PRESS & DAKOTAN ? PLAIN TALK FALL SPORTS 2015 ? PAGE 5 Cross Country: Area Girls Up Softball: Young Gazelles Look To For Challenge Of Longer Races Improve On Eighth Place Finish S.D. Girls’ Varsity Races Move To 5,000 Meters In 2015 BY MICHAEL HAMMOND sports@yankton.net The Yankton High School club softball team looks to improve upon their eighth place finish in the state tournament a year ago. “We want place high at the state tournament,” coach Bernie Goeden said. “We have a young team and it’s going to be a learning process for the coaches and the players.” Yankton lost seven seniors who graduated in 2014 and have just five returning letter winners: senior Liz Suing, junior Lexie McCorkell, as well as sophomores Bailey Peterka, Alix Peterka, and Bailey Kortan. Leading the team is Suing, who plays catcher and third base, along with seniors with JV experience Danielle Dvorak and Ciara Kulhazy. The team will face an adjustment period early in the season to find the best fit for their lineup. “We need to figure out our best combo,” Goeden said. “We should be a good team after we figure it out and get comfortable.” The Gazelles opened the 2015 season on Aug. 23, beating Tea Area and Jackson, Minn. BY JAMES D. CIMBUREK James.cimburek@yankton.net The Yankton Gazelles have trained for 5,000-meter cross country races since the days when they were running against the nation’s elite in the Nike Team Nationals (now called “Nike Cross Nationals”) a decade ago. So when the South Dakota High School Activities Association voted to change its girls’ races from 4,000 to 5,000 meters, it wasn’t a big deal for the Gazelles. “We’ve trained for that distance anyway,” said Yankton head cross country coach Dave Dannenbring. “I don’t think it’s been that big a deal to them.” Yankton has competed at the 5,000-meter distance in recent years as well, as Nebraska made the move to 5,000 meters – the same distance the boys run – two years ago. The Gazelles won the South Sioux City meet in 2013, going 1-2-3 individually. Last year, the Gazelles finished third as a team in Norfolk, with Savannah Woods placing second. “I was pretty excited,” Woods said about South Dakota’s move to 5K. Woods was the Class AA cross country champ as a freshman, and won the 3,200-meter run at the state track meet this past spring. “It’s not much of a transition.” The difference between the two distances is 1,000 meters, or about .62 miles. “What I told the girls was that this was more of a true distance race,” said Beresford head coach Matt Coy. “Our girls were pumped about it. They took a positive attitude about it.” Beresford junior Ashlynn Atwood, 17th in Class A a season ago, said that the off-season workouts for her and her teammates changed slightly, but not significantly. COACHES: Jim Sorensen, Nick Halvorson and Jon Sorensen VITALS: Class A, Dakota XII Conference RETURNERS: Sam Nelson (So., state qualifier); Hunter Beeson (Jr.); Kaden Peterson (Fr.); Mason Sternquist (Fr.); David Olson (Fr.); Jackson Heideberger (8th); Trevor Johnson (8th); Casey Klungseth (Fr.); Beaux Henke (Fr.); Gavin Bautista (8th); Jack Bickett (8th); Payton Borah (8th) NEWCOMERS: Connor Thaler (Fr.); Logan Keith (8th); Hayden Wilson (7th); Cody Klungseth (7th) “We ran a little further each run,” she said. “But mostly we did not really change things.” While coaches from both Class AA and Class A had predominantly backed the change in statewide polls, Class B coaches were split. “A lot of Class B coaches didn’t want to see it because of all the two-sport athletes (that run cross country),” said Gayville-Volin head coach Larry Buffington, whose team has finished second in Class B each of the past three seasons. “To me, cross country should (Jr.); Trent Jensen (Jr.); Pete Mackenprang (Jr.); Henry Tuttle (Jr.); Nate Sydow (Jr.); Tanner Hensley (So.); Jameson Bull (So.); Jack Furlong (So.); Dylan Sikes (Fr.); Jake Addison (Fr.); Jordan Smith (8th); Keaton Hensley (8th) NEWCOMERS: Cole Kennedy (8th); Dean Deist (8th); Chris Jumper (8th); Will Morales (8th); Brayton Heinz (8th); Brady Schroeder (8th); Aidan Pease (8th); Logan Bishop (8th); Evan Monell (7th); Xander Julius (7th); Tianun Zhou (7th) Elk Point-Jefferson (Sr., D); Jeff Graber (Sr., D); Ben Miao (Sr., D); Orlando Bisamaza (Sr., M); Brennen Haggerty (So., M); Stephen Waltner (So., G); Dalton Bodewitz (So., F); Greg Arana • Truck Repair • 3507 E. Hwy 50 Yankton Follow @JCimburek on Twitter. 665-1447 9/10 9/14 9/15 9/17 9/24 10/8 10/13 10/15 10/20 10/23 10/26 10/29 at Ethan 6:15 p.m. at Dell Rapids St. Mary 6:15 p.m. vs. Andes Central-Dakota Christian 6:15 p.m. at Bon Homme 6:15 p.m. vs. Marion 6:15 p.m. vs. Avon 6:15 p.m. vs. Hanson 6:15 p.m. at Centerville 6:15 p.m. vs. Canistota 6:15 p.m. vs. Alcester-Hudson 6:15 p.m. Follow @RogelioUlisesR on Twitter on the court, but what she can do to be a role model to YANKTON the younger players. “I feel like I have to be a FROM PAGE 4 110th), Easton Keuck (So., positive role model for the Girls’ Tennis (0-2) state qualifier, 90th), Hunter 8/22 vs. R.C. Stevens/Watertown younger ones and I want Goehring (So.), Cade Stabe Mimi Garcia and Brenna 0-9 / 0-9 to be a good role model for (Fr.), Nick Nitzschke (So.), 8/28 at Brookings/vs. Aberdeen Becker. Josephine Krajewski, them on and off the court,” Central/Harrisburg 1 p.m. Tim Mingo (Jr.), Adam Bradand Olivia Tennant are eight 8/29 Brookings Jamboree 9 a.m. Kusek said. “If that means shaw (Jr.) 9/4 at Mitchell/vs. Pierre 2 p.m. graders. not swearing or not getting 9/8 at S.F. O’Gorman 4 p.m. NEWCOMERS: Michael The improvement of Kouri upset when I’m not playing 9/10 vs. Vermillion 4 p.m. Murphy (Sr.), Tyler Leif (So.) may help the Gazelles climb 9/11 Brandon Valley Inv. 9 a.m. so well or off the court cheer9/12 at S.F. Roosevelt/ the ranks this season, accord- ing for people.” vs. Aberdeen Roncalli 9 a.m. ing to Kusek. 9/15 at S.F. Lincoln/vs. Mitchell 11 a.m. W hard will also be a pri9/17 at Vermillion 2 p.m. “I think she had lessons ority throughout the season, 9/19 at Mitchell/vs. Spear?sh noon COACH: Tyler Hockett beforehand, but she started 9/21 vs. Brandon Valley/Madison 1 p.m. Kusek said. VITALS: Class A, Region the same year I did when she 9/24 vs. S.F. Washington/ “Working hard and getHarrisburg 2 p.m. 3A was a freshman,” Kusek said. ting better each practice,” 9/26 at Brookings/vs. Milbank 10 a.m. LAST YEAR: Parkston “She has improved a lot more he said. “Playing each other 10/1 ESD (Yankton) 8 a.m. finished 3rd place in the State than I did. She picked it up 10/8-10 State (Sioux Falls & Brandon) and getting more experience 9 a.m. Thur. & Fri./8 a.m. Sat. Tournament as a team. quicker. She’s really good at will help us get better and RETURNING: Jacob Lee doubles and she is aggresbetter.” (So., T9th State); Garret Hohn sive.” ADMIT ONE The Gazelles opened the (Sr., T14 State); Jeff Smithey Although she is the eldest season on Aug. 22, dropping (Sr., T69th State); Alex Scott member of the team, Kusek matches to Watertown and (So., T76th State); Jamie said her biggest contribution Rapid City Stevens. Follow @dhugg23 on TwitSmith (Sr.); Drew Kurtz (Sr.); isn’t simply by what she does ter th Brandon Bruening (8 ) NEWCOMERS: Jon Akre (7th); Logan Hettinger (7th); TJ ANDES CENTRAL-DAKOTA CHRISTIAN Schmidt (7th); Braydon Hurley (8th); Flynn Aldecoa (Fr.); Mar9/24 vs. Freeman Academy (DC) 6:30 p.m. Football Volleyball 9/29 at Colome 6:30 p.m. shall Seppala (Fr.); Tristen (Home Games In Lake Andes) 8/25-27 Hanson Tourn. 5 p.m. 10/5 vs. Corsica-Stickney (DC) 6:30 p.m. 8/28 at Tripp-Delmont-Armour (T) 7 p.m. 9/1 at Bon Homme 6:15 p.m. Mann (Fr.) 10/6 vs. Freeman 6:15 p.m. Parkston 9/11 9/18 9/25 10/2 10/9 10/16 10/22 (8th,F) NEWCOMERS: Dane Allison (Jr., M); Derian Voigt (Jr., M); Eric Fuhrmenn (So., M/D) vs. Scotland at Gayville-Volin vs. Corsica-Stickney at Colome vs. Burke-South Central at Avon vs. Marty 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 9/3 9/8 9/10 9/14 9/15 9/19 9/22 at Avon vs. Parkston (AC) vs. Sunshine Bible (DC) at Platte-Geddes vs. Scotland (AC) Cavalier Clash (Tyndall) vs. Tripp-Delmont-Armour (AC) 6:15 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 8:30 a.m. 6:30 p.m. 10/8 10/13 10/15 10/17 10/19 10/23 10/26 at Wolsey-Wessington (WO) vs. Burke-South Central (AC) at Wagner Eagle Showdown (AC) at Bridgewater-Emery (E) vs. Mitchell Christian (DC) at Gregory 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 9 a.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 2015 SEASON PASS • ADMIT ONE • FOLLOW YOUR TEAM AT WWW.YANKTON.NET FORT RANDALL MERCHANTS STATE BANK “Your Hometown Bank TELEPHONE CO. Since 1899” 605-563-2863 Centerville, SD Freeman • 925-4222 Irene • 263-0170 Hurley • 238-5255 Viborg • 766-4255 Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender www.msb-sd.com FREEMAN ACADEMY BOBCATS Volleyball FREEMAN FLYERS 10/1 10/5 10/6 Ellie Fedders • Yankton Tennis Freeman (605) 925-4510 Bridgewater (605) 729-2744 Menno (605) 387-5641 vs. Viborg-Hurley 6:15 p.m. at Irene-Wakonda 6:15 p.m. vs. Howard 6:15 p.m. at Sanborn Central-Woonsocket (Forestburg) 6:15 p.m. vs. Gayville-Volin 6:15 p.m. at Scotland 6:30 p.m. at Bridgewater-Emery (E) 6:15 p.m. at Tripp-Delmont-Armour (A) 6:15 p.m. at Menno 6:15 p.m. vs. Dakota Valley 3:30 p.m. vs. S.F. Washington (DH) 6 p.m. ESD (Yankton) TBD vs. Jackson (Pipestone) 2 p.m. at Pipestone 3:30 p.m. vs. S.F. Roosevelt (DH) 6 p.m. vs. Watertown (Garretson) 2 p.m. at Garretson 3:30 p.m. TBD TBD State Tourn. at Sioux Falls be a leader on and off the court this year,” said Beste. One thing Beste is looking to develop in this team is depth in the Gazelle’s strong offense. Her goal is to pose a consistent threat to their opponents. “Offensively we are very experienced, but I would like more depth,” said Beste. With the players on her roster, Beste should have no problem building a consistent and deep offense this season. To help achieve this, Beste has been working on getting the defense involved in their attacks as well. “We are working on transitioning out of defense into the offense as quickly as possible,” said Beste. The key to the Gazelle’s success this year will be their ability to keep up their offense and build a consistency that will wear out their opponents. “We are capable of doing many things offensively,” said Beste. be more of a distance race. If Nebraska can do it (go to 5,000 meters for girls), we can too.” Both Coy and Dannenbring said that they expected the move to help their teams. “As coaches, we actually think it is going to help us,” Dannenbring said. “We think we have the ‘X’ factor here in the horse trails. It makes our runners stronger over a longer distance. “We think it is definitely to our advantage.” Heritage VARILEK 8/27 9/1 9/3 9/8 9/13 9/14 9/19 9/20 9/20 9/21 9/27 9/27 9/28 9/29 10/2-3 ADMIT ONE Ashlynn Atwood • Beresford S.D. BOYS’ SOCCER Volleyball Softball (2-0) vs. O’Gorman ccd. vs. Tea Area (SF) W 7-4 vs. Jackson (SF) W 14-2 at S.F. Lincoln (DH) 6 p.m. vs. Lennox 12:30 p.m. vs. Garretson 3:30 p.m. vs. Brandon Valley (DH) 6 p.m. Rapid City Trip TBD at S.F. O’Gorman (DH) 6 p.m. vs. Vermillion 12:30 p.m. FROM PAGE 4 Dakota Valley COACH: Daniel Haggerty VITALS: Class A RETURNING: Ryan Haggerty (Sr., M); Ian Hofer 8/17 8/23 8/23 8/24 8/30 8/30 9/3 9/4-5 9/8 9/13 YHS VB COACH: Cole Knippling (1st year) VITALS: Class A, Region 2, Dakota XII Conference LAST YEAR: The Huskies COACH: Paula Wilson qualified three golfers for VITALS: Class A, Dakota the state tournament. They XII Conference graduated one. RETURNERS: Jacob Wente RETURNING: Connor (Sr.); Ben Kennedy (Sr.); Spen- Henze (Sr., state qualifier, cer Shuey (Jr.); Ryan Jensen Freeman Academy YANKTON GAZELLES Follow @michaelhammond_ on Twitter. S.D. BOYS’ GOLF Beresford Liz Suing • Yankton Cross Country 8/28 9/1 9/10 9/16 9/21 9/23 9/30 10/2 10/7 Beresford Inv. 10 a.m. McCook Central-Montrose Inv. 4:15 p.m. DeSmet Inv. 4 p.m. Flyer Inv. 1 p.m. Bon Homme Inv. 2 p.m. Cornbelt Conf. (Freeman) 1 p.m. Parker Inv. 2 p.m. Lennox Inv. 4 p.m. TVC/Irene-Wakonda Inv. 3 p.m. 2015 SEASON PASS • ADMIT ONE • FOLLOW YOUR TEAM AT WWW.YANKTON.NET 8/25-27 9/3 9/8 9/10 9/12 9/15 9/17 9/21 9/24 Hanson Tourn. 4:30 p.m. at Menno 6:15 p.m. vs. Dell Rapids St. Mary 6:15 p.m. at Hendricks 5:30 p.m. vs. Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 4 p.m. vs. Irene-Wakonda 6:15 p.m. at Baltic/vs. Gayville-Volin 5 p.m. at Alcester-Hudson 6:15 p.m. at Andes Central-Dakota Christian (DC) 6:30 p.m. 9/29 vs. Canistota 6:15 p.m. 10/1-3 Tri-Valley Conf. TBA 10/5 at Marion 6:15 p.m. 10/8 at Centerville 7 p.m. 10/13 vs. Viborg-Hurley 6:15 p.m. 10/15 at Marty 6:15 p.m. 10/17 Eagle Showdown (Lake Andes) 9 a.m. 10/27 at Mitchell Christian 6:30 p.m. 9/14 9/18 9/19 Boys’ Soccer (2-1) Cross Country 9/7 9/11 9/4 9/9 9/12 9/16 9/21 9/26 9/30 10/7 8/14 8/15 8/22 8/25 8/28 8/29 9/1 9/5 vs. Tea Area L 0-1 vs. Mitchell Christian-MV-SC W 9-0 vs. Vermillion W 1-0 at Sioux Falls Christian 6 p.m. at St. Thomas More 6 p.m. at Hot Springs noon at James Valley Christian 6 p.m. at Mitchell Christian-MV-SC (MC) 11 a.m. at Tea Area 6 p.m. at Vermillion 5:30 p.m. 8/28 9/1 vs. James Valley Christian 6 p.m. vs. Southwest Minn. Christian 5 p.m. at Groton Area 3 p.m. Beresford Inv. 10 a.m. McCook Central-Montrose Inv. 4:15 p.m. Augustana Twilight 7:45 p.m. Freeman Academy Inv. 3 p.m. Nike Heartland Preview (SF) 4 p.m. Flyer Inv. 1 p.m. Alcester-Hudson Inv. 4 p.m. Platte-Geddes Inv. 10 a.m. Parker Inv. 2 p.m. TVC/Irene-Wakonda Inv. 3 p.m. 2015 SEASON PASS • ADMIT ONE • FOLLOW YOUR TEAM AT WWW.YANKTON.NET