LOCAL SPORTS 5-31-23

The Yankton Gazelles softball team will receive a send off this morning as they hit the road to Aberdeen ahead of tomorrow’s opening round of the class AA state tournament.

            The team will depart Yankton High School at 9:30 AM, and head toward 21st street before the team bus starts the journey to Aberdeen via highway 81.

            The Gazelles will compete in the first game of the state tournament, as they will meet top seeded Sioux Falls Lincoln tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM in Aberdeen.

South Dakota Softball State Tournament Brackets (Opening Round June 1st):

Class AA Opening Round Bracket:

  • #1 Sioux Falls Lincoln vs #8 Yankton
  • #2 Harrisburg vs #7 Brandon Valley
  • #3 Brookings vs #6 O’Gorman
  • #4 Sioux Falls Jefferson vs #5 Sioux Falls Washington.

Class A Opening Round Bracket:

  • #1 Dell Rapids vs #8 Lennox
  • #2 West Central vs #7 Beresford
  • #3 Dakota Valley vs #6 Elk Point-Jefferson
  • #4 Madison vs #5 Tea Area

Class B Opening Round Bracket:

  • #1 Alcester-Hudson vs #8 Hanson
  • #2 Arlington vs #7 Viborg-Hurley
  • #3 Castlewood vs #6 Deuel
  • #4 Bon Homme vs #5 Gayville-Volin

Today is opening day for Yankton Post 12 legion baseball, as they host Aberdeen in a double header at Riverside Field.

Yankton baseball finished their spring season with a 13 and 6 overall record, as most of their core transitions to the legion team, along with multiple fresh faces following the conclusion of the high school spring athletics season.

Pregame coverage on KYNT and KYNTV will begin at 2:30 PM, with first pitch set for 3:00. Bryce Ladwig and Brayden Butler will be on the call.

The Bon Homme Cavaliers baseball team saw their spring season come to an end last night as they fell in the class B state title game to Tea Area 13 to 2.

The Cavaliers began their afternoon with a 5 to 0 shutout of Dell Rapids before turning around and meeting the Titans, who had a few hours of rest following their semi-final win over Dakota Valley.

Bon Homme end the year as the state runner-ups in class B, with a 16 and 1 record.

The University of South Dakota women’s track and field team is ranked 22nd in the country in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

This comes a week after the Coyotes women’s team qualified a program record 6 athletes for the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. USD is the only Summit League school to send any women’s athletes to the National Championships, and their six qualifiers are the most for a mid-major program. Competing for the Coyote women will be:

  • Danii Anglin in the high jump.
  • Gen Hirata (Jen Her-ah-tuh), Cassidy Mooneyhan, and Marleen Mülla in the pole vault.
  • Lydia Knapp in the hammer throw.
  • Jacy Pulse in the 400-meter hurdles.

            The National Championships will be held in Austin, Texas from June 7th through the 10th.

            A pair of University of South Dakota alumni placed top-5 in the men’s and women’s pole vault competitions at the LA Grand Prix over the weekend.

            Chris Nilsen finished 3rd in the men’s competition, clearing a height of 18 feet, 8 and three-quarter inches, just behind event winner and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Mondo Duplantis of Sweden. Nilsen, a member of the USD class of 2020, was a three-time national champion for the Coyotes.

            On the women’s side, Emily Grove placed 5th with a clearance of 14 feet, 5 and one-half inches. Grove, a 2017 graduate, was a six-time all-american as a Coyote, and she still holds the outdoor school record in the pole vault.