Local Sports 1-9-24

Mount Marty Men’s and Women’s Basketball will be at home tomorrow night, as they host Hastings College for a GPAC doubleheader.

The Lancer men enter with a 5 and 8 overall record, 1 and 6 in conference play, coming off of their upset victory over top-15 ranked Northwestern on Saturday. The Hastings men are 11 and 4 on the year, 6 and 1 in GPAC play, and are coming off of a loss to Morningside in their last game.

The MMU Women are 5 and 9 so far this year, 1 and 7 in GPAC play, following their loss to Northwestern on Saturday. The Mustang women are winners of three straight, and hold a 7 and 7 overall record, and are 3 and 5 in the GPAC.

Tip-off of the women’s game is set for 5:30 PM tomorrow with the men to follow. Pregame coverage on KYNT and KYNTV begins at 4:45. Tehl Tanner will be on the call.

Yankton Gymnastics took 2nd place out of 6 teams in Session I of the Patty Jorgenson Invitational on Saturday in Brookings, posting a 129.1, while 1st place Sioux Falls Lincoln had a 129.7.

Ava Koller took the top spot in the all-around competition, as she placed 2nd on both vault and floor and 3rd in bars during the invite. Marrissa Byrkeland was the 2nd highest all-around finisher for Yankton, coming home in 9th. Byrkeland was the top Gazelle on the beam, taking home 2nd place.

The Gazelles triangular with Brookings and Harrisburg that was scheduled to take place today has been canceled due to weather.

Yankton Bucks Hockey dropped both ends of their two games over the weekend, as they were defeated by Huron 4 to 3, and Mitchell 4 to 2.

Against Huron, Jack Pedersen tallied a goal and an assist with Kaden Hunhoff and Jace Sedlacek joining him on the goal sheet. Pedersen recorded another assist against Mitchell, while Tucker Renken and Connor Perakslis tallied the two goals. Goalie Luke Moeller recorded 56 total saves across the two games.

Yankton will face off with Huron again on Friday, beginning at 8:00 PM at the Kiwanis 4-H Ice Arena in Yankton.

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits were recently crowned as the FCS National Champions for the 2nd straight season, and their Quarterback Mark Gronowski was honored before the title game as the Walter Payton Offensive Player of the Year in the FCS.

Gronowski became the first Jackrabbit to earn the award, as he received 18 first-place votes. Gronowski threw for 2,359 yards and 23 touchdowns during the regular season, and added another TD in the championship game, as SDSU took home a 23 to 3 victory.

In his three seasons as a starter, Gronowski now holds a 37 and 3 overall record, and is a two-time National Champion.

The latest South Dakota High School Basketball Media Polls have been released, and the Vermillion Tanager girls are the only area team on this week’s list.

The Tanager girls are receiving votes in Class A, as they currently hold a 5 and 2 record after going 1 and 1 in the past week. Full polls for all classes are posted below.

SD High School Basketball Media Polls:

In Boys Basketball:

Class AA: