn Kotas, 10, OH; Abbi Arend, 10, Right Side; Libby Bailey, 11, DS. Coach’s comments: After last years very young and somewhat inexperienced team we are really looking to our seniors for leadership and confidence from our younger players to improve our game and record from last season.

Bon Homme Coach: Lindsey Fathke Key players: Sierra

Returning letterwinners for Wessington Springs volleyball include, front row from left, Sierra Burg, Sierra Brodkorb, Keah Munsen, Sierra Swenson, Chasity Vissa, Maddie Neely, Whitney Reider, Jaycee Hohn and Cadee Schelske.

Coach: Becky Smith Key players: Kalli Ortman, 12, OH; Kassidy Engbrecht, 12, S; Jenni Tieszen, 11, OH; Noelle Hofer, 10, MH; Mikenzie Kirby, 10, OH; Cassidy Keller, 10, DS; Jordan Engbrecht, 10, MH.

prep volleyball previews

Andes Central/Dakota Christian

Ryan Deal/Republic

Mesman, 12, MH; Jeni Schmidt, 12, MH; Deann Jelsma, 12, S; Rachel Sestak, 11, RH; Bailey Brincks, 12, RH; Brecken Bullard, 11, OH/MH; Breanna Dockendorf, 12, OH; Emily Cap, 10, OH.

Chamberlain

Burke/South Central Coach: Billie Jo Indahl Key players: Ryahna Schweigert, 11, OH; Taylee Indahl, 9, OH/MH; Madison Wischmann, 12, S; Brianna Johnson, 12, DS; Teah Serr, 11, OH; Tressa Bull, 11, MH; Santanya Matucha, 11, L; Shawntel Sharpfish, 11, OH/MH.

Canistota

Coach: Amy Donovan, sixth year Conference: Big Dakota and SESD Record last year: 7-21 Letter winners returning: 8 Top returnees: Taylor Sharping, 12, Libero, 5’5”; Allison Compl 12, OH, 5’6”; Madison Harmon, 12, MH, 5’10”; Izzy Tyrell, 11, Setter, 5’5”; Grace Yeaton, 12, RH, 5’6”; Paige Reuer, 11, MH, 5’11”; Alyahna Daly, 11, OH, 5’9”; Jamie Pazour, 11, DS, 5’6”.

Top newcomers: Makenzie Sorenson, 10, Setter, 5’5”; Avany Long, Sophomore, RH, 5’5”/ Coach’s comments: Even though we lost six seniors from last year’s team, we do return with eight girls who saw quality varsity time. There is a core group of girls who have worked hard i the off season to better our record from last year.

Colome Coach: Kathy Hrabanek Key players: Kaydee Heath, 10, MH/OH; Callie Heath, 12, MH; Rayne Hermsen, 10, S/H; Alexa McKenzie, 10, DS. Corsica-Stickney Coach: Mark Joachim, second year Conference: Custer Battlefield Highway See VOLLEYBALL, Page 13

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Bickner Electric

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n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Denelle Dvorak for The Daily Republic

Returning letterwinners for Wagner football include, front row from left, Noah Flying Hawk, Dawson Petrik, Calvin McBride and Alex Sully.

Returning letterwinners for Wagner volleyball include, Jensen Holzbauer, Sierra Jeffer, Jaslynn Brugwer, Schylar Juffer, Telsey Kaup, Carolyn Blaha and Faith Tyler.

Eric Mayer/Republic

Returning letterwinners for Winner football include, front row from left, Isac Naasz, Wyatt Ewing, Ty Bolton, Chase Kingsbury, Zach Lapsley, Taylor Watzel, Trey Welch, Nolan Sachtjen, Carter Brickman, Matthew Smither, Levi McClanahan, Riley Calhoon, Nathan Smither, Jayden Eric Mayer/Republic Schroeder, Shea Connot, Cameron Kuil, Colton Schroeder, Chet Bryan, Adrian Roubideau, Payton Antonie, Tristan Watzel, Dalton Baker, Casey Strickland, Nick Lantz, Justus Gregg, Krocket Krolikowski, Ryan Sherman, Elijah Blare, John Kludt, Jordan Turgeon, Kayleb Brozik, Returning letterwinners for Winner volleyball include, from left, Sam Marts, Rachel Sherman, Sydney Hollenbeck, Madyson Frazier, Alexis Richey and Abby Marts. Tyson Westendorf, Avery Gilchrist, Drew DeMers, Rhys Middlesworth and Brandon Volmer.

VOLLEYBALL Continued from Page 12

Record last year: 2-21 Top returnees: Hannah Matzer, 12, MH; Haley Keizer, 11, S/OH; Courtney Menning: 10, MH/OH; Bridget Burke, 10, MH/OH. Top newcomers: Brooke Wieczorek, 11, OH; Alexis Tilton, 9, MH/OH. Coach’s comments: The Jaguars are still a relatively young team and gained a tremendous amount of experience last year. They are anticipating the season and are bringing a lot of energy and confidence to the court this season.

Ethan Coach: Stephanie Plastow Key players: Rachel Hawkins, 12, OH; Janae Gustafson, 12, OH; Karly Gustafson, 10, MH; Kailey

Feiner, 11, DS; Ellie Hohn, 12, MH; Kacey Bartscher, 12, OH/S; Amanda Miller, 12, OH

Eklund, 12, DS; Lauren Svatos, 12, OH; Cassity Kerner, 12, OH; Hannah Juracek, 12, MH; Allison Ekroth, 12, RH; Amber Swan, 11, DS; Alexa Hannahs, 11, S.

Freeman Coach: Anna Waltner Conference: Cornbelt Key players: Ashley Glanzer, 11, LH; Karli Maske, 11, RH; Josie Furhmann, 10, S; Sarah Wipf, 10, LH;

the return of a solid core group, I believe we will be very competitive this season. Hoping to use some height and quickness to be explosive at the net and always moving on defense. I am looking forward to a great season!

Hanson Coach: Yolanda Price, five years Conference: Cornbelt Record last year: 24-6 Letter winners returning: 7 Top returnees: Hannah Marquardt, 12, Libero, 5’3”; Ashley Moe, 12, M/OH, 5’8”; Kelsey Bender, 12, M/ OH, 5’4”; Tayah Waldera, 12, setter, 5’5”; Heather Kayser, 11, Setter; 5’3”. Top newcomers: Allison Bahmuller, 11, MH, 6’; Jada Campbell, 11, MH, 6’2”; Brooklelyn Weber, 11, OH, 5’7”; Brookelyn Slaba, 11, OH, 5’6”. Coach’s comments: With

Freeman Academy/ Marion Coach: Lindsey Unruh Key players: Amy Ptak, 11, S; Annie Carlson, 11, MH; Tory Arbach, 12, OH; Tiana Schroeder, 12, MH; Chelsey Heeg, 12, OH; Michele Schoenwald, 11, MH/OH.

Gregory Coach: Teresa Webster Key players: Maddie

Howard Coach: Katie Brooks, fourth season Conference: Big East Conference and Cornbelt conference. Record last year: 11-13 Letterwinners returning: 8 Top returnees: Cayla Koepsell, 12, MH, 5’11”; Martina Albrecht, 12, MHY, 5’10”; Katelyn Kampshoff,

12, S, 5’7”; Sarah Borgers, 12, OH, 5’9”; Citori Rentz, 11, S, 5’4”. Top newcomers: Hilary Albrecht, 9, OH, 5’7”; Cailey Hinker, 11, L, 5’4”; Coach’s comments: The girls have been working hard in practice, we have a lot of varsity experience returning to the court and we have high expectations and are looking forward to a great season.

Kimball/White Lake Coach: Sarah Deffenbaugh, 15 years as coach Conference: Custer Battlefield Highway Record last year: 16-9

Letter winners returning:

Top returnees: Brooklyn Donald, 12, MH, 5’9”; Brenna Blasius, 12, OH, 5’9”; NiKki Reuland, 12, MH, 5’8”; Whitney Hinker, 12, L, 5’1”; Randi Grussing, 12, DS, 5’5”; Carley Beckmann, 11, MH, 5’9”; Sage Pulse,, 11, OH, 5’6”; Hannah Surat, 11, DS, 5’4”; Darby Deffenbaugh, 10,OH, 5’6”; Top newcomers: Heather Munsen, 10, setter, 5’4”; Grace Konechne, 9, MH, 6’; Kathryn Nightingale, 9, OH, 5’7”; Randa Vandenhoek, 9, MH, 6’; Grace Sinclair, 10, Setter, 5’7” Coach’s comments: We See VOLLEYBALL, Page 15

Mt. Vernon

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McCook Central/Montrose Mitchell Concrete Products Co.

FUNERAL HOME William Roth, Pharmacist/Owner Eric Grocott, PharmD 300 North Main - Salem, SD 605-425-2827 www.salemdrug.com 001466595r1

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Salem 425-2821 Mitchell 996-8371 1-800-300-8371

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Tires, Batteries, Hardware, Minor Repairs, Bradford Built and Hillsboro Truck Beds Kim & Tammy Lorang, owners 605-236-5369

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THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Finishing career with Vikings is Peterson’s ‘ultimate goal’ By CHRIS TOMASSON St. Paul Pioneer Press

MINNEAPOLIS — Adrian Peterson was watching television recently, and a segment came about on about Kobe Bryant. What intrigued the Vikings running back was Bryant having spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers before finally retiring in April at 37. “They were talking about Kobe being the only guy (in NBA history) to play for one franchise for like 20 years,’’ Peterson said. “And I remember looking at that like, ‘Man, wow, that’d be amazing to be able to do that.’ So that’s what I hope, man, is to finish here.’’ OK, even Peterson, who talks about playing until his late 30s, doesn’t believe he’ll last 20 seasons. What the 10-year veteran wants to do, though, is play for no team other than Minnesota. “That would be amazing,’’ Peterson sad. “That would be the ultimate goal.’’ It was 1½ years ago that Peterson, coming off missing the final 15 games of the season because of a child-abuse incident, said he wasn’t sure he wanted to come back to the Vikings. With rumors swirling that Peterson could be traded, he did return and became last season the second-oldest player to lead the NFL in rushing. Peterson, 31, is now vying to break hall of famer Curtis Martin’s record and become the oldest. Then he wants to continue playing long-term with the Vikings. “We got a great coaching staff, great team, young team, great fans here, so why not?’’ he said. “The coach is the main thing.’’ Peterson has developed a special bond with Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer, who played a key role last year in making him feel comfortable about returning. Zimmer has great trust in his running back, and that recently was illustrated. Zimmer left the choice up to Peterson on whether he wanted to play in the preseason. Peterson, who hasn’t had an exhibition carry since 2011, had said in May he was “itching” to change that, but he ultimately decided it was in his best interests to remain on the sideline. “He trusts me,’’ Peterson said of his relationship with Zimmer. “We trust each other.’’ So Peterson won’t take the field Sunday when the Vikings open U.S. Bank Stadium in the third preseason game against San Diego. Instead, he next will play in the Sept. 11 regular-season opener at Tennessee. As far as Zimmer is concerned, it will be business as usual. Peterson might be a year older, but he’s not planning on any changes from last season, when he rushed for 1,485 yards on 327 carries, an average of 20.4 per game. “I think he can handle the same workload he had last year,’’

John Autey/St. Paul Pioneer Press

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson walks onto the field during the afternoon practice on the second day of the Minnesota Vikings training camp at Minnesota State University in Mankato on July 30.

Zimmer said.

One-team wonders Peterson, who arrived in Minnesota in 2007, would like to join the short list of legendary runners who played with just one NFL team. Peterson is No. 17 on the NFL career rushing list with 11,675 yards. No. 2 Walter Payton, No. 3 Barry Sanders and No. 9 Jim Brown are the only other players in the top 25 to have not played for multiple franchises. “When you play with the same team, I think it makes it a lot more attainable to play for a long time,’’ said Eric Dickerson, who is No. 7 on the list and played for four teams from 1983-93. “You look at Adrian. You look at Walter Payton, who was with the Bears his whole career (from 197587). When you have to move to another team, it makes it harder. When you don’t, you know that team and the team knows you and that makes it much easier.’’ The Vikings, who stood by Peterson despite his troubles in 2014, know all about Peterson. But will they like him well enough next year to again pay him huge bucks? Peterson is guaranteed this season to make $12 million on a contract that was restructured in July 2015. He is on the books in

2017 for a base salary of $11.75 million, a $6 million roster bonus and a $250,000 workout bonus, which would be a whopping total of $18 million. Few believe Peterson will end up playing for that amount. The Vikings would owe him nothing if he is waived by the third day of the league year next March, although a very possible scenario is his deal is again restructured. For now, Peterson isn’t dwelling on his future contract situation. “Right now, I really don’t worry about that,’’ he said. “I focus on the season and things that I can control right now, and whatever else comes after this year will take care of itself. … At the end of the day, I know business is business, so never unexpect the unexpected.’’

For how long? Peterson has talked about playing until he’s 40 but also has backed off from that number. If all works out, here’s how long now he’s thinking now about playing for the Vikings. “I kind of change by the seasons,’’ Peterson said. “You’ll never know how I feel next year or the year after that or the year after that, Right now, I plan on playing long term, for five or six more years. But who knows what

life brings?’’ If Peterson plays five more years, he would need to average 1,336 yards a season to break Emmitt Smith’s career rushing record of 18,355 yards. If he logs six more, he would need to average 1,113. “That’s one of my goals,’’ Peterson said of topping Smith. “It’s high up there.’’ If Peterson duplicates his yardage total from 2015, he will move up this season to No. 8 on the all-time list. Hall of famers in line to be passed include No. 14 Thurman Thomas (12.074), No. 13 Franco Harris (12,120), No. 12 Marcus Allen (12,243), No. 10 Marshall Faulk (12,279), Brown (12,312) and No. 8 Tony Dorsett (12.739). “It’s going to be an honor,’’ Peterson said. “I grew dreaming about playing in the NFL and being the best player to ever play. And just to climb the ladder and pass guys, pass greatness along the way, is just a humbling feeling.’’

have what it takes to claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy. “That would be awesome to defend the North and put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs and to win a Super Bowl,’’ Peterson said. “If I have 1,000 yards, 900 yards, if we’re playing in the Super Bowl, that’s the best season of my career, over my MVP season. That’s how I view it.’’ Peterson hoisted the MVP trophy in 2012 when he gained 2,097 yards, nine short of breaking Dickerson’s 1984 record for the most in a season. After that, Peterson regularly talked about not only breaking Dickerson’s mark, but crushing it. There’s been less talk about that lately. Could it be that Peterson has put such thoughts on the back burner? “I remember saying in training camp one time, ‘You know what, I’m going for 2,500, and I’m just going to leave it at that, so you guys don’t have to ask me anymore,’’’ Peterson said. “That’s what it’ll always be. That really hasn’t changed. I still got the same mind-set that’s a mark that I’m going to put out there for myself.’’ He also has the mind-set that all the additional yards he gains, he wants them to be with the Vikings.

Team goals Entering this season, though, Peterson has been more outspoken about team goals. The Vikings are coming off their first NFC North title in six years, and Peterson has let everyone know who will listen he believes they

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VOLLEYBALL Continued from Page 13

are bringing back a lot of experience from last year’s team with nine returning letter winners. Brooklyn Donald, Brenna Blasius and Nikki Reuland will help to lead the Wildkats at the net and Whitney Hinker, Darby Deffenbaugh and Randi Grussing will bring balance and aggressiveness in the back row. I am excited to see leaders emerge as the season progresses. They have the talent and drive to have a successful season. Look for the Wildkats to be aggressive servers and scrappy on defense. Consistency and speeding up our offense will be the keys to our success this season.

Lyman Coach: Keith Herman Conference: Western Great Plains Letterwinners returning: 12 Top returnees: Ashton Smith, 12, MH, 5’10”; Brooklyn Halverson, 12, OH, 5’10”; Shelby Schindler, 12, OH, 6’2”; Bailey DeJong, 12, MH, 5’11”; Sara Herman, 12, L, 5’2”; Hanna Thiry, 12, S., 5’5”. Top newcomers: Kacie Wagner, 9, DS/RS, 5’5”. Coach’s comments: Most of our varsity has 3.5 years of starting varsity experience. We hope to use our experience to better our

record and make a return to the state tournament.

Grace Abyan, 11, OH, 5’7”; Jayda Amundson, 11, DS, 5’5”. Top newcomers: Gisley Sayler, 10, MH, 5’7”; Tess Oplinger, 10 S/OH, 5’8”; Jaedyn Oplinger, 10, S/OH, 5’7”; Hailey Handel, 10, MH, 5’4”; Kiara Nusz, 10, MH 5’9”; Brittney Mussey, 10, OH, 5’5”; Trinity Kocourek, 9 OH, 5’7”. Coach’s comments: We have a strong team of returning letter winners this season. I’m expecting another great season with more wins than the last.

McCook Central/ Montrose Coach: Tami Bies, 10th year Conference: Big East Record last year: 14-12 Letterwinners returning: 9 Top returnees: Nicole Bies, 12, S; Danielle Hansen, 12, OH; Morgan Koepsell, 11, MH; Natalie Gottlob, 11, MH; McKenna Kranz, 11, OH. Top newcomers: Allison Schallenkamp, 12, H; Abbie Cleveland, 12, D; Hayley Miles, 11, S; Harley Miles, 11, D; Morgan Erikson, 10, OH; Leslie Kolbeck, 11, RH. Coach’s comments: We are expecting a lot from our returning players. We have an experience setter and many players with experience in our front frow. We will need to work on our defense since we lost our back row to graduation last year. We have been working on our mental toughness to improve our game and take us to the next level.

Mount Vernon/ Plankinton Coach: Darcy Deinert, 17 years coaching Conference: Custer Battlefield Highway Record last year: 31-3 Top returnees: Hannah Clark OH, 12; Erin Denning, S, 12; Destiney Haak, MH, 11. Top newcomers: Kaleigh Erdahl, DS, 12; Mariah Swenson, OH, 12; Stephanie Faulhaber, S. 12; Carnie Walz, DS, 11; Grace Bultsma, OH/MH, 11; Sam Wesseling, DS, 12; Haley Walz, DS, 10; Mikaela Cassidy, OH, 10; Katlyn Briggs, MH, 9. Coach’s comments: We will be inexperienced but determined to be competitive come regionals.

Menno Coach: Rachel Stokes Conference: Cornbelt Record last year: 11-13 Letterwinners returning: 11 Top returnees: Courtnee Edelman, 12, OH, 5’6”; Marissa Buechler, 12, S., 5”4”. Paige Heckenlaible, 11, MH, 5’9”; Haley Fergen, 11, S, 5’5”; Breanna Mehlhaf, 11, OH, 5’4”;

Parkston Coach: Leslie Rylance, two years Conference: SESD/LMVC

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Kimball/White Lake’s Nikki Reuland (3) attemps a kill during a match against Andes Central/ Dakota Christian during last year’s district playoffs in Kimball/White Lake.

Record last year: 9-26 Top returnees: Taylor Akre, 12, RS, 6’1”; Paige Semmler, 11, MH, 5’10”; Sammi Murtha, 11, S. 5’9”; Mariah Weber, 12, Lib, 5’3”; McKenzie Meyer, 12, DS, 5’3”; Nicky Weber, 12, OH, 5’7”; Top newcomers: Faith Rands, 11, OH, 5’8”; Lauren Reiner, 11, OH/MH, 5’7”; Brenna Walz, 10, MH, 5’7”. Coach’s comments: We are excited to build on what we learned last year. I have a great group of seniors to lead the team and we are strong.

Sanborn Central/ Woonsocket Coach: Rick Olson, 12 years Conference: 281 and CBH Record last year: 19-12 Letterwinners returning: 10 Top returnees:Myah Selland, MH, 12; Maddie Vermeulen, OH. 12; Kayla Olson, Setter, 12; Tesa Jensen OH, 10. Top newcomers: Kyla Morgan, OH, 12; Destiny Brick, DS, 12; Tristan Ziebart, S, 11; Abby Doering, MH, 11; Sarah Morgan, MH, 11; Catherine Bechen, MH, 11; Alissa Ball, DS, 11; Sydney Zeller, Oh, 11; Erica Howard, RH, 10. Coach’s comments: If we are able to become more consistent hitters and make a few adjustments on defense, I feel that we will be contenders at the end of the season. The team is working hard and looking forward to improving with each match.

Scotland

Marcus Traxler/Republic

Mitchell’s Mandy Schmidt jumps to make a serve during a high school volleyball game against Harrisburg on Aug. 25 at Mitchell High School.

Coach: Sara Brown Conference: SESD and LMVC Record last year: 9-18 Top returnees: Elyssa Walloch, 12, OH; Shannon Fanning, 12, L; Taylor Gall, 11, MH: Taylor Bietz, 11, S.

Top newcomers: Bella Vitek, Kelsi Nooney, Anadia Gibson and Peyton Hochstein. Coach’s comments: We have a lot of experience coming back this year and I am really looking at those girls who have been around the program now for a few years to step up and lead our younger players to a winning record. This team can have a great year with a lot of hard work and a defense first attitude. We are going to be quick and frustrating to other teams with our great defense. I am really looking forward to this team taking that next step and winning those close games.

Tripp-Delmont/Armour Coach: Samantha Ziegler, first year Conference: LMVC Record last year: 10-14 Letter winners returning: 8 Top returnees: Erica Koster, 11, S. 5’7”; Brianna Stoebner, 11, OH, 5’8”; Matti Reiner, 10 OH, 5’10”. Top newcomers: Ripley Schafers, 11, OH, 5’8”. Coach’s comments: We are a young team this year, but we are returning a core group of girls with some varsity experience. We are athletic with raw talent. We could prove to be competitive as we progress into the season and learn more about our potential. It will be fun to see where this season takes us.

Wagner Coach: Amy Tyler, 12th year Conference: LMVC and SESD Record last year: 28-6 Letter winners returning: n/a Top returnees: Carolyn Blaha, 11, MB, 5’10”; Jaslyn Bruguier, 11, DS, 5’5”; Jensen Holzbauer, 12, OH; 5’8”; Schylar, Juffer, 11, DS, 5’5”; Sierra Juffer, 11, S, 5’2”; Telsey Kaup, 11, OH, 5’8”; Kristan

Soukup, 12, OH, 5’8”; Faith Tyler, 10, S/OH, 5’7”; Coach’s comments: Due to a large graduating class, we have big holes to fill in both our offense and defense, but that makes things more competitive on a daily basis. We also have a couple of returning starters that will be good leaders. We need to continue to work hard on defense both at the net and in the backcourt. We need to be able to change up our shot selections and run a quicker offense to make a post-season run.

Wessington Springs Coach: Lynn Neely, three years Conference: 281 Letter winners returning: 5 Top returnees: Jaycee Hohn, 12, OH, 5’7”; Whitney Reider, 12, S, 5’6”; Maddie Neely, 10, OH, 5’7”; Cadee Schelske, 11, RS, 5’5”. Top newcomers: Talli Heim, 11, MH, 5’8”; Shannon Linn, 10, MH, 5’10”; Carsyn Krause, 11, L. Coach’s comments: We are looking to build up from last year. We have two seniors who are showing a lot of leadership and some new and young players looking to fill big roles this season.

Winner Coach: Jaime Keiser, ninth year Conference: Big Dakota and SESD Record last year: 17-12 Letter winners returning: 6 Top returnees: Rachel Sherman, 12, OH, 5’10”; Madyson Frazier, 11, S. 5’7”; Alexis Richey, 10, L, 5’6”; Samantha Marts, 11, MH 5’11”; Abby Marts, 10, OH, 6’0”. Top newcomers: Gracie Littau, 10, RH, 5’7”; Morgan Hammerbeck, 9, MH, 5’10”.

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THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Area

prep cross country previews

Avon

Coach: Katelyn Koch Year coaching: first Letter winners returning:

Top returnees: Kylen Swanson, 12; Alexa Sees, 8; Top newcomers: Kristen Namminga, 8; Reece, Loewe, 7; Carter Fillaus, 8; Haden Cahoy, 7; Coach’s comments: I am excited to be coaching these young athletes. They have all been putting in hard work and dedication. I can’t wait to watch them perform this season.

Bon Homme Coach: Kristopher Lavallee Key runners: Boys: Tanner Carda, 10; Nate Hall, 7; Anton Hejna, 11; Nate Klinnert, 11; Stas Sutera, 12; Girls: Paige Eddy, 11; Madi Hall, 10.

Chamberlain

Stevenson, 8; Connor Tuschen, 11; Hunter Uptagrafft, 8; Chayton Weber, 12; Camden Weeldreyer; Girls: Cara Meyer, 7; Casey Meyer, 7; Taylor Schallenkamp, 7; Julia Weber, 7; Lindsey Weeldreyer, 9

Burke/South Central Coach: Laurie Kenzy Key runners: Boys: Keith Hoffman, 8; Tyson Mayer, 9; Kray Person, 11; Washake Vaughn, 9; Jesse Williams, 10; Girls: Lexie Fernau, 11; Sally Hakin, 8; Sierra Liewer, 11; Lacey Person, 9; Shawntel Sharpish, 11; Jolene Vaughn, 7.

Canistota

Bridgewater-Emery Coach: Dan Clarke Key runners: Boys: Peyton Bailey, 12; Camden Dye, 8; Brock Hofer, 8; Jaden

Coach: Pat Jolley Key runners: Boys: Mandre Adams, 12; Connor Hutcheson, 7; Evan Marquardt, 11; Trey Ortman, 9; Parker SchulteOrtman, 11; Tate Tieszen, 7. Girls: Mykkah Krinke, 8; Kara Roshone, 7; Lexi Tieszen, 8.

Coach: Garry Winter Year coaching: 37 Conference: Big Dakota, South East South Dakota Letterwinners returning: one Top returnees: Lucas Lopez, 11, Jessie Ristau, 12; Ella Byers, 10; Top newcomers: Kyle Swanson, 11; Brekin Steilen, 8, Jonah Mosel, 8; Ciara Hough, 11; Harley Brown, 10; Macy Valandra, 9; Averie Larson, 8; Abby Hutmacher, 7; Erika Larson, 7; Isabella shepherd. Coach’s comments: We won’t try to field a full boy’s varsity team this year, but I look for the upperclassmen to run competitively by mid season. With so many newcomers, the girls won’t field a strong varsity team early, but should by mid season. Ella Byers looks strong so far, and should run well in the early part of the season.

Ethan/Parkston Coach: Jared Digmann Key runners: Boys: Austin

Bartelt, 9; Zach Clauson, 9; Jacob Dundas, 10; Erik Fuerniss, 11; Tanner Hohn, 11; Devin Jones, 10; Jerry Kohler, 7; Logan Mahoney, 12; Noah Mahoney, 7; Jonah Murtha, 12; Tucker Murtha, 11; Troy Norden, 7; Sean Sloan, 10; Evan Weeman 10; Girls: Maelie Culbert, 7; Jessica Endres, 11; Morgan Hinckley, 8; Callie Hohn, 10; Lexy Leischner, 10; Maddie Miiller, 9; Kate Oberembt, 10; Lindsey Roth, 7; Chloe Wegehaupt, 11

Gregory Coach: Jennifer Voigt Year coaching: 9 years Conference: SCC Letter winners returning: two girls, four boys Top returnees: Girls: Megan Warnke, 10; Lauren Svatos, 12; Samantha Timanius, 8; Emma Thomas, 7; Boys: Aaron Voigt, 11; Layne Olson, 12; Max Klundt, 11; Garret Roeder, 10; Top newcomers: Girls: Summer Talsma, 7; Boys: Joseph Veskerna, 12; Parker

Harding, 9; Bryan Eagle Star, 9; Santana Serr, 9, Coach’s comments: Girls: Lauren and Megan were great teammates last year, always pushing each other to run faster, and both earning a trip to the State meet. I look forward to watching these two improve and having our younger girls progress under their leadership. It would be great to see this group of girls competing as a team by the end of the season. Boys: I am excited to see that these guys will do this season. Some of them have worked really hard this summer, getting in some good workouts. It is great to see four new faces on the team. I look forward to seeing how these guys will do out on the course. It would be great to see Aaron, Layne, Max and Garret were all part of the team last season that earned the runner-up title at Regions, so it would be great to see them all heading to the State meet again.

Freeman Coach: Rory Hermsen Key runners: Boys: James Baer, 10; Dalton Bodewitz, 11; Skylar Godwin, 10; Girls: Mara Anderson, 9; Hannah Eberts, 10; Emmarie Edwards, 9; Sydney Jensen, 9; Cara Maske, 8; Dayna Roth, 10; Isabel Sayler, 10; Sarah Wipf, 10.

Freeman Academy/ Marion Coaches: Suzanne Koerner and Jerry Kippes Key runners: Boys: Dane Allison, 12; Luke Allison, 10; Darwin Arana Ortiz, 11; Brennan Haggerty, 11; Gavin Haggerty, 8; Jamison Ludy, 9; Junior Montero, 9; Titus Roesler, 8; Thalen Schroeder, 7; Thaniel Schroeder, 10; Girls: Alyssa Dent, 7; Tiana Schroeder, 12; Jessica Sun, 10; Alivea Weber, 7; Kristen Wieman, 8.

Hanson Coach: Darywn Persson Key runners: Boys: Blake Ferry, 11; Carter Henglefelt, 8; Logan Shelton, 7; Isaac Tuschen, 8; Girls: Abby Hanson, 12; Miranda Hanson, 7; Sadie Oltmanns, 8.

Howard

Republic file photo

Mount Vernon/Plankinton’s Lainey Gregorson rounds a curve during the Southeast South Dakota Conference cross country meet last year in Tyndall.

Coach: Laura Hoff, seventh year Letterwinners returning: Girls: 5; Boys: 3 Top returnees: Girls; Ellen Lewis, 12; Emma Neises, 8; Kennedy Koepsell, 8; Saddie Palmquist, 8; Presley Claussen; Boys: Ben Connor, 9; Elijah Ekanger, 8; Tanner Calmus, 7.

Top newcomers: Girls: Katie Steeneck, 11; Hanna Antrim, 11; Tatyanna Ekanger, 10; Casi Eliason, 9; Cali Eliason, 9; Abby Connor, 8; Riley Laible, 8; Ciana Schwader, 7. Coach’s comments: We have a young group years with only one senior, Ellen Lewis; We are putting on miles this first week and then we will bet into a little more speed work and longer miles in the weeks following. We hope to place in the top 3 at Regionals to make the whole team to state. Boys: With the boys numbers so low, we may not have enough runners to keep team points. Although I do expect some personal bests this year for the ones we have out.

Kimball Coach: Tia Jandreau Key runners: Boys: Cole Carsten, 9; Corydon Hanson, 11; Spencer Hanson, 8; Caden Lenz, 9; Girls: Bailey Bosworth, 10; Hannah Havlik, 8; Oakley Jandreau, 9; Jessica Kott, 9; Sidney McCord, 8; Carlee Natvig, 8.

Lyman Coach: Joel Milton Key runners: Boys: Brenden Estes, 9; Tyson Floyd, 8; Cruz Garnos, 8; Brad Lebeda, 9; Sam McClanahan, 7; Stockton McClanahan, 7; Bryson Muirhead, 9; Jacob Sauze, 7; Isaac Thomas, 7; Girls: Madison Brown, 8; Alyssa Jones, 8; Laila King, 9; Quinn Lulf, 12; Emily Muirhead, 12

McCook Central/ Montrose Coach: Brad Seamer, second year Conference: Big East Letterwinners returning: One boy; three girls. Top returnees: Boys: Blake Pulse, 10; Girls: Natalie Gottlob, 11; Brianne Krempges, 11; Caitlynn McGregor, 11. Coach’s comments: We are a very young team. I have a lot of new runner this year and i’m excited to see how they do.

Mitchell Christian Coach: Mark Miedema Key runners: Boys: Nathanael Anderberg, 8; Micah Frey, 7; Luke Knutson, 10; Alec Nelson, 10; Braeden Nydam, 10; Reegan Nydam, 7; Liam Pospisil, 7; Max Reynen, 8; Girls: Adaya Plastow, 8; Moriah Plastow, 10.

Menno Coach: Cindee Evenson Key runners: Boys: Brady See X-COUNTRY, Page 17

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n THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Senior-laden group to lead DWU volleyball

Region Big Ten preview: Huskers hit field with heavy hearts after punter’s death

After Rose Bowl run, Hawkeyes among West favorites Iowa enters the new season as a consensus Top 25 team and with high expectations coming off one of the best years in school history. After finishing the regular season undefeated and coming up just short in the Big Ten championship game before a blowout loss in the Rose Bowl, the Hawkeyes return a strong core group that makes them the early favorite to repeat as the Big Ten West Division champions. That’s a far cry from the preseason a year ago when some critics were questioning whether coach Kirk Ferentz had lost his touch at Iowa and that the program would continue to backslide under his guidance. The perspective is much different as the Hawkeyes head toward September. The reason for the heightened optimism is the return of senior quarterback C.J. Beathard, All-American cornerback Desmond King and a slew of returning starters on both sides of the ball. Beathard is the unquestioned leader of the offense. He proved last year that the Iowa coaches made the right decision in January 2015 to turn to him as the No. 1 quarterback over two-year returning starter Jake Rudock. Despite battling some nagging leg injuries most of last fall, Beathard passed for 2,809 yards and 17 touchdowns with five interceptions and was named second-team All-Big Ten. “Number one on my list is to win the Big Ten championship,” Beathard said of the 2016 season goals. “Number two is to win a bowl game. It’s my fifth year, and I haven’t won a bowl game. It’s eating at all the guys who have been here awhile now.” The question marks on offense going into the season are at wide receiver — specifically a game-breaker type of player — and depth at tight end behind George Kittle. Iowa’s only reliable bigplay threat last season proved to be Tevaun Smith, who used up his eligibility. The coaches will be keeping a close eye on the wideouts in camp and looking for someone like sophomores Jerminic Smith or Jay Scheel with deep speed to take the job before the opener against Miami University on Sept. 3 in Kinnick Stadium.

Fergen, 8; Joseph Grassmid, 9; Logan Klaudt, 10; Tyler Massey, 7; Logan Schmidt, 8; Girls: Morgan Edelman, 8; Alicia Grassmid, 12; Carly Herrboldt, 8.

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Platte-Geddes Coach: Matt Maxon Key runners: Boys: Matt Brink, 9; Caden Tegethoff, 9; Girls: Grace Brink, 12; Jayden Johnson, 7;’ Alayah Nachtigal, 9.

Coach: Bonnie Schmidt, sixth year Conferences: Custer Battlefield Highway and Southeast South Dakota Letterwinners returning: Boys: 2 Girls: 7 Top returnees: Boys: Connor Spinar, 12; Layne Lewis, 11; Logan Tlam, 8; Carson Olinger, 10.; Girls: Savannah Schmidt, 12; Tay Westendorf, 11; Lainey Gregerson, 10; Lorna Gregerson, 10; Savannah Risseeuw, 10; Dacey Rihanek, 9; Hallie Schmidt, 8 Top newcomers: Boys: Reece risseeuw, 7; Riley Gregerson, 7; Hadley Tobin, 7; Griffin Tobin 7; Layne Tobin, 7; Girls: Jocelyn Marizano, 7; Emily Carbeyal, 7; Christa Glanzer, 7. Coach’s comments: Boys: Our boys’ varsity team returns a couple experienced runners along with a nice nucleus of young newcomers. The beginning of the season will take some rebuilding, yet I look forward to what they can do. Girls: The MVP girls varsity

Sanborn Central/ Woonsocket Coach: Shelley Schlicht Key runners: Boys: Malachi Bruce, 9; Brayden Eagle, 8; Braxton Gentles, 7; Tater Moody, 9; Spens Schlicht, 10; Austin Schmit, 10; Girls: Trinity Boschee, 7; Kayla Olson, 12; Megan Poyer, 10; Myah Selland, 12; Sydney Zeller, 11.

Scotland Coach: Gary Pepper Key runners: Boys: Nic Baker, 10; Nicholas Harrington, 7; Daniel Lange, 8; Carson Sundleaf, 9; Girls: Kchandra Furney, 12; Annabelle Hlavac, 8

Wagner Coach: Tom Cartney, second year Conference: Southeast South Dakota

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Gophers gear for rebound year The 2015 edition of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team experienced enough drama to fill several seasons. A brutal schedule, featuring almost every one of the Big Ten’s best teams was only the first obstacle the Gophers needed to overcome. A bevy of injuries to critical players, including a spate that decimated virtually their entire secondary early in the season, haunted them throughout the campaign. Finally the biggest blow of all: Jerry Kill’s announcement on Oct. 28 — days before a nationally-televised, primetime game against Michigan — that he was retiring as a football coach effective immediately due to medical concerns and handing the reigns of the program to good friend and longtime trusted defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys. With a half of a season and a full offseason now under his belt as the leader of the program, Claeys enters his first full season on the job looking for stability in a program that hasn’t seen much of it in recent years. If the Gophers can find a way to stay healthy this season and avoid the pitfalls that seemed to pop up at every turn during 2015, the Gophers could find themselves very much in the mix for a Big Ten West Division championship at season’s end. Coaches hate media prognostication before the season, but at least one prominent poll has picked the Gophers to win their half of the conference and advance to the Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis for the first time in program history. “Good thing we play the season,” Claeys said. “It all comes down to the same thing is we told kids we went to the Big Ten meetings and I didn’t see them presenting any preseason trophy to anybody. We’ll let the season play out and see where it is.”

Letterwinners returning: five Top returnees: Girls: Taylor Eitemiller, 11; Abby Freier, 11; Maggie Barnett, 10; Marquel Holiday, 12; Boys: Curtis Jensen, 9; Michael Barnett, 8; Keegan Alderink, 11. Top newcomers: Josi Bouza, 11; Gabby Flute Player, 10; Alcista Dion, 8; Boys: Jordan Irons, 8; Derek Drews, 8; Myles Kokes, 7; Matthew Link, 6; Theodore Slaba, 6; Owen Eitemiller, 6; Tex Langdeaux, 6; Donald Schroeder, 6; Tanner Krcil, 6; Colby Krcil, 6. Coach’s comments: The Red Raider cross country teams are excited for another year and all the challenges that come with it. We have several strong ladies returning this year and expect great things from them. We also have several boys returning for their second year. They made amazing progress last year and look to continue to mature in the coming season. We also

have a number of young new runners who will be learning the mental and physical perseverance needed in distance running. We plan to train hard and have a blast doing it. We have a really enthusiastic hardworking team and we plan to have a very successful season.

Wessington Springs Coach: Becky BellKruger Key runners: Boys: Isaac Kolousek, 10; Bryce Kopfmann, 7; AJ Neely, 7; Trever Schmidt, 10; Girls: Karsyn Krause, 11.

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Tim Asche

Lindsay Wilber has something she hasn’t had much of during her time at Dakota Wesleyan University as the Tigers’ volleyball coach — seniors. The team has 28 players on the roster, which is the most during Wilber’s three-year stint as the squad’s head coach and the Tigers’ seven seniors make up one-fourth of the roster. That’s after having one senior a year ago and no seniors on the 2014 version of the team. “You can tell in the gym I have seven seniors, just because the leadership,” said the head coach Wilber, whose team went 11-20 overall last season and 2-14 in the tough Great Plains Athletic Conference, which has five teams in the NAIA preseason top-25 poll. The top returning senior is Lauren Tadlock, who was an All-Great Plains Athletic Conference second-team selection last season. The outside hitter was second in the league in kills last season (436). She also ranks eighth on the school’s all-time kills list with 781 and could reach 1,000 this season with another strong year. “Lauren Tadlock will be our go-to,” Wilber said. “She has been the starting outside for three years and she plays all six rotations. She put so much time in the offseason to make herself better. I am really excited to how she is going to do this year.” The Tigers also return senior starting setter Michelle Van Epps, who led the team with 978 assists last season and Wilber said her impact doesn’t stop there. “She is just a really, really good leader,” Wilber said. “Lauren is a good leader, too. Michelle is a more vocal captain. She is our leader on the court.” Senior Taylor Spence, who pounded out 208 kills last season as an outside hitter, will move to a defensive role this year. Spencer and sophomore Leslie Carsrud will battle for the starting libero position vacated by Maggie Stehly, who exhausted her college eligibility. Right-side hitter and Mitchell graduate Dana Misiaszek, setter Emily Pengilly, outside hitter Marissa Soderberg and outside hitter/middle blocker Shelbie Budmayr round out the senior class. “They have all played for three years under me,” Wilber added about the group. “So it is kind of like this is our year to hopefully make a good step in the right direction.” The Tigers also have 13 newcomers on the roster, including 11 incoming freshmen. “The talent level of my freshmen class that is in right now is really good,” Wilber said. Wilber said as many as six freshmen will suit up for varsity matches, with one standing out so far in fall practices. “Becky Frick from Yankton, she has been unstoppable in the gym already,” said Wilber, about the 5-foot-11 outside hitter, who was a two-time second-team all-state player. The Tigers also bring in a couple of transfers in Katie Vetch and Kimberly VanBockern. Vetch, a junior middle blocker, was with DWU two years ago and then decided to attend South Dakota State University as a student. VanBockern also spent last school year at SDSU as a student, but the former first-team all-stater from Arlington decided to join the Tigers in July. The outside hitter has been impressive so far. “It has taken her a little while to get back,” Wilber said, “but she is really athletic and bouncy.” That is also how Wilber sums up her team in general this season. “We really are athletic,” she said. “My six that will be on the court are fast and quick and athletic and we are becoming more powerful. You can just tell that they played together now. So the flow is a lot better than it was even last year.” DWU’s home opener was Aug. 30 vs. Mount Marty at the Corn Palace. It is one of eight home matches at the venue, up from five last season. The Tigers will also play five home matches at the Christen Family Athletic Center this year. Wilber said more home matches would have been scheduled at the Corn Palace, but there were scheduling conflicts in October.

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By RYAN DEAL The Daily Republic

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team returns seven strong runners from last season. We have great veteran experience and depth on our team and I am excited to see what this group can do. These girls have been running together for four years and are a very dedicated group, with hopes of another sensational season.

There’s a lot of like about Iowa’s defense, starting with King in the secondary. The Jim Thorpe Award winner bypassed the NFL Draft to return for his senior season. He led the Big Ten last year with eight interceptions. Iowa was hoping that former All-Big Ten defensive end Drew Ott would return to lead their pass rush, but he was denied a medical redshirt despite missing a majority of last season with injuries. With Nate Meier graduated on the other side, Iowa is looking to the trio of Matt Nelson (6-foot-8, 282 pounds), Anthony Nelson (6-7, 253) and Parker Hesse (6-3, 250) to step in. What will be interesting to watch is how the Hawkeyes handle prosperity. In the past, Iowa was struggled when they’re a favorite and overachieved as an underdog. This year’s team will be the hunted rather than the hunter. “We have the potential, and we’ve got guys with a good attitude,” Ferentz said. “What can we do? How fast can we get better, and how much better can we get? That’s the race every team is running in the country right now, so it’s exciting. It’s fun.”

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X-COUNTRY

duced since 1999 — a conference championship. The Huskers will have an experienced offense, sound special teams — led by the return from injury of dazzling punt returner DeMornay Pierson-El — and a defense that’s intent on solving last season’s big-play woes.

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By The Sports Xchange

Nebraska’s summer offseason featured the talk of confidence, excitement and hunger you normally hear, especially for a program beginning the second season of a new coaching staff and offensive and defensive systems. The 2015 season ended on a high note, with a thrashing of UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl, but Nebraska still finished 6-7, with the loses by a combined 31 points, and four coming on the game’s final play. By comparison, Nebraska had five games it lost by at least 31 points under previous coach Bo Pelini. But the grousing of losses and coaching transition and recruiting and everything that comes with a tradition power program came to a cold stop when harsh reality struck Nebraska’s program in July. Senior Sam Foltz, a native of Greeley, Nebraska, and last year’s Big Ten Punter of the Year, died in a car accident in Wisconsin, where he was counseling a kicking camp. He was 22. Not only was Foltz a Nebraska native, he was among the most liked and respected players and teammates not only on this team, but in the history of the program. “If you want to hear my personal advice on it,” Nebraska coach Mike Riley, “what I think about Sam Foltz on the football part of it and what he brought to this team and university, if I could be as happy doing my job and as enthusiastic as Sam was and you guys saw him be, he loved it. He was proud of his craft. He worked at it like a pro. And he did it with a lot of fun and joy.” Teammates want to honor Foltz with something Nebraska hasn’t pro-

THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

Winner football ready to repeat in 11B Warriors return plenty of varsity experience from last year’s 12-0 team names on the other side of the ball. Winner’s defense only allowed 26 points last year and recorded eight shutouts. “We’ll rest on offense and not on defense. We want to stop the run and I think our front seven will be really strong and deep,” Aaker said. “If we are going to be the team we want to be, our defense is going to lead us again. That’s always a focus.” Winner opened the season with two straight road games — Mobridge-Pollock on Aug. 26 in Mobridge and Cheyenne-Eagle Butte on Sept. 2 in Eagle Butte. Aaker said the team is accustomed to long travel for road games and isn’t worried about opening the season with three out of four games on the road. “Our schedule and the entire Class 11B, in my opinion, was fairly young last year, so I think we’ll see a lot of teams improve because of that,” Aaker said. “The good news for us is we were young, too.”

Canistota football team ready for 9AA challenge

Class 11AAA Aberdeen Central, Brandon Valley, RC Central, RC Stevens, SF Lincoln, SF O’Gorman, SF Roosevelt, SF Washington, Watertown Class 11AA Brookings, Douglas, Harrisburg, Huron, Mitchell, Pierre, Spearfish, Sturgis Brown, Yankton Class 11A Belle Fourche, Canton, Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, Dakota Valley, Dell Rapids, Hot Springs, Lennox, Madison, Milbank Area, Pine Ridge, SF Christian, St. Francis Indian, St. Thomas More, Tea Area, Todd County, Vermillion, West Central Class 11B Region 1: Aberdeen Roncalli, Crow Creek, Groton Area, Mobridge-Pollock, Redfield/Doland, Sisseton Region 2: Beresford, Elk Point-Jefferson, Flandreau, McCook Central/Montrose, Sioux Valley, Tri-Valley Region 3: Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan, Chamberlain, Parkston, Wagner, Winner Region 4: Bennett County, Custer, Jones County/ White River, Lead-Deadwood, Little Wound, Red Cloud Class 9AA Region 1: Britton-Hecla, Clark/Willow Lake, Dakota Hills, Florence/Henry, Great Plains Lutheran, Ipswich/ Edmunds Central, Tiospa Zina, Webster Area

Key dates in the fall high school sports year

Class 9A Region 1: Castlewood/Estelline, Eureka/Bowdle, Potter County, Tri-State, Warner, Waverly-South Shore Region 2: Colman-Egan, Elkton-Lake Benton, Gayville-Volin, Irene-Wakonda, Parker, Viborg-Hurley Region 3: Andes Central/Dakota Christian, Hanson, Menno/Marion, Platte-Geddes, Scotland, TrippDelmont/Armour Region 4: Kadoka Area, Lemmon/McIntosh, New Underwood, Newell, Philip, Sully Buttes Class 9B Region 1: Faulkton Area, Hamlin, Hitchcock-Tulare, Langford Area, Leola/Frederick, Northwestern Region 2: Alcester-Hudson, De Smet, Dell Rapids St. Mary, Howard, Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Region 3: Avon, Burke/South Central, Colome, Corsica-Stickney, Lower Brule, Sunshine Bible Academy Region 4: Bison, Crazy Horse, Dupree, Edgemont, Faith, Harding County, Timber Lake, Wall

Oct. 20: High school football regular Nov. 5: Class 11B and 9-man football season comes to an end semifinals Oct. 21-22: State competitive cheer Nov. 8: Most Class A and Class B and dance competition at Aberdeen volleyball region championship games, Oct. 22: State cross country meet at scheduled for various sites Broadland Creek Golf Course, Huron Nov. 10-12: State football championOct. 25: Class 11B and 9-man football ship games at DakotaDome, Vermillion playoffs begin Nov. 17-19: State volleyball tournaOct. 27: Class 11A, 11AA and 11AAA ments (AA in Brookings, A in Watertown, football quarterfinals scheduled B in Huron). Oct. 28: High school volleyball regular season comes to an end Oct. 31: Class 11B and 9-man football quarterfinals Nov. 4: Class 11A, 11AA and 11AAA football semifinals scheduled Most Class A and Class B volleyball district championship games, scheduled for variInsurance Of All Kinds ous sites South Dakota Box 430, 141 W. 3rd St. Winner (605)842-2040 Winner, SD 57580 Pierre (605)224-1631 Philip (605)859-2636 Also Offices in

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Sept. 16: Mitchell boys golf hosts 18-team tournament at Lakeview Golf Course Sept. 26: Class A boys region golf at Lakeview GC in Mitchell and Madison CC in Madison Oct. 3-4: Class AA and Class A boys golf tournaments (A in Rapid City; AA in Aberdeen) Oct. 6-8: State girls tennis tournament in Rapid City Oct. 8: State boys and girls soccer championship games at Sioux Falls O’Gorman Mitchell hosting Eastern South Dakota Conference cross country meet. Competitive cheer and dance festival at Corn Palace. Oct. 12: Class B region cross country meets in Howard, Freeman. Oct. 13: Class A region cross country meets in Salem, Chamberlain.

Region 2: Arlington/Lake Preston, Baltic, Canistota, Chester Area, Deubrook Area, Deuel, Garretson Region 3: Bon Homme, Kimball/White Lake, Miller, Mt. Vernon/Plankinton, Wolsey-Wessington, Woonsocket/ Wess. Springs/Sanborn Central Region 4: Gregory, Herreid/Selby Area, Hill City, Lyman, McLaughlin, RC Christian, Stanley County

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Prep football class alignments

us back to basics and got us in the right mindset on being efficient and getting things done one play at a time.” Canistota does return all-state lineman Xavier Ward, who has verbally committed to play football at South Dakota State University. Ward (6-foot-2, 285 pounds) and fellow lineman Kasey Buse (6-3, 290) will be vital up front for skill players Jacob White Lance and Scott Jolley, said Strang. “We are going to look at them as anchors to our offensive and defensive lines and they are going to set the point of attack and allow our skill players to do what they need to do,” Strang said. It worked last year as Canistota rolled to its fourth state title in the last six seasons. The Hawks won three of those titles in Class 9A and one in Class 9B. “Success breeds success,” Strang said about the recent run of championships. “The kids buy into winning. They buy into what you are doing offensively, defensively and on special teams. So once you kind of get that thing rolling, it is infectious and that standard is what you start holding yourself to.”

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CANISTOTA — A nine-man football powerhouse will be faced with a new challenge this season. Canistota, last year’s Class 9A state champs, has moved up to Class 9AA this year. The Hawks were bumped up due to co-oping with Freeman for the 2016 sea-

“It is a good start for us to try and establish ourselves in another division of football, and it is extremely competitive, and our roster will be a little smaller than the rest of them in 9AA,” Canistota coach James Strang said, “but we are ready to take on the challenge.” Strang said Class 9AA will be highly competitive this season as a number of teams return several key pieces. The Hawks enter the season No. 2 in the South Dakota Sportswriters Association Class 9AA preseason poll. “You have got a handful of teams that are consistently fighting for championships and have 40 and 50 kids on their roster and they have got plenty to chose from and they have a wonderful set of coaches and players,” Strang said. “It will be an interesting situation. We just hope to be in the mix somewhere with the big boys.” The Hawks have several spots up for grabs this season as they graduated “a very healthy senior class from last year and had to replace a lot of positions across the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, and special teams as well,” Strang said. “It kind of got

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son. The team will still be called Canistota, but after this season, the two schools will decide on a co-op name, colors and a mascot, said Canistota athletic director Pat Jolley. So for this season, Canistota will remain the Hawks, but will be in a new class.

By RYAN DEAL The Daily Republic

Here are the South Dakota Sportswriters Association preseason football and volleyball polls. Teams are listed with first-place votes in parentheses, vote points and their finish in the final 2015 poll.

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senior year to lead the Warriors. Last year, DeMers helped the Warrior passing attack rack up 790 yards in the air and 14 touchdowns to only one interception. The Warrior rushing attack did most of the damage, finishing the season with 3,849 yards on the ground for an outstanding average of 320.8 yards per game with 66 touchdowns. Seniors Cameron Kuil and Kayleb Brozik picked up plenty of touches as running backs last year, and plan to lead the ground attack behind an offensive line that touts South Dakota State University commit Krockett Krolikowski and three other returning starters. “We’re really deep at the line of scrimmage and that’s a good problem to have,” Aaker said. “We’re not as deep at the skill positions as last year, and we’re going to need some younger guys to step up and fill that role.” Despite touting an offense that scored an average of 49.5 points per game, the Warriors made their

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WINNER — In the storied history of Winner High School football, no team has ever won back-to-back state championships. After cruising through Class 11B on the way to a state title in 2015, the Winner Warriors have hopes of repeating and making some school history in the process. Winner, which outscored its opponents 594-26 in 12 games last year, lost only six seniors from the team and return 39 letterwinners, as well as nine starters on offense and eight starters on defense. All of it equates to bad news for the rest of Class 11B. “We had a pretty good first week,” said Winner head coach Dan Aaker, whose team is ranked No. 1 and received all eight firstplace votes in the South Dakota Sportswriters Association preseason polls. “Any time you start a new season, you’re trying to develop fundamentals. We start from scratch and build our way up. We

may be a little farther along than other years because of so many returners. I like where we’re at right now.” Motivating the Warriors in 2015, was a humbling 2014 playoff loss to Bon Homme, a team the Warriors beat handily earlier that season. “Our upperclassmen have experienced a high and a low,” Aaker said, noting the Bon Homme playoff loss from two years ago. “They still remember that and last year, they experienced a pretty big high. The thing to remember about that high is how we got there.” Aaker said the team understands it’s in a different position heading into the season, but the Warriors need to remain focused. “There’s a target on our back,” Aaker said. “We know we’ll get everyone’s best shot. You have to be ready to play and I think our guys know that. We’ll be focused and ready by that first game.” On the field, all-state quarterback Drew DeMers returns for his

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By ERIC MAYER The Daily Republic

South Dakota Sportswriters Association preseason polls

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After big seasons, Tigers’ Turner ready for more Dual-threat signal caller at top of his game, as DWU looks to turn a corner in the GPAC and ran for 889 more, while racking up 35 total touchdowns. He more than doubled his passing touchdowns and cut down on his interceptions from TURNER his freshman campaign. “The command and control that he has of the offense has been really impressive,” added Cimpl, whose team opened their 2016 season Aug. 26 against rival Dakota State at Joe Quintal Field. The Trojans won the game 34-30. Last season’s 40-27 win over Dakota State was Turner’s coming-out party. He finished with 222 passing yards and four total touchdowns. Turner’s 66-yard touchdown run in the second quarter started a second-half surge that carried the Tigers to the win. While opposing defenses will

By RYAN DEAL The Daily Republic

Dillon Turner is getting more and more comfortable as Dakota Wesleyan University’s quarterback. And that could spell trouble for his opponents. Turner has started every game since week two of the 2014 season as a true freshman. The dual-threat QB has continually progressed since then. Bigger things could be in store for Turner and DWU this season as he’s continuing to grow each season. “I think you just see a guy that is comfortable back there,” DWU coach Ross Cimpl said. “Not necessarily comfortable with what he is doing, but it is just a comfort level with what his reads are, (and) where he needs to go with the football.” The Salem, Arkansas, native made a big leap last season. He exploded for 2,370 yards

“

The command and control that he has of the offense has been really impressive. DWU head coach Ross Cimpl

” gameplan for Turner’s ability to run, he hopes to improve his pocket presence and deliver the ball down the field more this season. “For me personally, I want to be able to work on my pocket movement, being able to extend plays down field instead of maybe tucking the ball and running,” Turner said. That means utilizing his wide receivers and running backs. Turner has dynamic playmakers like Dustin Livingston, Hayden Adams and John Fabrizius at his disposal. “They have worked their tails

off all fall and they make my job easier,” Turner said. “Those guys have done great and they are going to continue to do great things.” Turner and the offense showed glimpses of what they could do this season at the recent annual fall scrimmage. Turner appeared to be in sync with his backs and receivers, especially with Livingston. The tandem connected for a couple of scores in the scrimmage, including a 60-plus yarder during a broken play in the two-minute drill. “That last play there was kind of draw it up in the dirt,” Cimpl said. “That is two guys on the same page and I think those are the little things you don’t see in a scheme, or people that aren’t on a headset don’t see those things or hear those things, but that is what we really see from him.” Livingston, an all-conference wide receiver, said Turner has matured each year as the two

have build a strong rapport with each other. They spent time in Mitchell this summer running routes to prepare for this season. “It just feels so much more comfortable this year,” Livingston said. “Even looking back at last year at this time, we just feel so much more comfortable with each other and as an offense.” An offense that broke several school records last season with Turner running the plays. The Tigers finished last season 9-2 and just missed making the playoffs. Turner plans to do everything he can to the team in a similar spot this season. “I have to make sure I am putting our team in better situations,” Turner said. “Whether that is throwing the ball out of bounds, or if that is tucking and running and just being able to make sure I am a leader out on the field.”

Great Plains Athletic Conference football at a glance Briar Cliff

Trey Barnes and his 10 sacks (second most in the GPAC). Defensive back Trey Barnes and linebacker Michael Hedlund also return after strong seasons. Barnes broke up seven passes last season and is also a dangerous returner. Hedlund recorded a team-high 105 tackles last season. Winter’s take: “Offensively, we return 10 starters. That is a big group. It also tells you how inexperienced we were last year.”

Coach: Tom Rethman, 9th season at Briar Cliff (20-68). 2015 record: 3-8 (2-7 GPAC). Offensive outlook: The Chargers return senior starting quarterback Dylan Desmarais (1,998 passing yards/13 TDs), but they lost their leading receiver and running back from last season. Sophomore Noah Ylagan (247 yards/2 TDs) and senior Antawuan Jones (6-foot, 240-pounds) should see time in the backfield. Miles Jones could see more production at the wide receiver spot. Defensive outlook: Briar Cliff senior safety Nate Ericson is the top returning tackler (64 tackles). Briar Cliff also returns senior defensive lineman Ron Tortorello, who racked up 42 tackles (8 tackles for loss) and four sacks last season. The Chargers will lean on four junior college transfers to man the linebacker corps. Rethman’s take: “We have to figure how to take care of the fourth quarter. If we do that, we will hopefully be able to take some significant steps forward.”

Dakota Wesleyan University

Concordia University Coach: Vance Winter, 8th season at Concordia (34-41). 2016 record: 6-4 (5-4 GPAC). Offensive outlook: The Bulldogs return two dynamic playmakers in running back Bryce Collins and wide receiver Jared Garcia. Collins has rushed for 2,666 yards and 27 touchdowns through his first three seasons for Concordia. The 6-foot-3 Garcia has caught 85 passes for 1,363 yards and 19 touchdowns the past two seasons. Concordia returns three quarterbacks — T.J. Austin, Riley Wiltfong and Andrew Perea — with starting experience. Austin has the most experience as he’s started 11 games for the Bulldogs. Defensive outlook: Concordia brings back second team All-American defensive end

Coach: Ross Cimpl, 5th season at Dakota Wesleyan (30-13). 2016 record: 9-2 (7-2 GPAC). Offensive outlook: The Tigers’ offense will be powered by two-year starting quarterback Dillon Turner, who passed for 2,370 yards last season on his way to second team GPAC honors. He also ran for 889 yards and accounted for 35 total touchdowns. Top targets Dustin Livingston (678 yards/7 TDs), and Hayden Adams (875 yards/14 TDs) are also back. The Tigers also bring back a staple of running backs, led by John Fabrizius. Defensive outlook: DWU’s defense will be anchored by lineman Brady Mudder, who was a first-team all-conference player last season. He finished his junior season with a teamhigh 10.5 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Adam Bormann is also back after leading the team with 83 tackles. Cimpl’s take: “We have a lot of guys on our roster that we have a lot of confidence in and our team didn’t revolve around just a couple of guys and we want to make sure all our guys are ready to go.”

Doane University Coach: Matt Franzen, 10th season at Doane (51-42). 2016 record: 9-2 (8-1 GPAC). Offensive outlook: Senior running back

Nate Meier was a first-team All-American last season after rushing for 1,221 yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior Jack Shadley passed for 828 yards in 10 TDs last year. Jacob Cornelius hauled in 11 touchdowns and 717 yards last season. Defensive outlook: Colten Mach was second on the team in tackles last season with 50.5 and also had four sacks. The Tigers graduated other several top players from last season’s defensive unit. Franzen’s take: “You are going to see a mix of veteran leadership and upperclassmen returning and some young kids. I have liked what we built at Doane.”

TDs) and Tahj Willingham (334 yards/6 TDs) should provide a 1-2 punch out of the backfield. Defensive outlook: Defensive back Noah McKeever is the top returning tackler with 54 stops last season. Justin Stagemeyer was an all-conference honorable mention selection a season ago after notching 38 tackles and three sacks. Harper’s take: “We have to focus on ourselves. We can’t worry about who we are playing yet. We are not to that stage yet. So that has kind of been our big motto and thing we have hammered over the spring and throughout the summer is focus on yourself.”

Dordt College

Midland University

Coach: Joel Penner, 1st season at Dordt. 2016 record: 2-9 (1-8 GPAC). Offensive outlook: Bryce Lidtka ran for 528 yards last season and scored two touchdowns. He is also a capable returner. Taylan Seaman played in all 11 games last season. He passed for 471 yards and ran for 220. He has 1,134 career passing yards in two seasons. Defensive outlook: Josiah Kotte is the leading tackler last season. The linebacker tallied 71 tackles and five pass breakups. Fellow linebacker Alex Vasquez (57 tackles) is back. Penner’s take: “Confidence is probably the biggest challenge. We are going to have to be very forward thinking as we try to have to be confident.”

Coach: Jeff Jamrog, 1st season at Midland. 2016 Record: 1-10 (1-8 GPAC). Offensive outlook: The Warriors bring back their two top playmakers in wide receiver Tristin Kamaka (499 yards/5 TDs) and running back Deon Ransom (515/4 TDs). Midland’s quarterback spot will be up for grabs as it graduated three signal callers. The Warriors have 10 quarterbacks on the roster, including former Midland men’s basketball player Trevor Bryant. Defensive outlook: The Warriors graduated their top three tacklers from last season’s team. Defensive back Jon Ridout is back after recording 67 tackles. Defensive lineman Alexander Williams had five quarterback sacks last season. Jamrog’s take: “We are just looking forward to representing this great conference and playing some great football. We will see what the wins and losses turn out to be.”

Hastings College Coach: Dana Harper, 6th season at Hastings (25-25). 2016 Record: 5-5 (4-5 GPAC). Offensive outlook: Quarterback Cruz Samaniego passed for 1,545 yards and 11 touchdowns as a freshman last season. Running backs Jake Fowler (369 yards/2

Wessington Springs

Offensive outlook: Tyler Kavan rushed for 1,313 yards and scored a whopping 29 touchdowns for the powerhouse Mustangs last season. Wide receiver Connor Niles hauled in 17 touchdowns and 1,538 yards last season. Morningside will have to replace quarterback Ryan Kasdorf and his 3,953 yards/45 TDs from last season. Defensive outlook: The Mustangs graduated their top two tacklers last season. Logan Rozeboom is back after tallying 78 tackles last season and a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss. Defensive back Taylor James racked up 70 tackles last season. Ryan’s take: “On offense, I think we have scored more points than anybody in the country over the course of the last three years and it has been a lot of fun.”

Northwestern College Coach: Matt McCarty, 1st season at Northwestern. 2016 Record: 6-4 (5-4 GPAC). Offensive outlook: Northwestern brings back two experienced quarterbacks in Craig Bruinsma (1,361 yards/9 TDs) and Jonathan Kodama (1,024 yards/7 TDs). The Red Raiders lost their top two wide receivers and running backs. Paul Hutson is a former GPAC honorable mention player that recorded 386 rushing yards last season. Defensive outlook: Sam Van Ginkel terrorized offenses last season from his defensive end spot. The All-American and GPAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year totaled 38 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. Josh Treybal paired with Van Ginkel to form a tough defensive front. Treybal was a GPAC honorable mention honoree last season for the second straight year. He registered 36 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. McCarty’s take: “We have high expectations for our guys and how we do things. The expectations are high, but nothing is given to you.”

Morningside College Coach: Steve Ryan, 15th season at Morningside (132-37). 2016 Record: 12-2 (9-0 GPAC).

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THE DAILY REPUBLIC n FALL SPORTS PREVIEW n

New schedule to spread out SD football title games Nine-man to get its own day at the Dome By RYAN DEAL The Daily Republic

South Dakota prep football teams will invade the DakotaDome in mid-November again this year, but with a new schedule twist this season. The South Dakota High School Activities Association will again have its football championships spread out over three days on Nov. 10-12. However, the final day will feature two games this year. The SDHSAA could never play two games on that Saturday due to the University of South Dakota football having a home game the past several years. USD is on the road Saturday, Nov. 12, against rival South Dakota State University. That opened the door for the SDHSAA to adjust this year’s championship schedule. “It just sets up a lot better for everybody involved when we can spread those games out a little bit,” SDHSAA executive director John Krogstrand said. “(It is) the first time since we have had seven championship games that we have had the opportunity to do it.” The new setup will decrease early morning/afternoon doubleheaders. Thursday’s Class 9AA and Class 9A games will be the only one this year. The Class 9AA game is at 10:30 a.m. and the 9A game is at 1:30 p.m. “Any coach or team that has been there knows when you play those doubleheader games, it is tough to really give your kids, for that second game, the proper time to warm up, the proper feel and maybe you lose a little bit of that championship game feeling, or that spotlight feeling, when it is in a doubleheader setup,” Krogstrand said. In previous years, the SDHSAA had the doubleheaders Thursday and Friday with three games in each of the first two days. “Now, with having the ability to play into Saturday, we have eliminated that Friday doubleheader,” Krogstrand said. Thursday will finish with the Class 9B title game at 7:30 p.m. to cap off an all-nine-man day at the DakotaDome. “I heard from some nine-man coaches that enjoy being able to see all nine-man games in one day,

and we’ve seen a number of times where the Cornbelt won all three state championships out of the same conference a couple years ago,” said Krogstrand, who also noted the nineman coaches can also have their allstate meetings that day. “It really is a featured day for our nine-man competitors, and we can highlight a different game on kind of a rotation basis, as far as who has that evening game.” The four 11-man games will be played over the final two days. The Class 11B game is at 1 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Class 11AA game at 7 p.m. The Class 11A contest will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday and the Class 11AAA game is at 7 p.m. that night. The change this year will also eliminate the three biggest classes being part of a doubleheader, which has proved troublesome in the past. “We know that, based on the attendance numbers, you cannot have 11A, 11AA or even 11AAA as part of a doubleheader,” Krogstrand said. “Simply because there is not enough seats in the DakotaDome and that got proven a few years ago, when there were back-to-back games like that and there were literally people with tickets outside that they were not letting into the DakotaDome because there wasn’t room.” With spreading out the contests, it could also benefit fans from a ticket and seating standpoint, said Krogstrand. The SDHSAA will likely see a financial boost from an extra championship session, moving from five sessions to six, with two sessions each day. “When we have got four teams in there, it fills up the chairback side of the dome pretty quickly,” Krogstrand said. “When you can split that out evenly and give more people those prime seats toward the 50-yard line and closer to the field and those things, it certainly makes it better for our fans, as well.” The setup could just be a one-year deal, as the SDHSAA does not yet have a plan in place for the 2017 season. The activities association will have to wait for USD’s schedule to be released and will then adjust accordingly for the 2017 championship games.

SoDak Bowl to be put on hold FCA ends sponsorship of annual Sioux Falls game By RYAN DEAL The Daily Republic

SIOUX FALLS — For the first time in more than 10 years, there won’t be a mid-season bowl game featuring high school football teams in Sioux Falls. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has opted to no longer share naming rights with the SoDak Bowl, according to FCA State Director Keith Moore. Moore said they made the tough decision last year to drop the bowl after sponsoring the game for six years. “We are disappointed that we have limited human capital in which to do our sport ministry work,” Moore said in an email. “We have to adjust appropriately when our ministry grows in certain areas.

We have seen tremendous growth in our fall events, programs and campus ministry work. This makes for tough choices. The FCA/SoDak Bowl was something that we just didn’t have the available time for any longer.” The event started as the Irish Bowl in 2005 at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls and was later called the Prairie Bowl, according to event founder Jerry Miller. The event was most recently at Bob Young Field at the University of Sioux Falls. This year would have been the 11th installment of the event. “As of this year, we are not going to have anything,” said Miller, who is retired after spending over 50 years a

coach, teacher and administrator in South Dakota. The event could make its way to Mitchell, according to Miller, but those conversations are still in the preliminary stages and currently without the necessary organizational setup to make the game happen. Joe Quintal Field would also likely require an artificial turf surface, something that also remains in the planning stages. In recent years, the event frequently featured Mitchell-area teams. Last year, Woonsocket/ Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central, Hanson, Scotland, Burke/South Central and Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan played in it.

A look at SDSU and USD football

The Jackrabbits

South Dakota State football enters its 20th year under coach John Stiegelmeier as one of five teams in all of the Football Championship Subdivision play that has appeared in four straight playoffs. The Jackrabbits will also play in a new home, Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, a $65 million, 19,000-seat facility that will be opened Sept. 10 when the Jacks host Drake. “The stadium is so exciting,” Stiegelmeier said. “This is a chance of a lifetime to be a part of history at South Dakota State. This senior class should feel so blessed and so tickled to be a part of Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. We’re going to be really excited to walk into that stadium on Sept. 10.” On the field, SDSU brings back plenty of offensive weapons. All-American receiver Jake Wieneke and standout tight end Dallas Goedert are back, along with a stable of running backs in Brady Mengarelli, Kyle Paris and Isaac Wallace. After a healthy competition in the preseason, SDSU will start sophomore Taryn Christion at quarterback over senior Zach Lujan, after both players played during 2015 and had plenty of success. Mitchell native Kanin Nelson stands third on the depth chart behind the two quarterbacks as a true freshman. On defense, SDSU brings back six starters to a unit that surrendered just 17 points a game last year. The defensive line figures to lead the way, with Salem native Shayne Gottlob, Dell Rapids native Cole Langer and Yankton native Kellen Soulek manning the middle. (Gottlob will be out to start the season after suffering a preseason injury but is expected to return.) After grabbing its first win over a Big 12 Conference opponent last year by defeating Kansas 41-38, SDSU will step up in class for its annual FBS game, visiting Texas Christian on Sept. 3. The Horned Frogs are ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP poll after an 11-2 season year ago. Among the notable games for SDSU include a home game against Cal Poly on Sept. 17, the conference opener in Brookings on Oct. 1 against Western Illinois, hosting former Nebraska coach Bo

Pelini on Hobo Day on Oct. 22 and the rival Coyotes from South Dakota on Nov. 12. The Jacks play North Dakota State for the Dakota Marker on Oct. 15 in Fargo.

The Coyotes It’s a new era for University of South Dakota football, as former Western Illinois coach Bob Nielson takes over for Joe Glenn as the coach of the Yotes. Nielson said he doesn’t see the Coyotes as a rebuilding job, where USD was 5-6 a year ago, punctuated with a 24-21 victory over the eventual national champions North Dakota State. “We are not rebuilding, we have a foundation, we are building an addition,” Nielson said. “We are going to renovate a few things, but we want to keep moving forward. We have a group of guys that have made progress, they were a highly competitive team last year.” Heading into the preseason, three quarterbacks were competing for the starting job in returning starter and senior Ryan Saeger, redshirt freshman Austin Simmons and University of Minnesota transfer Chris Streveler. Regardless of the signal-caller, the Coyotes will need running back Trevor Bouma to stay healthy. He was sidelined for the second-straight season a year ago after breaking his arm. Brandt Van Roekel is likely to be a key target as a receiver for USD, which will move from a pro-style offense to a spread style under Nielson. The Coyotes bring back four starters on defense, all of whom are seniors: safeties Tyson Graham and Jacob Warner, linebacker John Wessel and defensive end Colin Mertlik. Those are four of the top-six tacklers from last season. USD also brings back kicker Miles Bergner, who hit the game-winning kick at the Fargodome and is among the most accurate kickers in Coyote history. After opening the season at New Mexico, USD’s home opener is against Weber State Sept. 10 in Vermillion. The Coyotes will also face former North Central Conference rival North Dakota on Sept. 17 in Grand Forks. USD hosts Northern Iowa on Dakota Days Oct. 8 and will close the season against the Bison at home on Nov. 19. — Marcus Traxler

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