It was a busy weekend for the South Dakota State marching band.
The Pride of the Dakotas was in Waubay for its band festival Friday morning and then played pre-game shows with both the Aberdeen Roncalli and Aberdeen Central bands and performed halftime shows at the football doubleheader at Swisher Field in Aberdeen Friday night.
Its five buses of members pulled out of Aberdeen at about 9:45 p.m. Friday after about an eight-hour stay in the Hub City. No one seems to know the last time the SDSU band performed in Aberdeen, but I think it was a historic visit. I don't remember the band performing in Aberdeen in my decades here.
But director Jim Coull - who started with the band as a SDSU freshman in 1973 and was the assistant director for 27 years before taking charge in 2010 - and his 203 members got lots of compliments for its performances at Swisher Field. The marching Jacks yelled, danced and played loudly and proudly as they embraced the cold, wind and their new bandmates from Roncalli and Central.
Their energy was inspiring.
SDSU band members from this area are: Mirranda Blumhardt and Stephanie Fritz of Aberdeen; Jenna Dennert of Columbia; Sam Fuchs of Eureka; Nickollette Swanhorst of Groton; Madelin Mack, Megan Voegele and Parker Yost of Redfield; Tamara Giese of Selby; Jonathan Schmit of Bristol; Michelle Gleason of Claire City; and Jordyn Jones of Harrold.
The Pride ended a busy weekend by performing at Saturday's SDSU football game in Brookings.
The Northern State marching band also is well-known for its work with high school bands in the area and state, year in and year out.
To those two hard-working programs, great job!
Some other things I know, or didn't know:
- Organizers of the first psychic fair last week in Sioux Falls say they plan to make the event an annual occurrence. Who could have seen that coming?
- Five of the six children of the Rory and Susan King family of Aberdeen were the Aberdeen Roncalli homecoming lord or lady their senior year. The last of the kids, Dominic King, was king this year.
- Gypsy Day next year is Oct. 5, 2013.
- The South Dakota high school football playoffs are Oct. 23 (first round), Oct. 29 (quarterfinals), Nov. 3 (semifinals), Nov. 8 (9A championship at 11 a.m., 9AA at 2:30 p.m. and 9B at 7:30 p.m.), Nov. 9 (11B at 2:30 p.m. and 11A at 7:30 p.m.); and Nov. 10 (11AA at 7:30 p.m.).
- Oakes had a great football season, finishing at 5-3 and just out of the Region 1A playoffs after being nipped by the region's top seed Enderlin-Maple Valley 20-14 in the final regular-season game.
- Volleyball districts start Oct. 30 with the state tourneys Nov. 15-17 at Rapid City Central (Class AA), the Watertown Civic Arena (A) and the Mitchell Corn Palace (B).
- Here is the schedule for the state cross country meet Saturday at the Broadland Creek Country Club in Huron: girls' Class B at 1 p.m.; girls' A at 1:30 p.m.; boys' B at 2 p.m.; boys' A at 2:30 p.m.; girls' AA at 3 p.m.; B and A awards at 3:30 p.m.; boys' AA at 4:15 p.m.; and AA awards at 4:45 p.m. The girls run 4,000 meters and the boys 5,000.
- Chick-fil-A, Qdoba and Einstein Bros Bagels are scheduled to occupy the food court in the expanded Muenster Student Center that is scheduled to open on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion in 2014.
- South Dakota State senior volleyball libero Shay Birath earned a Summit League player of the week award for her 60 digs in two matches. Her older sister, Raftyn (Birath) Rignell, was the former head volleyball coach at Presentation College and is now an assistant at Southwest Minnesota State.
- It has been a good month for the Sutton Rodeo Company of Onida. Timer Kim Sutton was chosen to be a timer at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas for the third time. Plus, the company won all three categories of the 2012 Badlands Circuit Livestock of the Year with the same animals that won in 2011: 9-year-old Crystalyx was the bareback horse; 8-year-old Chuckulator was the saddle bronc; and 6-year-old Crystal Springs Peach was the bull of the year.
- In March, the pro roping team of Brock Hanson of Casa Grande, Ariz., and Ryan Motes of Weatherford, Texas, tied the world record with a 3.3-second run at the Nacogdoches, Texas, ProRodeo & Steer Show. Turns out that the horse Hanson was riding, RU Drifting Joe, was raised by Ruzsa Quarter Horses near Selby.
John Papendick is the managing news-sports editor for the American News. Reach him at jpapendick@aberdeennews.com.
Blog: aberdeensports.net/inthehuddle.
Twitter:#jpapendick