Just a few short years after MSHSAA installed a postseason tournament for high school football, Rock Bridge High School emerged as a mid-1970s power, with two undefeated state championship teams. The 1975 team beat Nevada 10-0 and finished 12-0 under the guidance of coach Rich Davies. It was only the third year in existence for… Read more »
News
Category: Teams/Programs
Rockhurst High School Football Program
If the old guard of Missouri high school football – that is, former coaches, officials, sports writers and broadcasters – ever got to talking about the best programs in state history, there are only a select few that would merit discussion. One of them can be found in Kansas City, at a private school near… Read more »
1959-1974 Era Saint Louis University Men’s Soccer
Many college programs have had dominant championship runs. UCLA men’s basketball program won seven straight NCAA championships from 1967-73 and captured 10 titles in 12 years altogether. USC baseball won the College World Series five straight times between 1970 and 1974, and North Carolina women’s soccer reeled in 16 national championships in 18 seasons from… Read more »
Santa Fe High School Volleyball and Girls Track & Field Programs
Just a few miles north of I-70, there in the middle of the quaint farm country of Lafayette County and just east of a two-laner, sits Santa Fe High School. Don’t be fooled by the district’s R-X designation. It’s firmly on the state sports map, put there by the volleyball and girls track & field… Read more »
Scott County Central Boys & Girls Basketball
For years, they played in a crackerbox gym perfect for small-school basketball, with the locals in their community north of Sikeston packing the place on winter Friday nights. Banners of success and retired jersey numbers now decorate the new place, named for its patriarch, Ronnie Cookson. So one can imagine if there ever was a… Read more »
1983-1996 Era Seneca High School Football
In the trophy case, the state football championship trophies don’t sit alone. Not far from those commemorating the 1987 and 1995 seasons, you’ll find the showpieces proudly reminding all of many autumns gone by. From there, walk out the back door of the cafeteria and there it is, the quaint football stadium, where the bleachers… Read more »
Show-Me State Games & Missouri Senior Games
For decades, amateur athletes would check out Sports Illustrated magazine weekly and dream. Perhaps they would land in Faces in the Crowd. Maybe their sports team would get some ink in a short story about a remarkable achievement. So imagine the pride felt when Sports Illustrated delivered a lengthy feature on the Show-Me State Games… Read more »
Peggy & Dale Siler & Ozarks Shooters Sports Complex
Sometimes, taking a chance on a struggling business can turn to gold – and can become one of the most amazing stories. In 1969, Dale & Peggy Siler purchased a Springfield gun store called Ozark Shooters Inc., knowing it was deep in debt. Peggy had worked there part-time for only six months. Dale? He had… Read more »
Skyline High School Girls Basketball Program
Along U.S. Highway 65 north between Springfield and Sedalia, on a meandering two-laner cutting through farm country of Hickory County, the big box-office draw is not at a movie theater but at an R-I school district. That would be the girls basketball program of Skyline High School, and think the locals are proud of it?… Read more »
Smith-Cotton High School Girls Golf Program
Years before the arrival of Duane Brandsgaard and then B.J. Curry as coaches – and long before the trophy case became crowded – the Smith-Cotton High School Girls Golf Program was lurking just beyond the fringe. Suddenly in 1984, only 10 years after their inaugural season, the Lady Tigers found themselves – get this –… Read more »
Smithville High School Girls Track & Field Era 1981-1991
When the Smithville High School girls track program began its impressive run of success in the 1980s, it wasn’t just the girls on the team who played a role. Ask the former athletes who created the success, and they’ll tell you it was much more. Even more than the school. It was the entire community.… Read more »
1998-99 SMS Bears Sweet Sixteen Basketball Team
The Bears enjoyed a magical season in 1998-99, advancing all the way to the NCAA Sweet 16, finally falling to the Number 1 team in the nation. SMS had a solid, veteran team that season with Kevin Ault and William Fontleroy in the backcourt, 6-11 Danny Moore in the pivot, Ron Bruton and Ken Stringer, and… Read more »
1984 Southeast Missouri State University National Championship Cross Country Team
On November 17, 1984, the Southeast Missouri State University team capped a fairy tale season in Clinton, Mississippi (Mississippi College) by placing three runners in the top 10, scoring 87 points to Edinboro University’s 129 and winning the National Championship.
1974 Southwest Missouri State University National Championship Softball Team
Led by Coach Kay Hunter, the Southwest Missouri State softball team steamrolled through the nation during the fall of 1974. The team went 19-4, and posted a 4-0 record in the Missouri AIAW Championship. It then went on to compete in the national meet in Omaha, Nebraska, where it won five straight games to claim… Read more »
1979 Southwest Missouri State University Women’s Field Hockey Team
The 1979 team had the greatest field hockey season in school history. The Bears finished the season with a 28-2-1 record and dominated their opponents in every aspect of the game. For the season, the Bears outscored their opponents by 117 goals, 127-10, and held the school record for most goals scored and fewest goals… Read more »
2009 Sparta High School Girls Basketball State Championship Team
In the expansive trophy case of the new high school in Sparta, you’ll see homages to the past. Notice the worn letter jackets of the mid-1950s celebrating basketball teams that won state titles? And you cannot miss all of the district plaques from various sports teams. But look further to the right and you’ll see… Read more »