In this week’s edition of Lots O’ Stuff we talk about watch lists, academic honors for a pair of local grads, a JCC graduate is coaching softball in South Dakota, and some notes about grads still competing in college.
Watch lists
Three Jackson County Central student-athletes have been named to statewide watch lists in a couple of sports.
Senior Logan Butzon, an outfielder and pitcher for the Huskies, is on the Class 2A Players to Watch list this season by the Minnesota Baseball Coaches Association.
He’s one of four Big South Conference players on that list.
The others are Drew Rothenberger of Windom, Jack Kosbab of Fairmont and Conner Connell of Luverne.
The Huskies are scheduled to open their season Tuesday, April 4 vs. Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda in Heron Lake.
Also, a pair of Huskies are receiving notice in football by prepredzone.com
Junior Seth Stai is on the list for the Class of 2024. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound linebacker, is 26th at his position and 184th overall for his class.
Previously, freshman Roman Voss had been named number one at his position and also number one overall in the state for the Class of 2026.
They were in the weight room the other day:
NSIC academic honors
Two local graduates attending Augustana University have received Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Academic honors for the winter sports season.
To be eligible for the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence, a student-athlete must have a 3.60 cumulative GPA or higher, while NSIC All-Academic Team members must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA or higher.
Martin County West graduate Jaxson Rohman, a senior with the Vikings’ wrestling team, is on the Team of Excellence.
Also, JCC grad Hailey Handevidt, a senior on the women's swimming and diving team, was academic all-conference.
Coach Anderson
This spring, high school softball is a sanctioned high school sport for the first time in South Dakota. And a Jackson County Central graduate will be leading a team in this historic first season.
Jayni Anderson is a co-head coach at Tri-Valley High School, which is located in Colton. The Mustangs will play their home games in Crooks.
Tri-Valley is scheduled to open its season a week from Monday at home with a doubleheader vs. Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy.
BTW, Minnesota has held a state tournament (except for 2020) since 1977.
South Dakota is the last state in the country to sanction the sport. There are 45 states that play their high school softball season in the spring, while four are in the fall. Iowa is the lone state who does its softball season in the summer.
Also, South Dakota is one of three states where baseball is not an official high school activity. The others are Montana and Wyoming.
There is a South Dakota High School Baseball Association, with teams playing on a club level that has been in existence since 2001 that plays in the spring and conducts a state tournament. The state also has a strong American Legion baseball program.
Competing in California
Fairmont graduate Allison Lardy, a senior with the North Dakota women’s track and field team, competed in three events in California for the Fighting Hawks at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Invitational hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
She placed second in the shot put with an effort of 46-6 ¼, fifth in the hammer throw (152-10) and 15th in the discus (110-3).
NIACC baseball
Two Fairmont grads are freshmen with the North Iowa Area Community College baseball team. Eli Anderson is an outfielder and Jacob Crissinger is a pitcher.
Anderson is one of four Trojans who has played in all 17 games this season, starting 16. He’s hitting .460 (23-50) with three doubles, one home run and six runs batted in. Anderson has also walked four times and has eight stolen bases.
Crissinger has pitched in five games and has a 1-1 record with a 5.59 earned run average. In 9.2 innings he has allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits, walked six and struck out nine.
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