In the community of Eldon in mid-Missouri, the big box-office draw years ago was over at the high school gym. Walk into the lobby these days, and the history of Eldon Volleyball, particularly 1980 to 1996, takes up most of the real estate. You can’t miss the over-sized picture of the 1991 state championship team… Read more »
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Category: Teams/Programs
Eminence High School Volleyball Program
In the scenic south-central Missouri Ozarks, just north of Highway 60, there’s a town of roughly 600 that’s far more than a dot on the state map. It’s Eminence, home to a competitive volleyball program that dates back to 1934. “We had such a reputation that teams as far away as Springfield (two hours) traveled… Read more »
2002 Evangel University Men’s Basketball National Championship Team
In the tucked-way basketball office at a quaint college on Springfield’s north side, a framed copy of a newspaper hung for years for all to see. It captured the night of March 2002, with the headline splashed all over that the Evangel University men’s basketball team won the NAIA Division II national title. “After 20… Read more »
1963 Exeter High School Boys Basketball State Championship Team
In the southwest corner of Southwest Missouri lies one of the best basketball stories you’ve likely never heard of. Back in the winter of 1963, the Exeter High School Boys Basketball team authored one of the most impressive – and unlikely – undefeated state championship seasons in the history of the Show-Me State. It is,… Read more »
Fast Break Club
The Fast Break Club grew out of conversations, in the early 1980s, among business and professional women in Springfield, brought together by Dr. Mary Jo Wynn for the purpose of brainstorming ways to support the women’s athletic program at Missouri State University. Challenged by University of Texas’ winning women’s basketball coach, Jody Conradt, in October… Read more »
1990-1996 Era Fatima High School Softball
Coaches who cared, combined with a togetherness and friendship that’s still evident years later. Those were the secret ingredients behind Fatima High School’s softball success in the early-to-mid 90s. Success also breeds more success. And the more Fatima won, the more the players wanted to keep winning. And did they ever. From 1990-96, Fatima High… Read more »
Foremost Dairy Softball Teams 1966-1975
It’s an iconic photograph, taken in the early 1970s, with softball players surrounding – and one player atop – a milk delivery truck marked Foremost. Players are wearing orange and white uniforms, with knee-high socks. And, for folks who have passed by the photo at the Springfield Softball Museum at the Killian Softball Complex, it’s… Read more »
Forsyth High School 1973 State Championship Basketball Team
There are high school teams that win a lot of games, and then there are teams that leave a mark that never fades. In Forsyth, the conversation always comes back to 1973. It was the year a small Taney County town watched its boys basketball team climb all the way to the top of Missouri,… Read more »
Fred W. Stockman Post 245
1956 Fred W. Stockham Post 245- American Legion National Champions – Coached by Al Grosch, the team defeated Fellowship Post 341 playing out of New Orleans, at the National Championship in Bismarck, ND to receive the Howard P. Savage National Champion Trophy. The pitching staff was anchored by future St. Louis Cardinal Bob Miller.
Glasgow High School Boys Basketball Program
One of the most unique basketball shrines in the Show-Me State is north of I-70, in a Missouri River bluff town called Glasgow. In the high school gym’s lobby alone, it features walls of trophy cases displaying nearly endless hardware, especially of Final Four days long ago and recent. Look closer. See the plaques hanging… Read more »
Glendale High School Baseball Program
The safe assumption would have been a modest start, maybe a few challenging years before building up toward a tradition and earning a huge dot on the state sports map. Obviously, the Glendale High School Baseball Program tossed that script in the trash bin. In 1967, only three seasons after their inaugural 1964 spring, the… Read more »
1975 Glendale High School Girls Tennis State Championship Team
In 1974, Linda Sisco was a young physical education instructor at Glendale High School when the principal and athletic director asked her if she would like to coach the girls’ tennis team. She had played tennis herself but had never coached a team. The federal Title IX legislation had passed just two years earlier, allowing… Read more »
1976-1980 Era Glendale High School Girls Golf
The Ozarks have enjoyed a rich history in the sport of golf, and most aficionados of the sport know the names of Horton Smith and Payne Stewart. At the high school level, the game has had a number of wonderful storylines. Among them was one based in the heart of Springfield. The story goes that… Read more »
Mizzou Golden Girls
Everybody in sports has a story, but some are more fascinating than others. In 1964, one of the majorettes eager to perform with the University of Missouri marching band – that is, for football halftime shows – arrived to a tryout in a silver-sequined leotard. That piqued the interest of Charles Emmons, the Innovation Director.… Read more »
Grain Valley High School Cheerleading Program
There is no denying that competitive cheerleading is legit these days. Just check out the commons area of Grain Valley High School, where the large set of cases house an abundance of state championship trophies earned by the cheerleading program. And then walk into the gym, where you’ll find record boards documenting regional and state… Read more »
1977 Greenfield High School Football Team
Back in 1977, a football season that had begun in the warmth of the late-summer sun reached the Class 1 state championship game only to be faced with two opponents – one being an ice storm. Quarterback David McNeel remembers it being 9 degrees. Coach Jim Dykens says it was a little warmer, maybe 10,… Read more »