Freeman Academy/Marion turned in another outstanding showing at the 2021 State Cross-Country Meet on Saturday, with the boys finishing third in the Class B team standings and junior Jada Koerner finishing fourth in the Class B girls race. It wasn't the win Koerner had been hoping for, but her time of 19:58.57 was the best she has clocked in any of her five state meets; she was 19 seconds behind winner Ella Boekelheide of Nortthwestern.  Six of the seven top finishers in the Class B division were eighth graders.

The Canistota/Freeman football team is moving on to the quarterfinal round of the Class 9AA South Dakota High School Playoffs next Thursday, Oct. 28 — barely. The 11-seed Pride survived No. 6 Florence/Henry in the first round of the postseason in Florence Thursday night, Oct. 21, hanging on to a 22-20 win in a game that was about as close as they come.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Freeman Public was represented at last week’s Region 3B Cross-Country Meet by a group of underclassmen girls with eyes on a big goal — a top three finish in the team standings that would qualify all five runners for the Oct. 23 state meet in Sioux Falls. The Flyers didn’t quite get it, but they set the stage for what could be a fun run for the program.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Another cross-country season, another Region 3B meet and another outstanding showing from the Freeman Academy/Marion boys, who last week finished second in the team standings. It was the ninth time in the last 10 years that a Freeman Academy boys team finished in the top two in the region and the 10th year in a row they’ve been in the top three.

Canistota/Freeman (4-4) is the No. 11 seed and will travel to No. 6 Florence/Henry (7-1) in the first round of the Class 9AA playoffs Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. The winner will face the winner of No. 3 Ipswich (7-1) and No. 14 Lemmon/McIntosh (4-4) in the second round. Hanson (7-1) is the No. 1 seed in Class 9AA.

Freeman Academy junior Jada Koerner ran away with the individual goal medal as Freeman hosted the Region 3B Cross-Country Meet on a windy Wednesday, Oct. 13 at Valley View Golf Course. Her time of 20:33.14 was 11 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Scott Dent knew what he was up against heading into the 2021 soccer season at Freeman Academy — that is, low numbers to start, inexperience among the players and a group of teenagers most of whom were on the field together for the first time. All of that makes the growth that he saw in a short period of time all the sweeter.

CANISTOTA/FREEMAN FOOTBALL Oct 28 - Playoff quarterfinal: Pride (5-4) at Ipswich (8-1) at Ipswich, 7 p.m. Oct. 21 - Playoffs: Pride 22 (5-4), Florence/Henry 20 (7-2) Oct. 8: Pride 24, Hanson 32 (4-4) Oct. 1: Pride 50, Irene-Wakonda 0 (4-3) Sept. 24: Chester 26, Chester Area 35 (3-3) Sept. 17: Pride 56, Garretson 50 - OT (3-2) Sept. 10: Pride 46, Viborg-Hurley 18 (2-2) Sept 3: Pride 28, Howard 59 (1-2)

When Kendra Peterson — then Kendra Arens — signed on to be the new head volleyball coach at Freeman Public in the fall of 2019, she wanted to bring stability to a program that had lacked it, going through six head coaches in eight seasons, including a new one each year from 2014 through 2018. To that end, she has succeeded. In her first two years at the helm, Peterson has coached the Flyers to a 38-12 record, a pair of trips to the SoDak 16 and, perhaps most importantly, established a set of rhythms and expectations that had been missing before her arrival.

When the Menno High School volleyball team takes the court in Centerville Thursday night, Aug. 26 for its season-opener, head coach Rachel Stokes and the Wolves will approach the match — and the season — with one ideal in mind: Team over individual.