Thursday's Menno Relays have been postponed until Monday, May 9. That's the date of the junior high relays, so both high school and junior high athletes will compete. Field events will begin at 9:30 a.m. with running events starting at 11:30 a.m.

According to the agenda posted at the Freeman Public Schools website, Dustin Tschetter will be named the head football coach for the new Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy football team when the school board meets in regular session Monday night, April 11. Austin Unruh will be named an assistant, according to the agenda. 

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Erika Sage saw her playing career on the basketball court end in disappointment, not once, but twice. The first came her senior year at Freeman High School in 2017, when the standout guard and the Flyers fell one game short of the state tournament for the fourth year in a row. She’ll probably never forget what her dad and coach told her when she came out of the game late in the fourth quarter. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

In the end, the boys ended up cheering for the cheerleaders. The Freeman Academy/Marion cheer team was honored Saturday night, March 19 with the highly coveted Spirit of Six Award for their support of the Bearcats basketball team at the State B Tournament in Aberdeen last week. The team was announced as the winner at halftime of the championship game between De Smet and Lower Brule, eliciting a thrilling celebration in the moments that followed and a gathering in the corner of Wachs Arena that included congratulations from, and photos with, the team.

Following the frustrating and disappointing loss to Castlewood on the second day of the State B Boys Basketball Tournament on Friday, head coach Austin Unruh told his discouraged team to take all the time they needed to emotionally process the loss and come out of the locker room ready to celebrate what has been a thrilling season. And that’s what they’re doing.

On the opening possession of the third quarter of Freeman Academy/Marion’s game against Castlewood on the consolation side of the State B bracket Friday afternoon, March 18, senior Quincy Blue got a good look at a three-pointer from the elbow. The ball rattled in and out of the iron.

The 70 points posted by Freeman Academy/Marion in its opening game of the State B Basketball Tournament Thursday night, March 18 were more than any of the six teams who played before them produced. But White River scored 75, and 43 of those came from junior sensation Joe Sayler.

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In the same way the Region 5B final of last year sticks with the Freeman Academy/Marion basketball community, so will the Region 5B final of Friday night, March 4, 2022 — this one for an entirely different reason.

When Freeman Academy/Marion takes the court against Irene-Wakonda at Freeman Public Friday night, March 4, they will be playing with both a chip on their shoulder and deep motivation in their heart.