By Dana Hess
For the S.D. Newspaper Association
PIERRE — Tom Culver, the superintendent of the Avon School District will be the next chairman of the board of directors of the South Dakota High School Activities Association. He was elected at the board’s meeting on Thursday, June 10.
The vice chairman will be Mark Murphy, a school board member from Aberdeen.
Culver’s nine-member board will be short-handed for a while.
The association’s member schools have elected Elk Point/Jefferson Superintendent Derek Barrios to replace board member Jerry Rasmussen of Dakota Valley. A vote for the Division IV position, to be filled by an athletic director, will need to go to a runoff election between Eric Denning of Mount Vernon/Plankinton and Jeff Kosters of Frederick. The winner of that election will take the place of Craig Cassens of Faulkton.
The election for the West River at-large position on the board was declared invalid after it came to the attention of the association that one of the candidates, Cooper Garnos of Lyman, was retiring.
“Anyone on that ballot could say, ‘Those votes could have gone to me,’” according to SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos, explaining why the vote was canceled. A ballot with the other three candidates will be re-submitted to member schools. Those candidates are Kelly Messmer of Harding County, Todd Palmer of Sturgis and James Bagwell of Crazy Horse.
The board has another opening to fill because at its meeting it agreed to hire board member Randy Soma as an assistant executive director. Soma, the activities director for the Brookings School District, will replace John Krogstrand who has accepted a position as director of athletics for Omaha Public Schools.
The board also approved the hiring of Justin Ingalls of Sioux Falls as a statewide officials coordinator.
SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Jo Auch said Ingalls will be responsible for the recruitment and retention of football and basketball officials.
Culver will take the gavel for the first time at the board’s August meeting.
