By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
The South Dakota Sportswriters Association has announced its year end awards for teams, coaches and performances in 2008.
High school award winners included Cheyenne-Eagle Butte cross country runner Kiko Mendoza as the boys athlete of the year. A senior, Mendoza led his school to the state Class A championship this fall and won the individual championship, becoming the first male athlete to win four straight state cross country titles.
Watertown basketball coach Brian Norberg was named the high school boys coach of the year. Norberg took the Arrows to the school's fourth state AA title. During the season with a 10-1 record and No. 1 ranking, he lost a starter, his top reserve, and four other players to suspension for breaking school district policy involving a training rule. The Arrows finished the year playing primarily seven players, five senior starters and two sophomore reserves in gaining the state crown.
Hanson's football team was named the prep boys team of the year after winning the state 9-B title, the school's first since winning the 9-A title three years ago. Hanson won the championship with a 12-0 record and a 50-24 win in the finals over Hitchcock-Tulare.
On the girls' side, Watertown track and gymnastics performer Leslie Brost was named the athlete of the year. In track, Brost is the state pole vault record holder (three-time state AA pole vault champion) and ran on two winning relay teams at the spring state meet.
Brost also set a meet record of 13-feet, 3-inches at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina this past June. She later qualified for the IIHF World Junior Championships team and finished eighth in the meet held last July in Poland. She made the Track and Field News high school All-American team.
In gymnastics, Brost was a six-year regular on the Arrows, finishing no worse than fourth in those six years and winning the state championship in 2006.
Rapid City Stevens track coach Paul Hendry was given the girls coach of the year honor. Hendry coached Stevens to its national record-tying 13th straight state championship in the spring. He has been at the team's helm for the last seven of those 13 straight state titles.
Wagner's volleyball team was named the girls team of the year. The Red Raiders went on a 32-match winning streak on their way to the state Class A state championship. During the streak, Wagner won 24 matches in three straight games, supporting their motto, "Three And Out." It was a motto they fashioned during a summer camp they attended at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Boys Basketball: Sioux Falls Christian Crowns Top-Ranked Team
Platte-Geddes is the top-ranked boys basketball team in South Dakota's Class A, but that may change when the next ratings from the South Dakota Sportswriters Association come out.
Sioux Falls Christian defeated the defending state A champs 99-90 in the final game of the Parkston Classic last Saturday night. For the event, games were played in 18-minute halves instead of the traditional quarter structure.
SFC trailed by four at halftime, but rallied for the victory in the second half thanks to the play Braden Wieking, who finished with 22 points. Matt Vandekamp added 20, Taylor Thompson threw in 16 and Christian Skinner had 15.
Keith Cutler led all scorers with 38 points for Platte-Geddes.
Boys Basketball: Lincoln Leads AA Rankings
Sioux Falls Lincoln earned all nine first place votes to claiming the No. 1 spot in the South Dakota Sportswriters’ Association Class AA boys basketball poll. The Patriots outpointed cross-town rival Sioux Falls Roosevelt.
Platte-Geddes earned the No. 1 spot in the Class A poll, but as mentioned above, suffered its first defeat at the hands of No. 5 Sioux Falls Christian. Madison may benefit from the result, as they were ranked second.
In a split vote, Hanson earned five first place votes in taking the top spot in the Class B ranking over second place Sully Buttes. White River earned the remaining four first place ballots to finish third, ahead of James Valley Christian and Herreid.
Girls Basketball: SF Washington, Dell Rapids, Sully Buttes Top Holiday Rankings
The state’s sportswriters also have announced their latest girls basketball rankings, led in Class AA by Sioux Falls Washington, which received all nine first place votes in outdistancing second place Pierre. Watertown, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, and O’Gorman round out the top five.
Dell Rapids earned the top spot in Class A with all nine first place votes. Second in A goes to Sisseton and Pine Ridge is third.
Sully Buttes received six of the nine first place ballots to get the number one spot in Class B, ahead of second place Hanson, which earned the remaining three first place votes. Summit, James Valley Christian, and Castlewood round out the top five.
