South Dakota Sports at its Best

Oct 6, 2016

Our September/October issue features an article on seven sporting events every South Dakotan should experience. We gathered several photos of impressive athletes, spirited spectators and everything in between. Here are some that didn’t make the magazine.

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Canova’s pitcher winds up at the state amateur baseball tournament, held each August. Few states boast an amateur baseball association like South Dakota’s, created in 1931. Photo by John Andrews.
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The Crystal Springs Rodeo is held in America’s most natural rodeo bowl — a duck pond that rancher E.W. Weisel drained in the 1940s after he dreamt of people relaxing on the slopes and watching the cowboys down below. Photo by Chad Coppess, S.D. Tourism.
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South Dakota State University and North Dakota State University’s rivalry centers on the annual Dakota Marker football game. The winner receives a trophy modeled after one of the quartzite markers that surveyor Charles Bates placed along the North Dakota-South Dakota border in 1891 and 1892. Photo by Christian Begeman.
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The Days of ’76 Rodeo is held in Deadwood each July. It’s not our state’s oldest rodeo, but it’s steeped in South Dakota culture. The stands and chutes are constructed from the same Ponderosa pines that cover the Black Hills. Photo by Chad Coppess, S.D. Tourism.
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Finely trained thoroughbreds sprint the dirt track at Fort Pierre’s Stanley County Fairgrounds each spring. Photo by Chad Coppess, S.D. Tourism.
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The Howard Wood Dakota Relays in Sioux Falls draws over 3,000 athletes from middle schools, high schools and colleges around the country. Photo by Bob Grandpre.
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The event was named for Howard Wood, a legendary Sioux Falls Washington High School coach. Photo by Bob Grandpre.
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Paddlers gather in Yankton every May to test their endurance in a 72-mile race called the South Dakota Kayak Challenge. They have 30 hours to make the journey down the Missouri River to South Sioux City, Neb. Photo by John Andrews.
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In 1976 Pine Ridge basketball coach Bryan Brewer and Little Wound coach Dave Archambault organized an eight-team tournament with Indian schools from four states. The flourishing Lakota Nation Invitational still centers on basketball, but now also includes wrestling, cheerleading, Lakota language and academic competitions, a hand game tournament, art show, story telling and business competitions. Photo by Bernie Hunhoff.
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There’s a tight knit sailing community in the Missouri River valley and many captains show their racing prowess at the Bash to the Colonies sailing regatta. It happens each August on Lewis and Clark Lake near Yankton. Photo by Chad Coppess, S.D. Tourism.
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A century of games between South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota has landed their match ups among the most anticipated sporting events in South Dakota. Photo by Christian Begeman.
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An SDSU cheerleader shows her spirit at one of 2014’s SDSU/USD men’s basketball games. Photo by Christian Begeman.
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Every South Dakota high school football player dreams of going to Vermillion’s DakotaDome to play for a state championship. The Pierre Governors are pictured there in 2015. Photo by Bob Grandpre.
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A USD student roots for the Coyotes at a USD/SDSU football game in 2012. Photo by Christian Begeman.
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Jackrabbit fans fill Coughlin-Alumni Stadium at SDSU in Brookings. The venue was replaced in 2016 by the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Photo by Christian Begeman.
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The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Pow wow may not sound like a sporting event, but its participants are competing for prize money. Photo by Chad Coppess, S.D. Tourism.