Aug. 1: SDSU football captains for the 2024 season: Adam Bock (Solon, IA); Mark Gronowski (Naperville, IL); Dalys Beanum (Omaha, NE); Jarod DePriest (Trivoli, IL); Gus Miller (Brookings) and Tucker Large (Sioux Falls Roosevelt). That means with Miller and Large as two of the captains, the Jacks will take to the field this fall for the 11th season in a row led by at least one team captain from South Dakota. Since 2016, 16 of the Jacks’ 44 captains have been from South Dakota: Mason McCormick of Sioux Falls Roosevelt in 2023 and 2022; McCormick, Wes Genant of Parkston and Xavier Ward of Freeman in fall 2021; Genant and Preston Tetzlaff of Brookings in spring 2021; Evan Greeneway of Yankton in 2019; Dalton Cox of Aberdeen Roncalli in 2018; Taryn Christion of Sioux Falls Roosevelt in 2018; Christion and Dallas Goedert of Britton in 2017; Shayne Gottlob of Salem in 2016; and Nick Mears of Milbank in 2016.
Aug. 3: USD graduate Chris Nilsen, one of the world’s best pole vaulters, competed in his second Olympics. Nilsen finished second to earn a silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. At the 2024 Paris games, however, he came up short of making the final.
Aug. 5: Since mid-October 2022, nothing has changed in the Football Championship Subdivision polls. That is how long two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State has been sitting atop the Top 25. On Monday when the first poll of the 2024 season came out, the Jacks were again No. 1. USD was rated fifth.
Aug. 5: After sweeping its three opponents in pool play, Sioux Falls native Taryn Kloth and her beach volleyball partner Kristen Nuss were defeated by a Canadian team in the round of 16 to end their Olympic run.
Aug. 6: One of history’s best pole vaulters, American Katie Moon, finished second at the Paris Olympics to win the silver medal. She earned the gold medal at the 2021 Toyko Olympics. Moon of Olmsted Falls (OH) is only the second Team USA women’s pole vaulter to ever earn two Olympic medals (Jennifer Suhr took silver in 2008 and gold in 2012). Moon is coached by former world champion and two-time Olympian Brad Walker, who was born in Aberdeen (SD) and lived there until age 2.
Aug. 6: Elk Point-Jefferson defeated Parkston 5-2 to win the State B American Legion Baseball Championship. EPJ had not won the state baseball title since 1956 when Elk Point won the title. Keaton Gale had a two-run double and teammate Brody Van Roekel was the winning pitcher. Gale was the tourney MVP and Big Stick winner for the best batting average in the tourney.
Aug. 7: Even though he didn’t make the mistake 24 years ago, Watertown Public Opinion sports editor Roger Merriam made it right. Merriam recently posted a historical golf piece about area high school golf memories. He ran a picture from Fall 2000 that ran in the newspaper. The cutline then, and when Roger re-ran the photo, incorrectly identified the person in the photo as Watertown High School golfer Stuart Stein. The family tried to get a correction 24 years ago when it originally ran. For some unknown reason, the correction never happened. So Merriam reran a correct photo of Stein and told readers the story.

Aug. 9: Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands finished seventh in the women’s heptathlon at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Oosterwegel won a bronze medal in the event. Also at the the Tokyo Olympics Emma’s sister, Hanneke Oosterwegel, competed for the Netherlands in the 4×400 relay. Hanneke is a 2019 Northern State graduate who was a three-time All-American for the Wolves.
Aug. 9: In the opening round of the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell, Canova defeated Lesterville 11-0 in Mitchell. Justin Miller had three hits and five RBIs and teammate Trey Krier was the winning pitcher, throwing 56 strikes out of 67 pitches. Canova defeated Lesterville 4-0 last year for the State B title.
Aug. 9: SDSU officials announced that the homes of Jackrabbit baseball and softball will have synthetic turf installed at both facilities ahead of each program’s 2025 seasons. The turf installation project will be completely privately funded thanks to a lead gift from Kevin and Cynthia Moriarty, along with a significant gift from GeoTek Engineering. Turf installation begins this month. 
Aug. 11: Northern State graduate Dakotah (Bullen) Lindwurm finished 12th in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Lindwurm, the top American finisher, was in third halfway through the race and was leading during mile 15. Lindwurm told “Runner’s World” leading the race “was pretty cool. And then, man, I mean, they closed hard.” Lindwurm finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 24 seconds. Dutch runner Sifan Hassan won in an Olympic record time of 2:22.55. Former Augustana standout, Meritxell (Delgado) Soler, finished 25th in the race as a member of Team Spain. She was the first Augie athlete to compete in the Olympics and was coached by Redfield native Tracy Hellman (director of Augie cross country/track and field).
A little extra NSIC history: On May 8, 2015, at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track Championships in Sioux Falls, Leah Seivert of Augustana won the 10,000 meters with Sasha Hovind of Northern State second. Third was Meritxell Delgado of Augie and fourth was Dakotah Bullen of NSU. The following day in the 5,000 meters, the order of finish was the same. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference had three other former athletes competing at the Olympics and one current athlete. Former Winona State track & field national champion, Mary Theisen-Lappen, finished fifth in women’s weightlifting at 81 kgs. Former Minnesota State-Mankato standout Emmanuel Matadi (Team Liberia) advanced to the men’s 100-meter semifinals while Mankato’s Denisha Cartwright (Team Bahamas) competed in the 100-meter hurdles. Matadi also was a member of Team Liberia’s 4×100-meter relay team as was current Mankato standout Jabez Reeves.
Aug. 11: Four Corners defeated Crofton (NE) 13-10 in the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell. In the third inning, Four Corners scored eight runs. In the bottom of the third, Crofton scored 10 runs, featuring a grand slam by James Kaiser. Garrett Stout of Four Corners later hit a two-RBI triple that produced the game-winning run. It was Four Corners’ first state tourney win since 2019 (13-11 over Madison) when the winners scored nine runs in the fifth inning.
Aug. 11: Dimock-Emery had a rally for the ages as it defeated Castlewood 8-7 in the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell. The D/E Raptors were trailing 7-3 in the bottom of the ninth, had two outs, the bases were empty and batter Doug Sudbeck had two strikes on him. Sudbeck would draw a walk, and Jason Schmidt later singled with the bases loaded in a play that scored two. Phil Johnson then doubled to tie the game. And Sam Pischke’s single scored Johnson, the game-winning run.  

Aug. 12: The Platte Killer Tomatoes defeated Alexandria 3-2 in 10 innings to advance to the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament quarterfinals in Mitchell. Hunter Hewitt had a walk-off homer for Platte.
Aug. 13: NSU senior Megan Fastenau was named the NSIC pre-season offensive player of the year. The 2023 all-conference player was also an all-region honoree last season. She is an Aberdeen Central graduate, where she was a four-year starter, a three-time all-conference player and two-time all-state player who had 11 career game-winning goals.
Aug. 13: Augustana Hall of Famer Ken Kessinger (May 2, 1925-Aug. 13, 2024) died at age 99. The Sioux Falls resident earned 12 letters in three sports (football, basketball and track) for the Vikings. The former high school and college educator/coach was a member of numerous other halls of fame: North Central Conference, YMCA Tri-State, SD Amateur Baseball, SD Senior Games, Howard Wood Relays, Chamberlain High School and SF Washington.
Aug. 15: Former Dakota State All-American football player Jim Janssen (May 30, 1957-Aug. 15, 2024) died at age 67. The 1975 Castlewood graduate had his best college seasons in 1977 and 1978. In 1977, he helped the Trojans win the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference title and earn a 10-0 record. In 1978, Janssen broke three school records (rushing attempts for a game, 46; rushing yards for a game, 294; and rushing yards in a season, 1,370) that have yet to be broken as of 2024.
Aug. 15: Platte advanced in the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell with a walk-off win for the second straight game. The Killer Tomatoes rallied to defeat Hartford/Humboldt 8-7 after starting the ninth inning behind 7-4. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Platte’s Michael Buitenbos singled to make it 7-6. Sheldon Grant tied the game with another RBI single. And with two outs, Mason Townsend singled to score Set Muth with the winning run.
Aug. 17: Dell Rapids Pabst Blue Ribbon used great pitching performances by Brayden Pankonen (five shutout relief innings allowing zero baserunners) and Trey Randel to defeat Garretson 5-3 in 12 innings to advance to the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament championship. Pankonen also had two hits, including the game-winning RBI in the top of the 12th.
Aug. 19: Augustana football and basketball play-by-play broadcaster Jeff Fylling will be taking this season off to deal with a health issue. Fylling has called more than 430 football games and more than 1,600 basketball games across 41 seasons with the Vikings. JJ Hartigan will serve as the voice of the Vikings on KXRB 100.1 radio in an interim capacity. He has called Augustana home games for both on the NSIC Network and currently serves as the director of media and community outreach for the Sioux Falls Storm.
Aug. 20: Named as one of the six captains for the NDSU football team this season was former Pierre standout Grey Zabel. He is a 6-foot-6, 305-pound senior offensive tackle. His parents Mark and Tanna (Negaard) Zabel were former standout athletes at NSU as his dad played football and his mom basketball and track. His brother, Jett Zabel, is a freshman on the NDSU team.
Aug. 27: Former Aberdeen Wings standout Jake Beaune was named as a captain for Mercryhurst University in Erie (PA). Beaune, who played for the Wings from 2018-2020, was one of Aberdeen’s captains as well.
Aug. 28: One of the chiropractors working for the U.S. Paralympic Team at the 2024 Paris Olympics was Hill City and SDSU graduate Dr. Jordan Knowlton-Key. The 31-year-old is a chiropractic sports physician at the Lake Placid Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York.

Aug. 29: Former Dakota State basketball and track athlete Tre Maddox was back on the Madison campus for a few days. He graduated in 1991. Over the past 13 seasons, Maddox has served as one of 74 NBA referees.
Aug. 29: Fomer Northern State standout Selby’s Emmit Bohle has again earned a starting spot on the Arizona State offensive line. Bohle is one of 35 FBS players competing in their seventh season of college football in 2024. The Sun Devils open the season Saturday vs Wyoming. The Selby native is 6-foot-6, 310 pounds and missed last season due to injury.
Aug. 30: The University of Sioux Falls kicked off their football season with a 34-13 win over FCS DI opponent St. Thomas in St. Paul. It was the Tommies first home loss in 31 games. Getting in on the scoring for the Cougars was senior linebacker Brendan Holt. After C.J. Warren of St. Thomas recovered a USF fumble and returned it six yards for a touchdown, the Tommies went for two points as they trailed 18-13 with about 22 minutes left in the game. However, St. Thomas fumbled and Holt recovered it and returned it 90 yards to give his Cougars two points and a 20-13 lead.
Aug. 30: The Dakota State football team opened up its $41 million Beacom Premier Complex at the Kern Family Stadium with a 34-3 win over rival Dakota Wesleyan on Blankley Field. The first points on the new field came on a 52-yard field goal by DSU’s Carson Sauseda and the first TD was scored by the Tyce Ortman, one of the Trojans’ captains from Canistota. Ortman finished with 89 yards rushing, three TDs and registered five punts for 200 yards, including a 55-yarder.
Aug. 30: The NSU football season got off to a good start as the Wolves drove 91 yards in nine plays from their own three-yard line to FCS DI host USD six in their opening drive. NSU even appeared to have scored a TD, but quarterback Daniel Britt stepped out of bounds, resulting in a 24-yard field goal by the Wolves’ Jeremy Caruso. From there, however, it was all Coyotes as USD’s Keyondray Jones- Logan took the ensuing NSU kickoff 97 yards for a TD. USD won 45-3.
Aug. 30: Harrisburg defeated Sioux Falls O’Gorman 14-0. It was the 100th career win for Harrisburg coach Brandon White.
Aug. 30: The Huron football team has played and lost to Yankton in its last three games. Huron opened its 2024 season in a loss to Yankton. In 2023, Huron played Yankton in its season finale and its first-round playoff game.
Aug. 30 The Team USA Teen-age Dream Team of Yankton native/USD freshman Miles Krajewski and partner Jayci Simon of Michigan rallied to win their semifinal mixed doubles badminton match to advance to the Gold Medal Match in Paris. The Americans will play the China team of Lin Naili and Li Fengmei for gold and silver in a match scheduled to start at 3:10 a.m. CT Monday (Sept. 2) on Peacock. In the semifials, Simon/Krajewski, both 19, lost the first game 21-17 to the India duo of Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sivan, but won the next two games 21-14 and 21-13 in the 2024 Paralympics in Short Stature Badminton. It will be Team USA first-ever medal in Paralympics badminton.
Aug. 31: One of the pre-season front-runners for the Heisman Trophy was too much for SDSU as Ollie Gordon scored three touchdowns for speedy Oklaoma State in its 44-20 win over SDSU. The 17th-ranked Cowboys ended the Jacks 29-game winning streak. SDSU is the two-time FCS national champions. The Jacks had last lost 7-3 to Iowa to open the 2022 season.

Aug. 31: No. 5 Alabama defeated Western Kentucky 63-0 in Milbank native Kalen DeBoer’s debut as head coach of the Crimson Tide. The 49-year-old University of Sioux Falls graduate is 105-12 as a head college football coach at USF, Fresno State, Washington and Alabama.
Aug. 31: No. 15 Tennessee defeated Chattanooga 69-3 to open is 2024 football season. Aberdeen native Josh Heupel is now 56-20 as a college football head coach. He is in his fourth season with the Volunteers and was with the University of Central Florida from 2018-20. Heupel was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000 when he led the Oklahoma Sooners to the national championship. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, but his pro football quarterback career was cut short due to injuries.

Email us at dave@sdsportscene.com if you think we missed something or if you have an event you would like us to consider for this feature.