Twelve gymnastics teams will tumble into Golden Eagles Arena on Saturday.
Aberdeen Central will host its annual Hub City Invitational beginning at noon. Nine of the top 10 teams from last year's State AA Meet will compete along with two Class A teams and an individual gymnast from Warner.
The participating teams are Aberdeen Central, Britton-Hecla, Brookings, Huron, Sioux Falls Lincoln, Mitchell, Milbank, Sioux Falls O'Gorman, Pierre, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Warner, Sioux Falls Washington and Watertown. Mitchell finished second at the invite last season and Watertown won the big meet.
The meet will utilize about 50 workers on Saturday and that does not include the number of helpers who will move the gymnastic apparatus from the gymnastics center and auxiliary center to the arena Friday night.
"It's almost like a state meet in a way," said Aberdeen gymnastics coach Jennifer Deutsch. "We'll see a lot of different judges at the meet."
The judges will be Bobby Fossum, Kelli Helms, Kelli Hanson, Kelsi Heer, Michelle Johnson, Shavonne Mitchell, Lisa Schroeder, Michelle Benike and Rebecca Uhrig.
Aberdeen Central is coming off a strong showing at a home dual meet with Jamestown last week. One of the highlights was Alexis Clark's floor exercise routine. The junior set a new school record on the floor with a 9.30. She broke Adrienne Skaggs' record of 9.283 set in 2009. Clark is hoping to debut a new skill in her vault routine at the Hub City Invitational.
If fans see an Aberdeen gymnast performing a giant swing on the uneven bars, it is probably sophomore Aimee Padgett.
"It's a tough skill. It takes about two years to perfect that skill. You have to have a hand stand before you can do the giants," said Deutsch. "Last year, Aimee did them, but just wasn't as consistent as she is this year. She's looking much stronger with the flow of her routine. Now, we just need to get a couple more requirements in there. We have two or three other gymnasts working on getting to giants."
The Golden Eagles have been working on several elements this week in practice.
Floor exercise: "Our floor looks strong so we'll double check to make sure the connections are there," said Deutsch.
Balance beam: "We need to do a better job of staying on the beam."
Uneven bars: "We have a couple of new skills that are close to being ready. We'll work on getting them into the routine."
Vault: "We'll work on landings a little more. We're very pleased with where we're starting this year."
Sports writer Deb Smith
Class B teams to clash at Aberdeen arena
A pair of boys' and girls' basketball teams are preparing to hold their own doubleheader at the Aberdeen Civic Arena this season.
Herreid-Selby Area and Summit will participate in a twinbill at the legendary facility on Jan. 29.
"We needed a game," said Summit girls' coach Mark Amdahl, "and our boys needed a game."
It turns out that Herreid-Selby Area was in the same situation, so the wheels started turning.
There was a desire to play at a neutral site about halfway between the participating teams to cut down on the length of travel on a school night.
The Civic Arena was available, so it seemed like a natural fit.
"We like the gym," said Amdahl, whose team played there twice last season, once against Aberdeen Christian and once against Warner in the Region 1B championship. "There needs to be more gyms like that around."
Amdahl said the setup is a one-year arrangement.
Interestingly enough, Summit and Herreid-Selby Area have met in girls' basketball in Aberdeen before, during a classic at Wachs Arena. Amdahl can still recall the exact details of that contest, which Summit won in overtime.
Now, the two girls' teams, which are expected to be among the elite in Class B this season, will get a chance to square off once again with the boys' teams to follow.
"I'm sure they're looking forward to it and we're looking forward to it," Amdahl said.
All the pieces appear to be in place for a memorable night of basketball: top-notch programs, a legendary venue, and most likely plenty at stake.
"Whenever you get a good quality team like that (to go against), it's good for the fans, it's good for the players," Amdahl said.
Sports writer Dave Vilhauer
Groton boys start season with busy stretch
By this time next week, the boys' basketball season will barely be a week old and the Groton Tigers will be ready for their fourth game of the campaign.
Groton has a rugged start to its year with four games in the first seven days, three of them coming on the road.
The Tigers host Ipswich on Friday, before road contests against Leola-Frederick on Saturday, Tiospa Zina on Tuesday and Redfield-Doland on Thursday.
"We're kind of in a Catch-22," said veteran Groton coach Greg Kjellsen.
He said the Tigers are not only rushed to get their playbook in, but also have a lot of new faces with only one returning starter on the roster.
"We don't have a senior on our team," Kjellsen said. "It's double tough to not only have to get (the plays) in, it's new stuff to them."
To make matters tougher for the squad, Groton only has eight home games all season, because of a few classics and a couple of combined doubleheaders.
"This year just happens to be our road year," Kjellsen pointed out. "Next year, we'll have more home."
Kjellsen tried to look at the bright side of things from his team's youth to the flurry of games in a short span.
"It's new, but that's what high school sports is," Kjellsen said of his young roster. "Next year, we'll have a bunch back."
Kjellsen also saw a major benefit to the way the schedule is set up this season.
"You can practice all you want, but you really find out where you're at when you play some games," he said.
He pointed out that Groton will have three games under its belt when it faces its first Northeast Conference foe Redfield-Doland.
"We play Redfield basically in a week," Kjellsen said. "It's our fourth game and it's their first. I think it's to our advantage. We have three games to find things that work."
Also new for Kjellsen this season will be his assistant coach, who happens to be his son, Gabe.
"I don't know if it's any different than having an assistant that's not your son," Kjellsen said. "He knows the system and he knows the game."
Kjellsen expects his son to learn a few things in his first coaching stint.
"Any young coach, you find out that you're not the miracle worker," Kjellsen said. "You do the best with what you've got."
Time will tell if the younger Kjellsen will take on the intense demeanor of his father on the sidelines.
"I think he's probably a lot calmer than I am," Kjellsen said.
Sports writer Dave Vilhauer
Different road to state
The elimination of region gymnastics meets for Class A will force a Warner gymnast to use a different route to qualify for the state meet.
Junior Erin Punt is the lone member of the Warner gymnastics team, which is coached by her mother Denise Punt. In the past, Erin has used the region meet to qualify for state. This season, individual gymnasts in Class A can qualify by finishing in the top 50 percent at the team competition on the first day of the state meet on Feb. 15 at Rapid City. Erin does not have a complete team.
Erin will attempt to qualify for the state meet by posting automatic qualifying marks at three meets during the season. The all-around qualifying mark is 31.0 and Erin received a total of 32.50 at the first meet, so her chances look good.
Sports writer Deb Smith
Quickly
On Dec. 27 in a boys' basketball doubleheader at the Aberdeen Civic Arena, Sisseton will play Elk-Point Jefferson at 6 p.m. and Aberdeen Roncalli will play St. Thomas More. The next night at 6 p.m. at the Roncalli gym, the Cavaliers will play Elk Point-Jefferson.
Several Aberdeen gymnasts are currently injured, but have elected to help the team by serving as managers in the meantime. Ashley Dean, Chasity Zomers, Natalie Barclay and Cortlyn Rystrom are trying to return to competition.
The Aberdeen Central wrestling team will host an Eastern South Dakota Conference dual with Huron at the Aberdeen Civic Arena at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2.
Tom Prendergast of Sisseton recently retired from his 62-year coaching career. He is 87.
Former Britton-Hecla standout and Dakota State senior running back John Niesen recently was named to the first team of the Capital One academic All-America college division football team.
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