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Merriam: A look back at the 2021-22 school year for area high school athletes

roger merriam, watertown public opinion
·5 min read
Watertown High School sophomore Jake Olson won the individual championship last October in the state Class AA boys golf tournament. He led the Arrows to a third-place finish in the tournament.
Watertown High School sophomore Jake Olson won the individual championship last October in the state Class AA boys golf tournament. He led the Arrows to a third-place finish in the tournament.

Another South Dakota high school sports season is set to come to a close Tuesday when state golf tournaments conclude in Brookings, Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

It seems likely that between the four state tourneys — Class B boys and girls at Rapid City, Class A girls at Sioux Falls and Class AA girls at Rapid City — there are going to be some area individuals or even teams that end up among the best in the state.

As you may well realize, or at least have heard me say, it's not getting easier for northeastern South Dakota athletes to compete with those from some more populous areas of the state. Yet, it does happen and it happened again in 2021-22.

Here's some area highlights for the past school year:

FALL

• Softball — Not yet a sanctioned high school sport until the spring of 2023, Watertown's club team again competed in the state's Class A ranks. The Arrows concluded a 16-19-1 season with a fourth-place finish at state.

• Golf — The SDHSAA's fall golf season features only Class AA and Class A boys. Watertown sophomore Jake Olson won the state Class AA title to become the Arrows' first individual state champion since 2010. He led the Arrows to a third-place finish.

• Girls Tennis  — Watertown finished fifth in the state AA tournament with top 5 finishes in singles from Jaida Young (third flight), Leyla Meester (fourth flight) and Faith Berg (sixth flight) as well as Ellie Zink-Josie Heyn (No. 1 doubles), Young-Grace Ortmeier (No. 2 doubles) and Meester-Sophia Nichols (No. 3 doubles). Milbank's Hattie Muellenbach finished fourth in the first flight of singles in the state Class A tourney.

• Soccer — Watertown High School's boys and girls are the only area teams that compete in soccer. The Arrows girls opened the Class AA playoffs with a 2-0 win over No. 8 Harrisburg before losing to top-seeded Aberdeen Central 3-0 in the quarterfinals. It was only the second SDHSAA playoff win for Watertown's girls.

• Competitive Cheer-Dance — Sioux Valley continued its dominance by winning the state Class A cheer division for the 15th consecutive year. Watertown's cheer and dance teams each placed seventh in AA.

• Cross Country — Milbank senior standout Nick Batchelor finished second in the Class A boys' race and led the Bulldogs to a third-place finish in the team standings.

Arlington eighth-grader Kaelyn Ulschmid (Class B) and Sioux Valley freshmen Isabelle Bloker (Class A) each finished third in their respective girls division races. Ulschmid led Arlington's girls to a fifth-place finish.

Milbank quarterback Kaden Krause (11) throws a pass over the Madison defender Parker Johnson (46) during the state Class 11A football championship Friday in the DakotaDome. Madison won 31-0.
Milbank quarterback Kaden Krause (11) throws a pass over the Madison defender Parker Johnson (46) during the state Class 11A football championship Friday in the DakotaDome. Madison won 31-0.

• Football — Milbank entered the state's Class 11A playoffs as the seventh seed and made it to the finals in the DakotaDome. A championship loss to Madison couldn't spoil what was the Bulldogs' first trip to the state finals since they won the state Class 11A title in 2009.

• Volleyball — Arlington (Class B) and Hamlin (Class A) each recorded seventh-place finishes in the three-class state tournament at Rapid City in November.

WINTER

• Gymnastics — Deuel and Watertown again led area schools. Deuel finished second in the Class A team competition and Watertown fourth in Class AA.

Deuel's Paige Simon closed out her career by winning the Class A balance beam, uneven bars and all-around championships. Sadie Johnson of Estelline-Hendricks won the Class A floor exercise.

Watertown's Myah Morris wrapped up her career by winning the Class AA vault and taking second in the all-around competition.

Watertown's Sloan Johannsen and Vermillion's Hayden Schroeder compete in the Class A 113-pound championship match at the State Wrestling Tournament on Friday, February 25, 2022, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. Johannsen won 3-2.
Watertown's Sloan Johannsen and Vermillion's Hayden Schroeder compete in the Class A 113-pound championship match at the State Wrestling Tournament on Friday, February 25, 2022, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. Johannsen won 3-2.

• Wrestling — Watertown capped a solid season by finished third in the Class A individual tournament and fourth in the Class A dual team tourney. Kingsbury County qualified for the Class B dual team tourney.

Watertown sophomore Sloan Johannsen capped a 47-0 season by winning the Class A 113-pound title, his second state championship in a row.

Webster Area senior Cael Larson wrapped up a 47-2 season by winning the Class B 138-pound state championship.

• Girls Basketball — It was another solid showing by area teams in girls basketball. Hamlin advanced to the state Class A championship for the second-straight year before falling and De Smet also reached the state B championship before coming up short.

• Boys Basketball — The story was similar in boys basketball when area schools De Smet (Class B) and Sioux Valley (Class A) each returned to state championships.

De Smet won the state B title for the second-straight year. Sioux Valley again ended as the state Class A runner-up.

SPRING

• Boys Tennis — Watertown also notched a fifth-place finish, getting top 5 finishes from Curtis Sneden (second flight), Evan Meester (third flight) and Jadon Lindner (fifth flight) in singles and  Lindner and Zandar Binde (third flight) in doubles.

• Girls Track and Field — Hamlin junior Gracelyn Leiseth capped a remarkable spring by winning the Class A girls' shot put with a state-record toss of 52 feet, 6.75 inches. It was the third time she broke the record this spring and also helped her earn the Class A field events MVP for the second-straight year in the state meet.

Hadley Carlson of Arlington (Class B high jump), Danielle Hawley of Estelline-Hendricks (Class B shot put) and Sadie Johnson of Estelline-Hendricks (Class B pole vault) also won events in the three-day state meet.

Gracelyn Leiseth competes in the shot put finals in the final day of the state track meet on Saturday, May 28, 2022, Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
Gracelyn Leiseth competes in the shot put finals in the final day of the state track meet on Saturday, May 28, 2022, Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.

• Boys Track and Field — Area athletes won seven events in the boys division at the state meet, including Watertown High School sophomore Owen Spartz (pole vault).

Bennett Schwenn of Milbank won the Class A triple jump (45-11.75) for the third time and earned Class A field events MVP honors for the second-straight year. He also ran on the winning 1,600 relay along withy seniors Kaden Krause and Nick Batchelor and sophomore Garrett Mertens.

Tri-State sophomore Kaleb Foltz also had a big meet. He won the Class B 800 (1:59.73) and 1,600 (4:35.01) and also anchored the winning medley (3:45.27) that included seniors Dominick and Jakobe Anderson and junior Grayson Madsen.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Merriam: A look back at the 2021-22 school year for area high school athletes