Schedules set for state football, cross-country championships
PIERRE — At its July meeting, the board of directors of the South Dakota High School Activities Association set the schedules for the state football championships and the state cross-country meet.
The football championships will take place Nov. 12-14 at the DakotaDome at the University of South Dakota. According to SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos, the schedule is designed to accommodate fans as well as the USD football team that has a home game that weekend.
On Thursday, Nov. 12, the 9B game will be at 10 a.m., the 9A game at 1 p.m. and the 9AA game will be at 7:30 p.m. The schedule was designed to give the USD football team time to practice between the afternoon and evening games.
On Friday, Nov. 13, the 11B game will be at 10 a.m., the 11A game will be at 1 p.m. and the 11AA game will be at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Nov. 14, the 11AAA game will be at 7:30 p.m. The USD football game is at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The schedule for the state cross-country meet was changed due to road construction and the duration of the awards ceremony. In the past, having the awards ceremony at the end of the meet meant that some participants had to wait hours to get their awards.
The updated event schedule includes the races for each class, immediately followed by the awards ceremony for that class. SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Randy Soma said the change would help with traffic flow and parking.
“They can stay if they want or they can depart before the next group comes in,” Soma said.
The state cross-country meet will be held on Oct. 24 at Hart Ranch Camping Resort in Rapid City.
Class B will have its girls’ race at 10 a.m., its boys’ race at 10:45 a.m. and its awards ceremony at 11:15 a.m.
In Class AA, the girls’ race will be at 12:15 p.m., the boys’ race at 1 p.m. and the awards ceremony at 1:30 p.m.
In Class A, the girls’ race will be at 2:30 p.m., the boys’ race at 3:15 p.m. and the awards ceremony at 3:45 p.m.
“It’s a little bit longer day,” Soma said, “but not for the contestants or the spectators.”
