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Jul. 8—MITCHELL — As the new Mitchell High School building nears completion next door, Joe Quintal Field is set for its own upgrade this summer: A new video scoreboard.
Measuring 15 feet tall by 25 feet wide when fully constructed, the new Daktronics-built video board will be installed on the same framework that currently stands behind the west end zone. The new display is more than three times the surface area of the screen it's replacing, which was installed in August 2014.
"From where we're at to where we're going might feel like a big jump, but we're not far surpassing what everyone else has; we're coming up to that standard," said MHS activities director Cory Aadland. "We now have the facilities other schools want, and we finally get to be that school that's proud of its athletic facilities."
The entire project, which includes the Joe Quintal Field video board, MHS main gym video board, MHS auxiliary gym video board, additional fixed-digit scoreboards, audio systems in both gyms, locker room clocks, wiring and installation, cost approximately $875,000, according to Aadland, with the whole cost to be covered by private funds.
With the construction of the new MHS building, Aadland's initial intention was to secure funding for the new indoor video boards and then work toward replacing the aging outdoor scoreboard at Joe Quintal Field. However, with the ability to cover both projects at once, Aadland seized the opportunity to secure an upgrade that puts the Kernels' facilities "ahead of schedule."
"This puts us five years ahead of where I wanted to be," Aadland said. "We've got such great support from the community. We wouldn't be moving into a new high school and doing these projects if we didn't have support to this degree. We've continued to feel that support, and now we get to see it."
On Tuesday, July 8, Aadland, members of the Mitchell School Board, Mitchell Mayor Jordan Hanson and the Mitchell Republic were invited on a tour of the Daktronics' Sioux Falls production facility and to see the new video board before it gets shipped.
Since 2014, the west-end scoreboard has included a fixed-digit display featuring the game time and team scores. Below that is a video screen measuring approximately 7 feet tall by 14 feet wide, bordered on the remaining three sides by space for the promotion of school sponsors. All of that is being replaced by the new video board, which, despite its much larger video display area, will have approximately the same silhouette as its predecessor. Above the current scoreboard stands the audio system for the stadium, which will remain in place to be merged with the new display.
According to Aadland, the larger display will allow for a wider range of options for what can be put on the scoreboard during events. In a specific example, he noted that posting full eight-lane results from home track meets was a challenge with limited video board space, but that figures to be much easier come the spring of 2026.
Per Daktronics, Mitchell's new video board is comparable in size to other South Dakota high school installations the company has done in recent years, such as Brandon Valley, Aberdeen Central, Pierre and Canton.
While MHS' new video board was built 70 miles east at the Daktronics production facility in Sioux Falls, it will already have a touch of its permanent home before arriving in Mitchell.
The project bears the fingerprints of several MHS alumni who work for Daktronics, including manufacturing engineering manager Dan Nesthus, production supervisor Ryas Olson, machine tech supervisor Austin Dorzok and metal fabricator Alex Pierce.
"We definitely see projects come through for a lot of schools throughout the state, but when it's something that's in your hometown, that's pretty awesome," Nesthus said of the project. "... I think people are really going to appreciate the video quality. When you're sitting in the stands, it's going to look more like you're viewing a large TV across the field."
Unlike the screen being replaced, the new video board is large enough that it had to be built in two separate sections to be assembled on-site. When put together, the display is comprised of 209 separate LED panels, arranged 11 panels high by 19 panels wide. With a pixel pitch, the distance between LEDs, of 10 millimeters, more than 334,000 LEDs will light up the video board on game days.
Delivery is expected in mid-August. The first varsity event at Joe Quintal Field for the 2025 fall sports season is set for Aug. 16, a girls and boys soccer doubleheader. Aadland said installation is not likely to be done in time for those early contests, but he expects the video board to be fully operational by the Kernel Bowl, which will feature girls and boys soccer as well as football at Joe Quintal Field on Saturday, Sept. 6.
"It'll be really cool to see (once it's installed), because it's such a huge screen," Hanson said. "I think it's going to really help bring us into the new era of Mitchell."
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Measuring 15 feet tall by 25 feet wide when fully constructed, the new Daktronics-built video board will be installed on the same framework that currently stands behind the west end zone. The new display is more than three times the surface area of the screen it's replacing, which was installed in August 2014.
"From where we're at to where we're going might feel like a big jump, but we're not far surpassing what everyone else has; we're coming up to that standard," said MHS activities director Cory Aadland. "We now have the facilities other schools want, and we finally get to be that school that's proud of its athletic facilities."
The entire project, which includes the Joe Quintal Field video board, MHS main gym video board, MHS auxiliary gym video board, additional fixed-digit scoreboards, audio systems in both gyms, locker room clocks, wiring and installation, cost approximately $875,000, according to Aadland, with the whole cost to be covered by private funds.
With the construction of the new MHS building, Aadland's initial intention was to secure funding for the new indoor video boards and then work toward replacing the aging outdoor scoreboard at Joe Quintal Field. However, with the ability to cover both projects at once, Aadland seized the opportunity to secure an upgrade that puts the Kernels' facilities "ahead of schedule."
"This puts us five years ahead of where I wanted to be," Aadland said. "We've got such great support from the community. We wouldn't be moving into a new high school and doing these projects if we didn't have support to this degree. We've continued to feel that support, and now we get to see it."
On Tuesday, July 8, Aadland, members of the Mitchell School Board, Mitchell Mayor Jordan Hanson and the Mitchell Republic were invited on a tour of the Daktronics' Sioux Falls production facility and to see the new video board before it gets shipped.
Since 2014, the west-end scoreboard has included a fixed-digit display featuring the game time and team scores. Below that is a video screen measuring approximately 7 feet tall by 14 feet wide, bordered on the remaining three sides by space for the promotion of school sponsors. All of that is being replaced by the new video board, which, despite its much larger video display area, will have approximately the same silhouette as its predecessor. Above the current scoreboard stands the audio system for the stadium, which will remain in place to be merged with the new display.
According to Aadland, the larger display will allow for a wider range of options for what can be put on the scoreboard during events. In a specific example, he noted that posting full eight-lane results from home track meets was a challenge with limited video board space, but that figures to be much easier come the spring of 2026.
Per Daktronics, Mitchell's new video board is comparable in size to other South Dakota high school installations the company has done in recent years, such as Brandon Valley, Aberdeen Central, Pierre and Canton.
While MHS' new video board was built 70 miles east at the Daktronics production facility in Sioux Falls, it will already have a touch of its permanent home before arriving in Mitchell.
The project bears the fingerprints of several MHS alumni who work for Daktronics, including manufacturing engineering manager Dan Nesthus, production supervisor Ryas Olson, machine tech supervisor Austin Dorzok and metal fabricator Alex Pierce.
"We definitely see projects come through for a lot of schools throughout the state, but when it's something that's in your hometown, that's pretty awesome," Nesthus said of the project. "... I think people are really going to appreciate the video quality. When you're sitting in the stands, it's going to look more like you're viewing a large TV across the field."
Unlike the screen being replaced, the new video board is large enough that it had to be built in two separate sections to be assembled on-site. When put together, the display is comprised of 209 separate LED panels, arranged 11 panels high by 19 panels wide. With a pixel pitch, the distance between LEDs, of 10 millimeters, more than 334,000 LEDs will light up the video board on game days.
Delivery is expected in mid-August. The first varsity event at Joe Quintal Field for the 2025 fall sports season is set for Aug. 16, a girls and boys soccer doubleheader. Aadland said installation is not likely to be done in time for those early contests, but he expects the video board to be fully operational by the Kernel Bowl, which will feature girls and boys soccer as well as football at Joe Quintal Field on Saturday, Sept. 6.
"It'll be really cool to see (once it's installed), because it's such a huge screen," Hanson said. "I think it's going to really help bring us into the new era of Mitchell."
Continue reading...
