Faulkton is no longer able to field a cross country team, but that has not stopped the city from playing a major role on the cross country scene.
A total of 17 teams will descend upon the Carousel City on Sept. 25 to compete in the Lakeside Country Club Invitational at 1 p.m.
When Faulkton dropped its program about five years ago, the schools that had come to the meet approached Faulkton athletic director Craig Cassens about the possibility of continuing to host the event.
"They said, 'We love to run here. It's one of the best places to run,' " Cassens said.
After talking it over with the country club and other coaches, a decision was made to carry on the tradition of Faulkton hosting a meet.
"What makes it possible are the neighboring schools and the coaches willing to help out running the meet," Cassens said.
This year's field will include Aberdeen Roncalli, Aberdeen Christian, Ipswich, Lower Brule, Warner, Northwestern, Kimball, Miller, Highmore-Harrold, Potter County, Wolsey-Wessington, Sunshine Bible, Herreid-Selby Area, Sully Buttes, James Valley Christian, Leola and Frederick.
Cassens said that while Faulkton is unable to currently host a team, the event helps the community because runners and fans spend money on gas and food items while in town.
Faulkton has a rich tradition in cross country, having won three girls' State B championships. Cassens said that the numbers in other events such as football, volleyball and competitive cheer are solid this fall. He also hopes that Faulkton will some day be able to field cross country teams again, which was a strong motivator in continuing to host a meet.
"We basically did that more or less as a place-holder," Cassens said, noting that dates are really competitive in a sport like cross country. "We kind of wanted to keep that date on the calendar."
Sports writer Dave Vilhauer
Weekend's Elliott Extravaganza combines competition, camaraderie
Make no mistake, this is about tennis. But the Elliott Extravaganza is also about building camaraderie between the players, the teams and the tennis family. The event, now in its 18th year, is hosted by Aberdeen Central in conjunction with Roncalli High School.
"It's a very competitive day of tennis," said Aberdeen Central head coach Lisa Link. "But we also bring in a component of socialization and comraderie."
What started as an annual quadrangular has grown into an eight-team affair and will effectively take up every tennis court in town beginning at 9 a.m. Friday with the varsity singles competition. Flights 1, 2 and 3 will compete at the NSU Courts; Flights 4 and 5 at Holgate Middle School and Flight 6 at Melgaard Park.
Varsity teams will reconvene at 1 p.m. for doubles competition at the NSU courts, while the junior varsity and middle school athletes will compete at the Holgate and Melgaard Park courts, respectively.
"I think it was my second or third year (as head coach) that I said, 'Let's turn this into, in recognition of Burt (Elliott, long-time Central tennis coach), the Elliott Extravaganza and invite four more teams and make a whole day of it,'" said Link. "So that's what we did."
This year's competing teams include Huron, Milbank, Pierre, Rapid City Central, Rapid City Stevens and Watertown.
While the participating teams can fluctuate from year to year, the popularity of the event means that a one-year hiatus is usually the limit.
"I get a lot of teams that will call or text and ask if they can get into this tournament," said Link.
The event is named in honor of Elliott, who coached at Central for more than 30 years and stressed the social side of competition during his tenure with the Golden Eagles. Elliott will be in attendance at this year's event, and will most likely be found manning the grill.
Sports writer Jacque Scoby
Roncalli hosts annual meet
Aberdeen will host its final high school cross country meet of the season today when the Roncalli Invitational takes place at Lee Park Golf Course.
Action is set to start at 3:30 p.m. with the girls' middle school race, followed by the boys' middle school, girls' junior varsity, boys' junior varsity, girls' varsity and boys' varsity. A Munchkin Run will take place at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Teams expected to participate include Aberdeen Central JV, Aberdeen Christian, Aberdeen Roncalli, Britton-Hecla, Groton, Herreid-Selby Area, Northwestern, Milbank, Potter County, Redfield-Doland, Sisseton, Summit, Warner and Webster.
ˆSports writer Dave Vilhauer
Rise and shine
The long days and short rest that go along with the season are preparing high school golfers for what lies ahead.
Aberdeen Central recently completed a two-day trip that saw the Golden Eagles compete in back-to-back tournaments in Yankton and Brookings. Learning to play on short rest after traveling all day and a night in a motel is a positive experience the kids can draw on later, said Central coach Kurt Drube.
"That's a part of why we do these back-to-back tournaments," Drube said. "It gives kids the experience of maybe not being comfortable at night when they have to get up early the next day."
The start time at the Brookings Invitational was 8 a.m., so golfers had to be rested up to get on the links bright and early.
Sports writer Shawn Werre
Trojans off to good start
When you play in a conference that features volleyball powers Warner and Northwestern, sometimes it's easy to get overlooked, but the Faulkton Trojans have bolted out of the blocks quickly this fall.
Faulkton has won four of its five matches despite playing the likes of traditionally solid squads Sully Buttes, Eureka-Bowdle, Hitchcock-Tulare and Potter County.
"We're off to a great start this season," said Faulkton coach Shae Stephenson. "We've got a tough beginning of our season. The girls have done a great job of everybody playing their roles."
Stephenson said expectations were high after the team returned five of its six starters from last season. Not only that, but the girls have put in the time working to get better and are now reaping the rewards.
"Now, it's all really gelled together. We have a very strong six that we put on the floor every night," Stephenson pointed out. "They know what their job is and what they have to do to be successful."
The Trojans will get tested once again as they play Miller this evening and then head to a tournament in Lake Preston that features State B runnerup Arlington as well as a host of Class A schools.
While many other squads have already played from 12 to 15 matches, Stephenson prefers to start slow and build momentum as the season goes along.
"We just like to move our tournaments toward the middle where we can really push (the girls)," Stephenson said, "and work on their skill that we need to have perfected by the end of the season."
Sports writer Dave Vilhauer
Quickly
Rapid City Stevens standout Tamara Gorman recently became the first American girl to win the ITU World Junior Elite Triathlon in London.
Hitchcock-Tulare will be hosting a Think Pink Night against Miller on Sept. 26. The match will take place in Tulare.
If you have an idea for Prep Plus, please send an e-mail to jpapendick@aberdeennews.com or call and leave a message at (605) 622-2323 or 1-800-925-4100, ext. 323.