2015 Jackrabbit Open

The Jackrabbit Open was held on the campus of South Dakota State University (SDSU) on February 7th in Brookings. The local chess club hosted the event that was rated by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and offered free and clear of any entry fee.  The tournament was directed by Chet Marks.
There were 53 players in attendance and 4 schools were represented in the scholastic sections: Pierre Indian Learning Center (PILC), New Life Fellowship (NLF) Baptist of Batesland, SD, and Robert Frost and Rosa Parks elementary schools from Sioux Falls.
The kindergarten though third grade (K-3) champion was Josiah Cuevas of PILC, second place was captured by Joanna Marks of NLF Baptist and Nicholas Drapeau of PILC took third. The K-3 team champion was PILC.
In the K-5 division it was a hard fought battle that ended up with Jackson Geerts of Robert Frost School and Hannah Marks of NLF Baptist finishing with 4.5 points each, only giving up a draw to each other. Hannah took first on tie breaks, Jackson took second while fellow teammate Samuel Hindbjorgen of Robert Frost  took third with 4 points.
The battle for the K-5 team trophy was very close. Robert Frost took second with 11.5 points with only three players while PILC took first with 12.5 points scored by their top four players.