LOCAL SPORTS 3-6-23

The Yankton Bucks defeated the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles 65-52 on Saturday in a Class AA SoDak 16 matchup to qualify for the state tournament for the 6th straight season.

Rugby Ryken led the Bucks with 21 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. Mac Ryken (19) and Michael Mors (13) also scored double digits for the Bucks.

Yankton will meet Sioux Falls Washington in the opening round of the state tournament on Thursday, March 16th, at 2:45 PM. All games will take place at The Monument in Rapid City.

The Mount Marty Lancers competed in the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships over the weekend, with a pair of Lancers finishing high in the events.

Mason Schleis led MMU as he took home 3rd place in the men’s heptathlon, with his teammate Seth Wiebelhaus right behind him in 4th. In the lone field event for the Lancers, Grace Rippen took 19th in the women’s pole vault clearing a height of 3.52m. No Lancer runners advanced past the prelims on Friday as the top 8 advanced to the finals in each event. Marcus Jnofinn was the highest Lancer finisher as he posted the 10th fastest time in the men’s 60m prelims.

In other preliminary round finishes, Jonathan Fuselier placed 11th in the men’s 60m hurdles, Nathan Simons finished 16th in the men’s 600m run, Calli Davis had the 19th fastest time in the women’s 400m, Donovan Breckenridge took 20th in the men’s 400m, and Ashniee George finished 38th in the women’s 60m hurdle.

The Indoor Track and Field season is officially over for the Lancers, but the outdoor season is around the corner, with the first meet set for Friday March 24th, at Wayne State in Nebraska.

The Mount Marty Lancers baseball team were in Atchison, Kansas over the weekend, as they faced off with Benedictine College in a 4-game series.

The Lancers would go (3-1) over the series, sweeping the Saturday games 13-10 and 5-2, but splitting the Sunday slate, falling 4-3 in game one, and winning 6-4 in game two. MMU now holds a (12-3) record on the year.

Next up for the Lancers is a double header against Waldorf in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday. First pitch of game one is set for 10:30 AM.

The Mount Marty Lancers Softball team are (5-7) on the year after playing 4 games in Wichita, Kansas over the weekend.

The Lancers would fall to York University 10-9, and MidAmerica Nazarene University 7-4. MMU would also split a pair of games with Avila University, losing game one 12-6 and winning game two 8-7.

The Lancers are back in Kansas this Friday as they travel to McPherson to meet Mayville State at 11:15 AM, and Evangel University at 3:45 PM.