Ten athletes from Watertown and Aberdeen Central have been named to the 2026 All-Eastern South Dakota Conference Competitive Cheer and Dance Teams released on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Seniors Ashlynn Andrews, Kendra Buchholz, Lyric Diedrich and Madison Giang each earned All-ESD cheer honors and juniors Avery Meyer and Emory Whetsel and sophomore Ariya Norton All-ESD dance honors for Watertown. Andrews, Buchholz, Meyer and Whetsel each repeated from 2025.
Aberdeen Central honorees include seniors Payten Goldade (cheer) and Alexis Johnson and Courtney Haverkamp (dance). Johnson also made the team last fall.
Harrisburg cheer and Brandon Valley dance won ESD titles.
The 20th SDHSAA Competitive Cheer & Dance Championships are set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24 at Rapid City. Class A schools compete on Friday and Class AA schools on Saturday.
- Other All-ESD Cheer — Seniors: Logan Grygiel, Kendis Sackreiter and Mija Koolmo of Brookings; Piper Fridrich and Brooklyn Gale of Harrisburg; Allyra Kerlin and Eh Dah Paw of Huron; Cetia Wright of Mitchell; Graceanna O'Neill of Pierre; Tessa Brech, Hailee Slattery and Emersyn Cauwels of Tea Area; and Quinn Brinkman, Ava Dryden and Mariam Touray of Yankton. Juniors: Tyanna McClemans and Avah Osterkamp of Brookings, Lexi Huggins of Harrisburg, Sarah Wilson of Tea Area and Tayla Klapperich of Yankton. Sophomores: Noraa Wipf of Brandon Valley, Madeline Hoff and Kenley Namanny of Harrisburg and Jozel Kok of Mitchell. Eighth-graders: Presley Baloun of Harrisburg, Hannah Werkmeister of Mitchell and Tayah Stanford of Tea Area. Fridrich, Gale, Hoff, Dah Paw, Brech, Cauwels, Brinkman and Touray also repeated from 2025.
- Other All-ESD Dance — Seniors: Hayden Poppe and Matalie Waters of Brandon Valley, Brooklyn Schlimgen of Mitchell, Ella Rood of Tea Area and Bethany Huff, Mayla Linke and Brecken Poppe of Yankton. Juniors: Addison Borchardt and Brianna Garry of Brandon Valley; Rylee Alves of Huron; Theo Briggs, Kenzleigh Griffin and Madi Moon of Mitchell; Jaylen Dog Eagle, Bristol Humphrey, Erin Maher and Brystol Miller of Pierre; and Avery Portillo and Marla Sayler of Yankton. Sophomores: Lauren Peterson and Ainsley Weatherill of Brandon Valley and Eden Crissinger and Gabriella Sturges of Harrisburg. Freshmen: Kiley Rutten and Cambree Stein of Harrisburg. Eighth-Graders: Angelle Plueger of Brookings and Elyse Lorenzen of Harrisburg. Poppe and Waters are repeat selections. Dog Eagle made the All-ESD dance team in 2025.
Academic All-State Cross Country
Forty-six area athletes have been named to the South Dakota Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches Association (SDCCTFCA) 2026 Cross Country Academic All-State team.
To qualify, a student-athlete must be a senior, have participated in cross country as an athlete or manage for at least three years and maintained a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher.
Area honorees include:
- Aberdeen Central — Carson Urlacher, Max Nelson, Allison Brenner, Khloe Cochran, Elsa Schiferl, Aspen Kline and Lilly Flood.
- Arlington — Madalyn Madsen and Addison Marone.
- Castlewood — Nolan Eidson.
- Clark-Willow Lake — Hadley Gjerde.
- De Smet — Jordan Botkin.
- Deuel — Caden Hourigan, Tyson Hagberg, Sutton Benck, Amelia Giese, Alexis Sodren and Shyla Tvedt.
- Faulkton Area — Korbin Stark and Cole Noon.
- Frederick Area — Titus Kippley.
- Great Plains Lutheran — Chloe Berg, Sam Manian, Titus Hofinga, William LaBerge, Milo Schumacher and Marcus Kratz.
- Milbank — Beckham Berry, Liam Heller, Jeter Scoular, Zayda Townsend and Macy Mueller.
- North Central — Drew Arbach, Noah Ingerson and Grace Roth.
- Northwestern — Ty Boekelheide and Tara Blachford.
- Sisseton — Ryder Graff.
- Tri-State — Tucker Steffens and Cobin Raguse.
- Watertown — Dane Stark, Kathryn McElroy, Grace List, David Peterson and Addison Reichling.
- Webster Area — Grady Wagner.
Minnesota Cross Country
MADISON, MN — Karissa Anderson of Border West and Lac qui Parle Valley-Dawson-Boyd won girls division titles in the Camden Conference meet on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at the Madison Country Club.
Anderson won the girls' 5,000-meter race in 18:42.7. Mya Pesek of Canby-Minneota took third, Lilly Lovgren of Ortonville fourth and Laura Schreier of LqPV-DB fifth in the race. LqPV-DB edged Canby-Minnesota for the team title.
Collin Rosendahl of LqPV-DB took fourth to lead area runners in the boys' 5,000.
SDSU's Jake Olson wins another tourney
DES MOINES, IA — Junior Jake Olson of Watertown helped the South Dakota State men's golf team close out the fall portion of its season on a high note at the Zach Johnson Invitational on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Olson won medalist honors and the Jackrabbits made up an 11-stroke deficit on the final round to tie for first place.
Olson finished the tourney with an 8-under par 205, matching the best 54-hole scorecard in program history. The junior also won K-State's Wildcat Invitational earlier this fall, making him the second Jackrabbit in the Division I era and first since 2013-14 to win multiple events in the same season.
"I'm obviously extremely proud of the whole team, but what a fall season by Jake," SDSU head coach Parker Edens said. "To win a college tournament very difficult but to do it twice in the fall season is special. He's been so patient with his process and his mental toughness is something he should be so proud of."
Dakota State Hall of Fame
MADISON — Sioux Valley graduate and Deubrook Area coach Rachelle (Lengkeek) DeBeer and Willow Lake native Lynn Schuett are members of the 2026 Dakota State Athletics Hall of Fame Class honored that honored on Oct. 9.
DeBeer competed in volleyball and indoor/outdoor track and field at DSU before graduating in 1997, helping lead the Trojans to three consecutive South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) outdoor track titles from 1995-97. She was named DSU's 1993 Volleyball Rookie of the Year, earned outdoor track All-SDIC honors and track MVP recognition in 1994 and established a school record of 15.0 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and was named Dakota State's Female Athlete of the Year in 1995.
In 1996, she qualified for the 1996 NAIA national indoor meet in the 55-meter hurdles and national outodoor meet in both the 100 and 400 hurdles. She also helped establish a school record in the 400 relay earned All-SDIC honors in volleyball.
Her senior season included another series of accomplishments. DeBeer helped DSU win 1997 SDIC indoor team championship, earning All-SDIC honors and qualify for indoor nationals in the pentathlon and 55-meter hurdles and outdoor nationals in the 100 and 400 hurdles. She also contributed to school records in the medley, 800 and 1,600 relays.
DeBeer carried her passion for athletics into a lengthy career in education and coaching. She compiled a 496-395 career volleyball coaching record and took three teams to state tournaments. In track and field, she was named the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Girls Track Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2019 and led Deubrook Area to three-straight state Class B titles from 2017-19.
Schuett, a 1978 DSU graduate, earned numerous honors in football and track at DSU. He was a three-time All-SDIC first-team honoree in football from 1976-78 and also earned NAIA All-District 12 first team recognition in 1977 and 1978.
His collegiate success followed an accomplished prep career that included first-team all-state honors in football and back-to-back state Class B shot put titles in track (1974 and 1975).
After Dakota State, Schuett spent 36 years working in higher education and public schools across South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Colorado. His career included 30 years coaching football at the college and high school levels.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Jake Olson, Dakota State hall of famers also provide recent highlights