SUNDAY'S BRIEFS: Mitchell High School gymnastics does not attend ESD Conference Meet because of bad weather

The Mitchell High School gymnastics team was unable to attend the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet Saturday in Aberdeen because of bad weather.

Mitchell coach Audra Rew said the team left at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning for the meet, which was scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m., but the roads were not travelable.

“We got outside of town and we were going very slow and fishtailing,” Rew said. “We just missed the window of opportunity to get there safely.”

Mitchell is scheduled to compete Friday at the Region 3AA Meet in Aberdeen.

“When you look at the scores that teams posted (Saturday), we could have been at a solid third place, which is where I would have expected us to be,” Rew said. “You have to look at it as a positive because we’re all safe.

“Our girls got a weekend off while everyone else was going hard, so it was meant to be.”

For complete results from the ESD meet, see the South Dakota section on this page.

Geppert qualifies for nationals

By The Daily Republic

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Junior heavyweight Josh Geppert became the fourth Dakota Wesleyan wrestler to qualify for the NAIA nationals Saturday in Sioux City.

Geppert went 2-2 and finished in the top three at the Briar Cliff University Open in Sioux City, Iowa.

Geppert, a Plankinton native, won his first match by decision 8-4, but Spencer Bauer pinned Geppert in his second match. Bauer went on to win the heavyweight bracket. Geppert’s second win was a pin in the consolation round.

Richard Rios was Dakota Wesleyan’s high finisher as he claimed third place at 133 pounds. Rios’ only loss of the day was a 14-4 major decision to the eventual champion Omi Acosta. Rios is already qualified for the national tournament.

DWU track sets two meet records

By The Daily Republic

The Dakota Wesleyan track and field team set two meet records at the Dennis Young Invitational on Saturday at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Sophomore Alyssa Christianson broke the meet’s 200-meter record with a time of 26 seconds. Christianson also had a hand in breaking the 800-meter relay record with teammates Tamika Irvin, Audrey Wipf and Natalie Munger as the team had a time of 1:45.51.

DWU also had athletes compete at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.

Alex Liberty took fifth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:28.35 and fifth in the men’s heptathlon with 3,758 points.

NFL honors Vikings’ Williams

By The Daily Republic

The NFL announced just before kickoff for Super Bowl XLV that Minnesota Vikings safety Madieu Williams won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Williams was not in attendance at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as he is overseas visiting troops in Iraq.

Since joining the Vikings in 2008, Williams has been involved with charities such as the North Community YMCA, the United Way and Havest Prep/Seed Academy.

Marlin boys split games in Duluth

By The Daily Republic

DULUTH — The Mitchell Marlins boys’ hockey team split its last two games Saturday at a tournament in Duluth, Minn.

Mitchell defeated Grand Rapids (Minn.) 5-2 in the Marlins’ first game Saturday. Both Spencer Lawrence and Austin Loes had a goal and three assists each, CJ Carlson had two goals and Lee Waldow added a goal.

Burnsville (Minn) defeated Mitchell 6-4 in the second game Saturday. Loes had two goals and Waldow and Lawrence each scored a goal. Dillon Milles made 29 saves.

Marlin girls win a pair of weekend

By The Daily Republic

The Mitchell Marlins girls’ hockey team earned two victories of the weekend.

Mitchell beat Watertown 7-4 Saturday at George C. Maas Arena in Watertown. Watertown was up 4-3 at the end of the second period.

Lindsey Lawrence and Haley Stahl both scored two goals, and Camie Rauscher, Anna Rice and Kylie Barrington all had one goal.

Hannah Spates had a shutout Sunday in the Marlins’ 8-0 win over Sioux Falls at the Mitchell Ice Arena and Morgan Griebel had a hat-trick.

USF men fall to Concordia U.

By The Daily Republic

SEWARD, Neb. — The University of Sioux Falls men’s basketball team fell 71-66 at Concordia University on Saturday afternoon.

Scotland High School graduate Skyler Bloch had eight points and three rebounds and Parkston native David Maxwell had seven points for USF.

Baxa’s jumper wins it for USF women

By The Daily Republic

SEWARD, Neb. — University of Sioux Falls senior Chelsa Baxa, a Herrick native, hit a jumper with six seconds remaining to defeat Concordia University 83-81 on Saturday.

The jumper gave Baxa a season-high 21 points for the game and also marked the senior’s 1,000th career point.

Rotert, Young help Jacks to victory

By The Daily Republic

SHREVEPORT, La. — Salem native Kristin Rotert scored a game-high 18 points to help the South Dakota State University women’s basketball team beat Centenary (La.) 83-50 on Saturday.

Rotert has 1,331 career points and is three points away from tying for 16th all-time in SDSU history.

Mitchell native Jill Young scored nine points, including her 194th career 3-pointer. Young is tied for fourth on the Jackrabbits all-time 3-pointers made list.

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