After this weekend, I believe that the Sweet 16 really worked out during both the State A and State B volleyball tournaments held in Rapid City.

There are two conferences well represented at the State A and B Volleyball Tournaments this year in Rapid City.

The corridor of champions is along South Dakota Highway 34 as three of the seven state champions are located on SD-34.

I think I have asked this before, but I will ask it again. At region cross country meets, after the varsity runners are done with their races, there is a junior varsity race. I have asked several people: why do they have a junior varsity race?

There will be no home field advantage for the Dakota State University Trojans for their homecoming contest against the Presentation College Saints. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the game will now be played at 2 p.m. Monday at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.

Do you like high school volleyball?

Last Friday night the spotlight was on Trojan Field as the unbeaten Madison Bulldogs, No. 1 in Class 11A, hosted the unbeaten Bridgewater-Emery-Ethan Seahawks, No. 1 in Class 11B.

Championship matches or games are supposed to come down to the wire, and the Big East Conference  Volleyball championship did just that.

Were you wondering why some summaries of the games were in Thursday's Daily Leader instead of Wednesday's paper? I was not working on Wednesday, so I have been playing catch-up.

After a brief summer vacation, the fall sports got off to a bang. The other fall high school sport for area teams that I have yet to witness is boys golf for Madison.

There have been some really interesting things happening at the District 4B Amateur Baseball Tournament at Flynn Field here during the week. The tournament will come to a close on Saturday with the championship game set for 7 p.m.

Well, the summer is almost over! There have been several VFW State Baseball Tournaments already finished, and the Class B American Legion State Baseball Tournament starts today with the winner being crowned on Sunday.

The home opener for the Madison Broncos is Monday (tonight) against the Sioux Falls Saints at 7:30 p.m. at Flynn Field.

For Class B track and field enthusiasts, Chester is the place to be on Saturday. The Tom Main Invitational will be held at Chester with field events starting at 9:30 and running events beginning at 10:30 a.m.

If there was ever any doubt in anyone's head what is the toughest Class A conference in the state, that question should have been answered over the weekend.

The Dakota XII Conference will be represented very well in the State A Girls Basketball Tournament at Frost Arena on the campus of South State University this weekend.

The Madison Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs have already taken advantage of the Sweet 16 in its first year.

Well, the athletic directors had to make a hard choice on Thursday to either call the Region 3A semifinal games at Tea Area High School or to play them.

The Madison Bulldogs wrestling team has a shot to send a number of athletes to the State Wrestling Meet this season. There are several Bulldogs heading into the Region 1A Tournament on Saturday with a chance to do something special; if there are a number of wrestlers who qualify for the Stat…

The Madison Lady Bulldogs claimed their 20th Class A gymnastics title over the weekend in Aberdeen.

Well, there is one more football game left for the season - Super Bowl LI - and after Sunday, all football fans will have to wait until the preseason games start again.

A game for all ages will take place at the Dakota State University Fieldhouse on Saturday around 9 p.m. It will be the last of nines games of the Hefty Seeds High School Boys Basketball Classic.

I have heard some talk this week about playing six-man football in the state.

If anyone asks what's there is to do this weekend, they are not living in the Lake County area. You name the sport and it is being played this weekend somewhere.

Madison wrestling fans who want to see the Bulldogs in action will have a chance to watch them at home twice before the season gets done. The 2016-17 schedule had the Bulldogs on the road for the most of the season.

Well, the Christmas break is over and the winter sports will be picking up starting this week.

Well, the mini-vacation or downtime I have had the past few weeks in between the fall and winter sports will be coming to an end this week.

The Dakota XII Conference flexed its muscles during the State A Volleyball Tournament at Watertown.

If you ask the Madison Lady Bulldogs whether the Sweet 16 format is good for Class A volleyball, they would say "Yes" without hesitation.

Congratulations goes out to the Colman-Egan Hawks on their 32-28 win over the Warner Monarchs in the Class 9A title game on Thursday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.

What a shame that the entire state will not see one of the best Class B volleyball teams battling for a Class B title this season.

Oh, what a game it was when Nebraska went to Madison, Wis., to take on the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night.

The Madison Bulldogs are one game away from something that hasn't been done since 2005.

Even though I am not the biggest Chicago Cubs fan, it was exciting watching the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night, when the Cubs recorded the last out against the L.A. Dodgers and earned a trip to the World Series.

Let the madness begin!

What a fantastic season for the Madison Lady Bulldogs tennis team! They placed sixth in the State Tournament, and every singles players and every doubles team won at least two matches.

Not standing up for the national anthem is just plainly a disgrace by those who could stand up for the greatest song in the country - and the greatest country.

My first taste of Dakota State College (now Dakota State University) came in 1976, when I transferred from University of South Dakota at Springfield to DSC.

Homecoming football games are always special.

The area racing season will come to a close this weekend as Dakota State Fair Speedway hosts the Wissota 100.

Jacob and Josh Giles have had great starts to the 2016 football seasons for the Dakota State College and Madison Bulldogs. Both brothers play quarterback on their respective teams.

A team that is worth seeing this fall in Madison is the Lady Bulldogs tennis team. Heading to the Brandon Valley Tournament on Friday, the Lady Bulldogs are 10-2 in dual meets.

On Labor Day weekend my husband and I took a mini-vacation out west.

Volleyball fans and girls' tennis fans should be smiling in 2016 as there will be several good teams to hit the courts this fall.

After doing the previews for the area fall sports teams, I have come to the conclusion that fans from Chester, Colman-Egan, Howard, Madison and Oldham-Ramona-Rutland will be in store for a great season that will lead to many memories.

On Sunday night, I witnessed that you don't have to be the biggest driver to claim an A-Feature during a 410-Outlaw sprint car race at Badland Motor Speedway.

Gale Pifer and I went over to Slayton, Minn., on Friday night to see the Southwest Minnesota H.O.T.R.O.D. Touring Series at Murray County Speedway.

Well, the baseball and softball bats are put away for the summer and the area dirt track racing is heading into the final laps.

For some morbid and unexplainable reason, articles on death have been catching my attention lately.

There has been some talk about building some new softball fields here in Madison. One of the reasons for building new diamonds is so that the trailer homes don't get hit by home runs that go over the left-field and left-center fence at the Thue Complex.