Elk Point-Jefferson School Board members were honored by the Associated School Boards of South Dakota for their collective efforts to enhance their knowledge of school board work throughout the 2021-22 school year. The Elk Point-Jefferson School Board earned a Silver level award in ASBSD’s statewide board recognition program: ALL, which stands for Act, Learn, Lead and awards points for a board’s collective participation in activities and trainings related to school board work and for demonstrating leadership in public education at the local, state and national level, throughout the previous school year. To earn the Silver level award, the Elk Point-Jefferson School Board accumulated 445 points. “School boards take on different tasks and face new challenges every year and the Elk Point-Jefferson School Board members put in a lot of work to further their knowledge of and learn new things about school board work that will be a great benefit to their district,” ASBSD Executive Director Wade Pogany said. “They’ve put in time and effort to better themselves and deserve this recognition.” In 2021-22 a record 91 public school boards – more than 60 percent of the public boards in South Dakota – earned an ALL award. This is the Elk Point-Jefferson School Board’s fourth ALL award. “South Dakota public school boards do amazing work and put in a great deal of effort for their students, staff and community members and for more than 90 of them to earn this honor is a testament to that effort,” Pogany said. “That the Elk Point-Jefferson School Board has earned this award multiple times shows that year-in and year-out this group strives to excel in their work as school board members.”

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Elk Point-Jefferson’s Carter Langle had a good game of golf at the DAK-12 Conference at The Bluffs Golf Course in Vermillion Sept. 19. Langle finished in 9th place with a round score of 79, 7 over par of the course. He was 1 of 5 golfers to shoot this score.

In this year’s typical Husky football fashion, the Elk Point-Jefferson defense refused to let their opponent on the board. The Huskies travelled to Salem, SD to play against Mc-Cook Central/Montrose (MCM) Sept. 16. It was MCM’s homecoming match-up. While the Huskies have played lights out, ending the last 3 games by the mercy rule, this time the Huskies played the full game with a 35-0 victory.

The Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies participated in two meets the week of Sept. 12, with the Swan Lake Invite on Sept. 12 and the Freeman Flyer Invitational on Sept. 14. In the inaugural meet at the unique and hilly Swan Lake north of Viborg, the Huskies placed the most overall medalists in recent history with 13 and also had two overall race winners and a team title. In the varsity boys, Joe Cross took the win with a time of 15:51 on the roughly 3 mile course. Jackson Prouty ran to a 6th place medal and Mason Marx placed 15th in his first varsity race. Just out of the medals in 16th was Dean Harkness. For the varsity girls, Ashley Stark was in the mix the entire race finishing with the 9th place medal. Just out of the medals was Heather Stark. The JV boys on the 2.4 mile course placed an unprecedented 7 in the medals out of the 15 on offer. Overall winner was Husky Austin Clercx, with Cael Derochie 4th, Beckett Fennel 6th, Jackson Neal 8th, Isaiah Love 11th, Aiden Jansen 12th and Jack Heckathorn 14th. Ethan Brown was just out of the medals in 16th, with Noah Buhian, John Kjose, Jacob Pierce, Jayse Vande Vegte, Tyler Lagge and Carter Heckathorn also finishing. The JV boys won the overall team title. Finally, the JV girls saw Alexis Ludwigs medal in 10th, Grace Schuh in 15th, with Natalie Hailey, Olivia Neuharth, Alicen Colt and Nikki Norby completing the challenging course.

The Huskies were able to gain some experience last week with two exhibition meets – a dual against Vermillion Sept. 6 and a triangular in Canton Sept.

The volleyball team travelled to Tyndall Saturday, Sept. 17 to participated in the Cavalier Clash. The tournament had 16 participants broken into 4 pool brackets. EPJ played in pool 2 with Gregory, Bon Homme and Parker.

Elk Point-Jefferson hosted their annual Husky Invite Sept. 15 at The Pointe Golf Course in Elk Point. Eight teams, including EPJ, participated in the matchplay event. In match play, 8 players from each school are paired together in brackets. The players then are given points that go toward their team’s overall score. First place finishers garner 12 points, 2nd 10 points, 3rd 8 points, 4th and 5th places 6 points, 6th place 4 points, 7th place 2 points and 8th place 1 point. The team with the most points wins the invite.

The Elk Point-Jefferson volleyball team was on fire last week on the road, winning against Lennox in 5 and Tea Area in 4. Between the two games, it was also a memorable moment for two senior Huskies.

The Dakota Valley girls soccer team took their varsity roster to Garretson Saturday, Sept. 10. The squad played hard and after a slow start in the first half they were able to claim victory with a 2-0 win over the Blue Dragons. “The first half was very sloppy, the girls were making unusual simple errors and we couldn’t get into a good rhythm,” head coach Jesse Castillo commented. “We were not getting to 50/50 balls, scared to head the ball, the ball was being played too much on our half of the field and turning the ball over too much. But after the half-time break we came out and possessed on their [Garretson’s] half and created chances. It was good to see them bounce back.” An offensive push developed in the second half with Isabella Mijangos scoring twice. She found the net on the first goal off an assist from junior Claire Hemmingsen. Mijangos’s second goal came from an assist by sophomore Emma Deacon. “Izzy Mijangos scored both of the goals and had five shots on goal,” Castillo remarked. “Mijangos, an eighth-grader, is leading the team this year with five goals.” The victory over Garretson marks the fourth win of the season for the Panther girls soccer team.