By Rich Winter

605 Sports

BRANDON — When Brandon Valley High School junior Mikah Peters was in fourth grade his athletic future changed in an instant. 

During a physical education class, students ran a timed mile and Peters crushed the elementary field posting a time of 5:56. The elementary cross-country coach approached Peters and suggested he give up wrestling and concentrate on running. 

“I wrestled for a few more years but after breaking my foot in seventh grade I committed to running full time,” Peters said. 

Peters qualified for the state cross-country meet as an eighth-grader before breaking onto the big stage with a sixth-place performance as a freshman. As a sophomore, Peters finished fourth in the Class AA race (15:43). 

After two years of chasing athletes like Rapid City Stevens’ Simeon Birnbaum and Pierre’s Jared Lutmer, and with the three athletes that finished in front of him last year all having graduated, Peters is hoping for big things in 2024. 

“My summer has been a lot of grinding,” Peters said. “I put in a lot of miles and started lifting with Derek Ferley, Director of Sports Research at Avera. I’ve never really lifted before and I’m already seeing some of that work pay off.” 

Peters enters the 2024 season as the top returner in the Class AA field. He’ll have to fend off a group of talented young runners as 18 runners who reached the podium last year return. 

Peters also enters the season with a chip on his shoulder after not performing as well as he’d hoped at the 2024 Class AA state track meet. 

“Last year, I was having a great indoor season and then had problems with my hip flexor,” he said. “That injury was a real bummer and it took me a couple of months to move past the mental part of the injury.”

Peters failed to place in the 1,600-meter run but managed a fourth place effort in the 3,200-meter run (9:30). 

Brandon Valley opens their cross-country season Friday, Aug. 30 at the O’Gorman cross-country invitational, an event that covers 2.5 miles. The first clash with the rest of the Class AA contenders comes Friday, Sept. 6 at the Augustana Twilight cross-country meet. 

“One of my big goals is to win the state title,” he said. “I kind of like the fact that everyone else is chasing me and by the end of the year I’d like to have run sub 15 minutes.” 

Class AA boys: The race for the Class AA boys individual title should be a good one as many fresh faces appear ready to make their mark. The 2023 Class AA meet featured three seniors in the top-three positions and a top-25 that featured 18 underclassmen. 

Athletes to watch: Mikah Peters, Brandon Valley; Miles Lechtenberg, Sioux Falls Lincoln; Cole Reilly, Sioux Falls Washington; Ty Petrocco, Sturgis; Quinn Bruch, Sturgis; Caleb Morris, Pierre; Joseph Levensque, Sioux Falls Lincoln (each of these runners were in the top-10 at the state meet last season). 

Class AA boys team race — Sioux Falls Lincoln (115) and Sturgis (129) were the top-two teams at the 2023 state cross country meet. With a number of top returners, the Patriots and Scoopers figure to be in the title hunt this fall. 

Sioux Falls Lincoln — Junior Miles Lechtenberg and senior Joseph Levesque form one of top tandems in the AA ranks. Other returners for the Patriots are Nathan Thompson, Aemil Nelson, Tyrus Needles, Cole Schellpfeffer, Nayati Ringing Shield all who ran at the state meet last fall. 

Sturgis: Senior Ty Petrocco and junior Quinn Bruch lead the Scoopers in 2024 after finishing seventh and eighth respectively at the 2023 state meet. Other returners for Sturgis are Ty Ferguson, Taylor Colunga, Cash Daigle and Kale Fenner. 

Class AA girls — O’Gorman’s Libby Castelli aiming for repeat AA girls championship

A year ago, Sioux Falls O’Gorman senior Libby Castelli dominated the field at the state meet with a winning time of 17:31.91. Spearfish’s Peyton VanDeest (18:01.26), runner-up in 2023,  figures to be Castelli’s biggest threat to a repeat title in 2024. 

Athletes to watch: Hannah Genrich, Harrisburg; Sarah VanDenBerg, Brandon Valley; Kadence Holso, Rapid City Stevens; Grace McElroy, Watertown and Kori Keil, Spearfish. 

Class AA girls team race — The Brandon Valley girls coasted to the Class AA team title in 2023, amassing 52 points, well ahead of Spearfish (90) and Harrisburg (106). 

Brandon Valley — The Lynx lost Mia Wentzy (University of Arizona) to graduation but have the core of their team returning. Senior Sarah VanDenBerg was sixth at the state meet a year ago, with junior teammates Lillian Rude and Addison Scholten finishing 11th and 12th respectively. Other top Brandon Valley returners include Ellie Anders, Emma Tidemann and Shelby Bergen.

Spearfish: Spearfish returns every athlete that ran in the 2023 state meet. VanDeest and junior Kori Keil headline the 2024 squad and are a formidable tandem at the top of the lineup. Other returners include Madie Donovan, Sierra Sandford, Auna Taglioli and Tylee Tetrault