It was a busy week of volleyball for the Panthers as they travelled to Dell Rapids Oct. 3 and hosted Madison Oct. 6. Both matches went in favor of Dakota Valley as the varsity squad continues to show dominance. They are currently ranked #2 in Class A behind #1 Sioux Falls Christian.

It was a runaway win, after a long road trip, for Dakota Valley as the varsity roster took down Lakota Tech in football on Friday, Oct. 7. The Panthers put up big numbers in the end zone while shutting out their opponent. The final score under the Friday night lights was 49-0 in favor of the Panthers.

The Panther varsity golf team travelled to Aberdeen, SD on Oct. 3 and 4 to take part in the Class A state golf tourney held at Moccasin Creek Country Club. The Dakota Valley golfers played well and tied for 3rd place as a team out of 12 competing schools. Two players, Logan Collette and Dylan Lukken, brought home individual medals as the two young men tied for 14th place.

The squad for Dakota Valley dance travelled to Brandon Valley High School Tuesday, Oct. 4 to take on multiple Class AA and Class A districts in competition.

The Panther competitive cheer team had an impressive showing at Brandon Valley on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The squad went up against a number of bigger Class AA schools, as well as some strong competitors from Class A.

The Dakota Valley cross country team has looked strong all season and the DAK-12 conference meet at Elk Point on Thursday, October 6th was no exception for this talented group of runners. Both the girls and boys varsity squads took home 3rd place in an extremely competitive conference with multiple individual medal winners and personal record bests achieved.

The Dakota Valley girls soccer team advanced to the state playoffs as a #6 seed to go up against #3 seed Sioux Falls Christian on Tuesday, Oct. 4. This would be the 3rd meeting for the 2 schools and in previous match-ups the Panthers had fallen in close games both times to the Chargers.

It was a successful outing for the Dakota Valley varsity teams as both the girls and boys ran well and came home runner-ups from the Vermillion Invite on Monday, Oct. 3. Sophomore Jack Brown placed 2nd for the boys and ran an incredible race against Beresford’s Andrew Atwood. Brown ran his race in 16:46 on The Bluff’s Golf Course. In the past this race has been run across from the University of South Dakota’s DakotaDome. Brown has set the bar high by registering the top DV time at Vermillion for The Bluff’s 5K.

On a pleasant but incredibly windy day, the Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies Cross Country traveled to Lennox for the Cross Country Invitational. This highly competitive meet includes powerhouse teams from South Dakota, and provides a ‘next level’ competition for Elk Point. Even with the added competition, Joe Cross continued his strong season with his 6th victory of the year, pacing the boys’ varsity 5K race to a 16:08 winning time. Sioux Falls Christian won the boys team competition. For the varsity girls in the 5K race, Ashley Stark led the way running 21:46 to finish 36th. Ellie Maddox from Sioux Falls Christian took the win, and SFC took the team title placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th.

By Beth Sherard-Hutcheson times1reporter@gmail.com The Elk Point-Jefferson Husky volleyball team took on the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers Sept. 29 and fell in 3 hard-fought sets – 16-25; 26-- 28; 14-25.