Roger Merriam
Watertown Public Opinion
April 1, 2026, 3:01 a.m. CT
Here’s some top performers and other highlights from the opening week of the 2026 South Dakota spring high school sports season.
Sure, most of the activities from March 23-30 were indoors but it’s still competition.
Indoor Girls Track
Grace McElroy & Elly Dingsor, Watertown — McElroy won the 3,200-meter run (11:42.84) and Dingor tied for first in the pole vault (11-6) in the Ruth Marske Indoor Invitational on March 28 at Brookings.
Taryn Hermansen, Aberdeen Central — Hermansen won the shot put (43-1) in the Ruth Marske Indoor Invitational and also in the NSU Fuller Invite (43-0.25) on March 23 at Aberdeen.
Sophia Knittel, Ipswich — Knittel won the 55 (7.79) and 200-meter (28.38) dashes and the long jump (15-0.5) in the NSU Fuller Invite.
Jalyssa Hutson & Marley Guthmiller, Ipswich — Hutson won the high jump (4-7.75) and pole vault (10-8.75) in the NSU Fuller Invite. Guthmiller won the 55 hurdles (9.91) and ran on the winning 1,600 relay (4:33.09).
Bentley Bauer, Mobridge-Pollock — Bauer won the 55 dash (7.59), 200 dash (27.55) and long jump (16-6) in the NSU Indoor Invite.
Addison Cassaday, Aberdeen Roncalli — Cassady won the 1,600 run (6:03.29) and ran on the winning 1,600 relay (4:42.51) in the NSU Indoor Invite.
Abby Kjenstad, Great Plains Lutheran — Kjenstad won the high jump (4-7.75) in the NSU Indoor Invite.
Indoor Boys Track
Kyle Hettich and Seth DeRaad, Ipswich — Hettich won the 55 dash (6.59) and 200 dash (23.15) and DeRaad the 55 hurdles (11.47) and long jump (16-11.25) in the NSU Fuller Invite.
Ty Boekelheide, Northwestern — Boekelheide won the 400 dash (55.66) and triple jump (42-9.75) in the Fuller Invite.
Kaleb Claymore, Herreid-Selby Area — Claymore won the 55 dash (6.92) and 200 dash (24.79) in the NSU indoor Invite on March 24.
Braxton Hokana & Aidan Thurber, Ellendale, ND — Hokano won the 400 dash (56.26) and ran on the winning 1,600 relay (3:59.6) and Thurber the 800 (2:03.28) and 1,600 (4:55.29) runs in the NSU Indoor Invite.
Lucas Johnson, Great Plains Lutheran — Johnson won the high jump (6-1.5) in the NSU Indoor Invite.
Jake Burns, Arlington — Burns won the pole vault (12-0) in the Class B Mount Marty Invite on March 26.
Softball
Macy Ingraham, Kadee Frankfurth & Johanna Vandersnick, Clark-Willow Lake — Ingraham went 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBIs in a 15-0 win over Groton Area on March 28. Frankfurth doubled and drove in three runs and Vandersnick also produced three RBIs.
Rylynn Streich & Aubrey Lanners, Deuel — The defending state Class B champion fell to Madison 21-5 and West Central 15-0 in season-opening games on March 28. Streich, who doubled, and Lanners each had two hits against Madison.
Jaynie Sieck & Madalyn Madsen, Arlington — The Cardinals lost to Flandreau 15-7 and beat Alcester-Hudson 19-7 on March 28. Madsen doubled twice and drove in three runs against Flandreau. Sieck went 2-for-2 against Flandreau and drove in four runs with a single and a double against Alcester-Hudson.
Cyndi and Sophia Kudrna, Castlewood — The two sisters each had five hits and combined for three doubles, two triples, six runs and five RBIs in season-opening games against Freeman-Marion/Freeman Academy (won 16-1) and Beresford (lost 9-4) on March 28.
McKinley Schwab, Audrey Murano, Kassidy Smith & Morgan Lemme, Sioux Valley — The Cossacks beat Sioux Falls Christian and lost to Tri-Valley 6-2 on March 28. Schwab drove in three runs with three hits, including a triple and an inside-the-park homer, against SFC and added two hits and also struck out nine batters on the mound against TV. Murano added a double and two singles and Lemme three hits, including a double and a triple, against SFC. Lemme drove in three runs with two hits.
Baseball
Kameron Hauck, Sioux Valley — The Cossacks split season-opening games, losing to Sioux Falls Lincoln 17-2 on March 28 and beat Baltic 17-3 on March 29. Hauck had a run-scoring single against Lincoln and went 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs and also got the win on the mound against Baltic, allowing only two hits with seven strikeouts in four innings.
Hudson Binger, Noah Johnson & Micah Zastrow, Redfield Area — The Muskrats lost to Madison 10-0 and Tri-Valley 11-10 on March 29. Binger went 2-for-2 against Madison. Zastrow hit two doubles and Johnson a triple and a single against Tri-Valley.
Boys Tennis
Dawson Pederson & Aric Tennant Aberdeen Central — The Golden Eagles kicked off their season March 26-28 by going 2-3 in duals at the West River Invite in Rapid City. Pederson went 3-2 at No.1 singles and also 3-2 at No. 1 doubles with his brother Gannon. Tennant went 4-1 at No. 2 singles and 3-2 at No. 2 doubles with partner Wyatt Kiesz.
Liam Voehl and Caleb Stoks, Aberdeen Roncalli — Roncalli also went 2-3 in duals at the West River Invite. Voehl (No. 2) and Stoks (No. 3) each posted two singles wins and also added two wins at No. 2 doubles.
3-Class Shootout
Girls — Class AA topped Class A 100-92 and Class B 103-72 in the 38th 3-Class Shootout All-Star basketball games on March 28 at Salem. Class AA MVP Alyvia Padgett of Brandon Valley had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Class A and 14 points against Class B. Class A MVP Ashlan Carlow-Blount of Mahpiya Luta finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Area players Blake Thompson of Mobridge-Pollock (eight points, four rebounds, three assists) and Amari Ward of Sioux Valley (five points, four rebounds, four assists) played for Class A. Hazel Luethmers of De Smet was the Class B MVP with 20 points and eight rebounds. Hadlee Holt of Iroquois-Lake Preston added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Boys — Class AA topped Class A 127-110 and Class B 124-117. Class AA MVP Sam DeGroot of Sioux Falls Lincoln tallied 15 points and nine rebounds against Class A and 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists against Class B. Class A MVP Trey Hansen of Vermillion had 32 points and Class B MVP Holden Wollmann of Bridgewater-Emery 20 points and six assists. Area players Keegen Tracy (16 points, nine rebounds) and Ryder Johnson (two points, seven rebounds) of Groton Area played for Class A. Chance Schoenfeld of Deubrook Area (13 points, six rebounds) and Grant Wilkinson of De Smet (eight points, seven rebounds) played for Class B. Ayuel Deng of Brandon Valley won the dunk contest.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
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