Senior Spotlight: Success Across Multiple Sports at SF Christian

The Sioux Falls Christian Chargers sit as the third seed in the Class A state basketball tournament, and this group of seniors has experienced success in multiple sports.

While the ever ongoing debate of kids specializing in one sport or participating in multiple sports continues, Sioux Falls Christian has shown that success can come across the board. For three seniors, championships and great seasons became normal.

There were the back-to-back state football championships in 2017 and 2018. Runner-up title for basketball in 2019, and a state golf title in 2019. The 2019-2020 basketball season was set up for one more run.

SF Christian went 15-5 during the regular season. Three of the team's five losses came against Class AA schools or an out-of-state (Minneapolis North) school, and each loss this year was within 10 points. This group was resilient and made it normal to see 70+ points per game. Better yet, Sioux Falls Christian dropped 105 in an overtime win over Jackson County, MN in late February.

The 17-5 overall Chargers would be the third seed in the Class A state basketball tournament.

"We will miss all 3 of these seniors next year. We will miss their leadership, their work ethic, their abilities they bring to the court, and just the fact that all 3 are good guys and good teammates." - Mike Schouten, SF Christian Head Coach

#2 Carter Nelson, G/F

Three-year varsity basketball player. Missed part of the season due to injury.
In the games Carter played, he averaged 2 points/game, 1 rebound/game, and 1 assist/game.
College: University of Minnesota (Academic)

"Nellie was the consummate team player. Though he had to miss a lot of practices and games to injury, he kept a great attitude, he constantly encouraged his teammates and was actually another coach on the floor during practices." - Mike Schouten

#4 Carson Van Beek, G

Three-year varsity guard for Sioux Falls Christian
Averaged about 5 points/game, and one rebound/assist per game.
College: Dakota Wesleyan (Golf)

"Carson made himself a good basketball player by putting in a lot of time working on his game. He really committed to playing better defense the last few seasons. It wasn't unusual to see Carson be one of the last players to leave practice as he was getting up extra shots to improve his shooting. Carson will be attending Dakota Wesleyan University on a golf scholarship." - Mike Schouten

#33 Zach Witte, F/C

Three-year varsity player and a two-year starter at center.
Named to DAK12 All-Conference Team for 2019-2020. Was named to the second team in 2018-2019.
Averaged 18 points/game, 8 rebounds/game, and 3 assists/game.
College: University of South Dakota (Football)

"Zach has excellent skills for a player his size. He has good ball-handling skills, he shoots the 3 well, and he can also post up well, making him a difficult player for our opponents to guard. He was our leading scorer and rebounder this season." - Mike Schouten

Congratulations to the Carter, Carson, and Zach for another great basketball season and for the success they had in all sports throughout their high school careers.

In conjunction with Scott Van Pelt's Senior Spotlight, each day ESPN 99.1 will highlight our local seniors for their accomplishments on the court throughout their careers.