2007-08 was banner year for high schools in Missourian coverage area

Before the 2007-08 school year gets too terribly far into the rearview mirror, let's take a quick look at what may have been the most successful year of high school sports for the teams in the Southeast Missourian coverage area.

First, Notre Dame won two state championships — Class 2 boys soccer and Class 4 boys basketball — and had a state-leading five final four appearances this year (six, if you include the championship in academics).

Scott City won its first state championship in any team sport, capturing the Class 2 baseball championship with a 23-1 season.

Saxony Lutheran snared its first Class 1 state championship in boys track, sealing a dramatic win over Worth County by winning the meet-ending 1,600 relay.

The four state championships were matched in only one other school year: 1997-98, with titles for Kelly in girls cross country and softball, Leopold in volleyball and St. Vincent in boys golf.

Area schools won three titles in the following years: 1982-83, 1985-86, 1986-87 and 1990-91, thanks in part to the Scott County Central basketball dynasty.

This school year, the schools in the Southeast Missourian coverage area took home state team trophies on 11 other occasions, including two state runner-up showings.

(In 1997-98, four other teams had top four finishes: Oran baseball, Jackson girls basketball and Kelly boys cross country all were runners-up; St. Vincent boys golf was third.)

This year, Delta was second in the state in Class 1 girls basketball in Randy White's final season. The Bobcats made their fourth state tourney trip and still are seeking a first title.

St. Vincent fell to Stockton in the Class 2 volleyball tournament while seeking its first title in the sport.

Leopold finished third in Class 1 volleyball.

Notre Dame, in addition to its two titles, was third in the state in boys cross country, softball and baseball.

Kelly also went to the state softball tourney this year and placed third in Class 2.

Cape Central added a state trophy in cross country, placing fourth in the Class 4 girls division for the program's first trophy.

Jackson kicked off its year with a semifinal showing in Class 5 football, the best showing in the sport by an area team since St. Vincent's 2004 state title.

Scott County Central returned to the boys basketball final four for the first time since 1994, but the Braves were unable to add another to their state-record 12 titles, falling to Jefferson by two points in the Class 1 state semifinal. Scott County came back to win the third-place game and was second in the final state poll.

Oran went to the state baseball tournament for a ninth time, but finished third in Class 1, tying Sikeston for the most trips to state without a title.

Tid-bits

— Notre Dame, with its two state titles this year, has at least one state championship in each of the last three years, having won in boys soccer in 2006-07 and boys cross country the previous year. Only Scott County Central, which won titles in 12 straight years from 1982 to 1993 in either boys or girls basketball, has a streak at least as long among area schools.

— Notre Dame won sectional decisions in softball, boys basketball and baseball and a district championship in boys soccer against the same school — De Soto. Mark Himmelberg was the lone member of Notre Dame's final four teams in three sports — soccer, basketball and baseball.

— Saxony's championship in boys track was the first won in that sport by a school in the Southeast Missourian coverage area.

Years with multiple state championships for area teams:

2007-08: 4, Notre Dame boys soccer, Notre Dame boys basketball, Saxony Lutheran boys track, Scott City baseball

1997-98: 4, Kelly girls cross country, Kelly girls softball, Leopold volleyball, St. Vincent boys golf

1982-83: 3, Scott County Central boys basketball, Notre Dame baseball, Chaffee baseball

1985-86: 3, Scott County Central boys basketball, Notre Dame boys basketball, Perryville girls basketball

1986-87: 3, Scott County Central boys basketball, Notre Dame boys basketball, Scott County Central girls basketball

1990-91: 3, Zalma volleyball, Scott County Central boys basketball, Scott County Central girls basketball

Multiple titles, one school, single school year

2 — Cape Central 1953-54, boys basketball, baseball

2 — Kelly, 1997-98, softball, girls cross country

2 — Scott County Central, 1985-86, girls basketball, boys basketball

2 — Scott County Central, 1986-87, girls basketball, boys basketball

2 — Scott County Central, 1990-91, girls basketball, boys basketball

2 — Scott County Central, 1992-93, girls basketball, boys basketball

2 — Notre Dame, 2007-08, boys soccer, boys basketball

State titles by school

19 — Scott County Central (Boys basketball (12): 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993; Girls basketball (7): 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993)

11 — Notre Dame (Baseball (3): 1983, 1984, 1993; Boys basketball (3): 1986, 1987, 2008; Girls basketball: 2002; Boys cross country: 2005; Boys soccer (3): 2002, 2006, 2007)

6 — Cape Central (Baseball (3): 1954, 1962, 1994; Boys basketball (2): 1954, 1980; Boys golf (1): 1964)

4 — Bell City (Boys basketball (2): 2002, 2004; Girls volleyball (2): 1996, 2003)

4 — Chaffee (Baseball (3): 1975, 1977, 1983; Football: 1983)

4 — Kelly (Boys cross country: 1996; Girls cross country: 1997; Softball (2): 1997, 2004)

3 — Leopold (Girls volleyball (3): 1993, 1997, 2002)

3 — Saxony Lutheran (Boys cross country (2): 2004, 2005; Boys track: 2008).

2 — Advance (Boys basketball (2): 1972, 1975)

2 — Jackson (Boys basketball: 1934; Wrestling: 1977)

2 — Perryville (Girls basketball: 1986; Football: 1968)

2 — Zalma (Boys basketball: 1940; Girls volleyball: 1990)

1 — Scott City (Baseball: 2008)

1 — Woodland (Girls volleyball: 1994)

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Response to comment: Chaffee's football title came in 1983, the same calendar year as the baseball title, but the following school year.

 

Sikeston Standard Democrat's top athetes

The Sikeston Standard Democrat in Sunday's edition had Dexter junior Katelyn Heil as its female athlete of the year. Heil was one of the area's top players in girls basketball, earning all-state honors in that sport as well as tennis. In addition, Heil developed this year from someone who had not competed in the shot put into one of the top 12 throwers in the area.

The boys choice for the Sikeston newspaper was the area's fastest man, Tony Jones (10.82 in the 100 at the SEMO South meet). The second-place finisher in the 100 at the Class 2 state meet, Jones also was one of the area's top tacklers in football and a standout basketball player who won the dunk competition at the B.A. Sports All-Star Extravaganza.