A lot can change quickly when it comes to jobs in sports, and in the high school ranks of South Dakota it’s no different.
Just over a month ago, long time Aberdeen Central athletic director Gene Brownell announced that after 23-years, he would be retiring. From there, legendary Golden Eagles girls’ basketball coach Dawn Seiler accepted the vacant AD position, which effectively will end her high school hoops coaching career. And then this week, Mikayla Arechigo, who was an assistant under Dawn Seiler, was announced as the new girls’ basketball coach.
For Brownell, he’s proud of the current state that Aberdeen Central is in, and he’s excited for Seiler to jump into the AD role.
“What you want to do is leave it better than you found it. And then what you also want to do is have somebody come in that will make it better. And I believe that we've left it better than we found it. And I believe that we now have somebody that's going to make it even better,” explained Brownell. “When I became the AD 23 years ago, [Dawn Seiler] was the second person that we hired. And we hired her as our girls' basketball coach. We've never been sorry we did that – obviously.”
Seiler is the winningest girls’ basketball coach in South Dakota, as she steps away from a 37-year career with 629 career victories. She announced that she would be stepping down as coach, and accepting the activities director position for Aberdeen Central, at the conclusion of the Golden Eagles 61-33 win in the 7th place game over Rapid City Central at the ‘AA’ state tournament on March 13th.
In an interview with the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, Seiler exclaimed that her new role isn’t something she ever envisioned.
“Becoming an AD wasn’t a career goal at all, but we’ll see where it takes me,” Seiler stated. “I’ve done this a long time. Now it’s a chance for somebody else to get out there and do it. I’m going to watch athletes compete in a lot of different sports, which is a good thing. I just like watching kids compete and watching them get better.”
Seiler stepped down as the head girls’ basketball coach at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, but did end up returning for two more seasons at the helm. Her impressive resume includes 629 career wins, 26 state tournament appearances, and two state championships (2016 and 2018). She coached for 15 seasons at McIntosh before coming to Aberdeen Central in 1998.
It’s now Mikayla Arechingo’s turn to start her own era of Golden Eagles basketball. She spent six seasons as an assistant to Seiler.
In a story by Dave Vilhauer of South Dakota SportScene, Arechigo mentioned that it’s not her goal to try and replicate Dawn Seiler.
“I think that for anyone to take on and try and be coach Seiler, is not a realistic expectation or aspiration,” explained Arechigo. “I plan on being my own coach, but I am very grateful for the foundation that Coach Seiler has left behind.”
Arechigo has spent time coaching the Aberdeen Central freshman girls’ basketball team. Her mother Janelle Barondeau is also currently the head cross country coach for Frederick Area.
