Milbank's Brown and Batchelor, Sioux Valley's Bloker and Wosje capture individual titles

WEBSTER — Payton Brown and Ashlynn Batchelor each won individual races and led Milbank to a sweep of the team titles in the Northeast Conference cross country meet on Thursday at the Webster Golf Course.

Milbank repeated as the boys division champs with the help of Brown, who won the boys' 5,000-meter race for the second-straight year. He topped a 42-runner field in a time of 17 minutes and 17.6 seconds.

Isaac Graham of Milbank was second (18:05), Bryan Meyer third (18:22.75) and Beckham Berry eighth (19:12.7). Paul Gutenkauf of Aberdeen Roncalli took fourth (18:43.81) and Cooper Pommer of Clark-Willow Lake fifth (18:50.3).

Milbank edged defending champion Clark-Willow Lake 23-28 to win the girls division. Batchelor beat a group of 37 runners to the finish line with a time of 19:27.63. She also won the NEC in 2020 and 2021 before finishing second last fall to Jaycee Hourigan of Deuel.

Ella Koplin took fifth (20:56.44), Bianca Berry sixth (21:01.34) and Kynlee Speidel 11th (2147.32) for Milbank. Kamryn Nesheim of Clark-Willow Lake was second (20:18.74), followed by Hourigan (20:39.68) and Addison Cassady of Roncalli (20:44.17).

Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.

Northeast Conference Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/226347/info

Big East Conference

SALEM — Sioux Valley runners Isabelle Bloker and Carson Wosje won individual titles and Sioux Valley repeated as the girls division champions in the Big East Conference cross country meet on Thursday at the McCook Country Club.

There were 38 boys' runners and 25 girls' runners in the 5,000-meter races.

Bloker won the girls' race for the second-straight year (17:55.10), followed by Faith Wiese of Flandreau (18:16.06), Emery Larson of Chester Area (18:36.51) and Kiley Westberry of Flandreau (20:02.58). Liberty Trygstad (20:09.08), Talya Vincent (20:32.25) and Maci Licht (20:34) finished 5-6-7, respectively, for Sioux Valley.

Wosje won the boys division in a time of 17:34.3, followed Espyn Klungseth (17:52.47) and Hunter Penn (18:08.19) of champion Beresford. Kyle Gronewold of Baltic was fourth (18:18.25) and Tanner Reed of Flandreau fifth (18:21.71).

Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.

Big East Conference Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/227207/info

Mitchell Invite Cheer and Dance

MITCHELL — Watertown High School's competitive cheer team recorded a runner-up finish out of 12 teams in the Mitchell Invitational on Tuesday.

Harrisburg won the division with a score of 273.5, followed by Watertown at 263.0. Deubrook Area was 10th (167.5) and Aberdeen Central 12th (152.0).

"The girls had an amazing performance," said WHS cheer coach Malory Hoffmann. "We made some changes to our routine and they had beautiful execution. Our scores were the highest we've had as a team since I started coaching in 2008.

Yankton won the 12-team dance division with an overall score of 282.5. Aberdeen Centrral was fifth (237.5) and Watertown seventh (233.25).

The Golden Eagles finished third in hip hop (235.5) and fourth in pom (239.5). The Arrows were fifth in pom (234.0) and sixth in hip hop (232.5).

"Both our pom and hip hop performances had lots of energy and looked very strong," said Watertown dance coach Carolyn Fraher. "We're excited to to take fifth in pom. We want to work to place higher in hip hop."

The Watertown and Aberdeen Central teams compete in the Eastern South Dakota Conference championships on Thursday at Aberdeen Central High School.

"This was a great confidence boost heading into ESD," said Hoffmann. "I'm so proud of the team and excited to see how they do in the remainder of the season."

Grand Champion Cheer Standings — 1. Harrisburg, 273.5; 2. Watertown, 263; 3. Brookings 251; 4. Mitchell, 226.5; 5. Yankton, 205.0; 6. Huron, 197.0; 7. Pierre, 193; 8. Tea Area 189; 9. Wolsey-Wessington 184; 10. Deubrook Area 167.5; 11. Dakota Valley, 166.5; 12. Aberdeen Central, 152.0.

Grand Champion Dance Standings — 1. Yankton, 282.5; 2. Dakota Valley, 278.25; 3. Harrisburg, 277.5; 4. Mitchell, 238.0; 5. Aberdeen Central, 237.5; 6. Pierre, 236.5; 7. Watertown, 233.25; 8. Brookings, 229.5; 9. Huron, 227.25; 10. Platte-Geddes, 227.0; 11. Tea Area, 223.5; 12. Winner, 219.25.

Hip Hop Dance — 1. Harrisburg, 281.0; 2. Mitchell, 248.0; 3. Aberdeen Central, 235.5; 4. Brookings, 234.5; 5. Pierre, 233.0; 6. Watertown, 232.5; 7. Huron, 228.0; 8. Tea Area, 222.0; 9. Winner, 212.0.

Jazz Dance — 1. Yankton, 277.5; 2. Dakota Valley and Harrisburg, each 274; 4. Huron, 226.5; 5. Platte-Geddes, 225.5.

Pom Dance — 1. Yankton, 287.5; 2. Dakota Valley, 282.5; 3. Pierre, 240.0; 4. Aberdeen Central, 239.5; 5. Watertown, 234.0; 6. Platte-Geddes, 228.5; 7. Mitchell, 228.0; 8. Winner, 226.5; 9. Tea Area, 225.0; 10. Brookings, 224.5.

Class A Soccer Playoffs

First-round play in the state Class A boys and girls soccer playoffs were complete on Thursday with seven matches that were postponed on Tuedsday.

In boys' matches, it was No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian 11, No. 8 St. Thomas More 0; No. 5 Belle Fourche 1, No. 4 Freeman Academy 0; No. 2 Vermillion 7, No. 7 Custer 0; and No. 3 Tea Area 5, No. 6 James Valley Christian 0. Semifinal matches on Saturday include Belle Fourche at Sioux Falls Christian and Tea Area at Vermillion.

In girls' matches, it was No. 1 Tea Area 6, No. 8 Garretson 0; No. 4 West Central 3, No. 5 Dakota Valley 1; and No. 3 Sioux Falls Christian 3, No. 6 Vermillion 1. Semifinal matches on Saturday include West Central at Tea Area and Sioux Falls Christian at Groton Area.

Luverne Invitational Cross Country

LUVERNE, Minn. — Canby-Minneota's teams finished first (girls) and third (boys) in the Luverne Cross Country meet on Thursday.

Braelyn Merrit (20:11.88), Claire Stoks (20:34.58) and Mya Pesek (20:42.05) finished 2-3-4 to lead C-M's girls. Jordyn Jostock added a seventh-place finish (21:39.2).

Zach Ourada placed fifth (17:20.09), Kolton Duis sixth (17:34.23) and Blake Giese seventh (17:35.73) for C-M's boys.

Complete resullts are available at www.athletic.net.

Luverne Meet Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/225198/info

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Highlights from area cross country, soccer playoffs and cheer & dance.