Miller Central Speedway — June 7th

Another good night of dirt track racing at Miller Central Speedway on Sunday night with 54 cars competing in four different classes.  With green flag dropping at 5:00 p.m., their program makes for great weekend entertainment while still getting everyone home at a decent time on Sunday night.  The Super Stock purse featured an added $725, with first place paying $650!

Feature winners on this night were Ashley Wampler in Pure Stocks, Michael Bogh in Street Stocks, Adam Brotherton in Midwest Modifieds and Cole Searing in the featured Super Stock class.  Each of the winners on the night qualified to represent Miller Central Speedway in the Race of Champions to be held Saturday, August 1st at the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron.

In the season point standings Brandon Hammill leads the Pure Stocks by 8 points over Tre Blasdell, Blayne Baloun by 1 over Chris Serr in Street Stocks, Lorin Johnson by 2 over Tracy Johnson in Midwest Modifieds and Cole Searing leads the Super Stock class by 8 over Dustin Arthur.

With weekly racing on Sunday nights, the next special event is July 19th when the Advantage RV Mod Tour visits Miller Central Speedway.

Photos of the feature winners below — many more pics from the night’s racing here.

Cole Searing

Adam Brotherton

Michael Bogh

Ashley Wampler

Wishard Memorial Disc Golf Tournament

It was cool, breezy and overcast on Saturday morning, but that didn’t deter 61 entries from participating in the Wishard Memorial Disc Golf Tournament at the Oahe Downstream course.  Their were multiple divisions and other contests, with most divisions playing two rounds for the tournament.

The annual tournament is held in memory of Josh and Cameron Wishard.  The tournament was originally started in 2013 by Josh Wishard in memory of his brother Cameron, who was killed in a drunk driving accident at only 19 years of age, in part to bring attention to the dangers of drinking and driving.  Unfortunately, just a couple of weeks after last year’s tournament, 25-year old Josh tragically died at Peabody Mining Company in Wyoming.  From Josh’s obituary:

Josh had a passion for family, friends and Disc Golf – where he dedicated a portion of his time raising alcohol awareness through a local Disc Golf tournament in honor of his late brother, Cameron Dean Wishard. The tournament was organized by Josh as a way to bring friends and family together to commemorate Cameron’s life, as well as to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. Josh had a passion for giving back and promoting the positive message.

Results will be posted when available.

Photos of most of the participants here.

Miller Central Speedway Season Opener

Under new ownership, Miller Central Speedway in Miller, SD kicked off its 2015 season on May 3rd.  While this is the first year for new owners Dale and Susan Hargens, it marks the 50th year of hosting dirt track racing for the track.  The track’s regular classes include Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks.  A number of special events are planned throughout the year, including multiple nights with the late models.  The first late model special is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend on Sunday, May 24th.

Very windy conditions resulted in a night of struggling to keep moisture in a dry, dusty track.  Despite these challenges, good clean racing occurred in all classes, with a total of approximately 50 cars entering the pit gates.

Feature winners on opening night were Patrick Adler in Pure Stocks, Chris Serr in Street Stocks, Tracy Johnson in Midwest Mods and Cole Searing in Super Stocks.

Regular racing night is Sunday with the green flag dropping at 5:00.  Click here for more information on the track, including the full schedule here.

Many more photos from opening night are here.

Pierre 5K Color Run

With nearly perfect weather, Pierre hosted the 2015 5K Color Run and Walk to benefit PAWS animal shelter.  More than 250 participants were preregistered, with more showing up the morning of the event.  Runners/walkers encompassed all ages and skill levels, including a number who brought their four-legged friend along for some exercise.

Many more pictures from the event here.

Guadalajara Capital City Cup

The Pierre Indian Learning Center fields were the site of this weekend’s Guadalajara Capital City Cup youth soccer tournament in Pierre.  The tournament included four divisions for both boys and girls in age brackets under-12 and younger.

Full results and scores from all games can be found at this link.

More photos from a couple of the games on Sunday afternoon at this link.

Horse Racing Season Opens At Stanley County Fairgrounds

Saturday was the first of four days of horse racing in Ft. Pierre at the Stanley County Fairgrounds.  Racing action continues tomorrow and again Saturday and Sunday next weekend.

American Legion Relays

Hollister Field in Pierre featured nearly perfect weather for track and field as Riggs High hosted the 2015 edition of the American Legion Relays.  In addition to Pierre, other teams competing included Brandon Valley, Huron, Mitchell, Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, Dupree, Mobridge-Pollock, Rapid City Central, Sioux Falls Washington, Spearfish, Stanley County, Sturgis, Todd County, Winner and St. Thomas More.

Brandon Valley won the girls division and Sioux Falls Washington the boys division.  The Governor girls and boys both finished fourth.

More photos here.

Special Olympics State Basketball Tournament

The Special Olympics State Basketball Tournament was held in Pierre on Friday and Saturday in numerous gyms throughout town.  These athletes displayed great sportsmanship and camaraderie, while playing with tremendous effort and determination for the pure enjoyment of the game.

More pictures from some of the games here.

Oahe Seniors End Regular Season With 5-3 Win Over Aberdeen

Oahe seniors Jacob Fuerst, Nick Gusso and Riley Bren played their last games at the Expo Center as the Capitals turned in a solid performance in defeating Aberdeen 5-3.

Peter Sanchez was the star on offense for the Caps with three goals and an assist, while Matt Pease stopped 29 of 32 Cougar shots on goal.

Following the game, the three seniors fulfilled a Capitals hockey tradition by sliding bare chested down the Expo Center ice.

Oahe has one regular season game remaining at Mitchell Friday before heading to the state tournament in Brookings March 13-15th.

More game photos here.

Riley Bren

Jacob Fuerst

Nick Gusso

Oahe Capital Seniors

Rushmore Defeats Oahe 6-2 in Battle of Top Ranked Teams

The top two teams in South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association boys varsity division faced off at the Expo Center in Ft. Pierre on Friday night where the Rushmore Thunder solidified their hold on first place with a 6-2 win over the Oahe Capitals.

The first period was the difference as Rushmore dominated with four unanswered goals in the period.  The teams played evenly after that with both teams scoring a goal in each of the final two periods.

TJ Nolan led the Thunder offense with a goal and four assists.  Brooks Mitzel with the hattrick was the only Rushmore player with more than one goal while Jack Oberg had a goal and two assists.  Taran Tucker made 25 saves in net for the Thunder.

Oahe’s two goals were tallied by Nick Gusso and Landon Badger.  Matt Pease was kept busy in net for the Caps, stopping 28 of 34 shots he faced.

In the preliminary JV game, Oahe defeated Rushmore 5-2 behind two goals and an assist from Josh Albright.

The teams will face each other again on Saturday.

Pics from the varsity game here and a few from the JV game here.

Matt Pease

Nick Gusso

Landon Badger