At the year-end banquet, just weeks after his team came up short in the state championship game, sophomore guard Gary “Cat Johnson had something to say. And so coach Mike O’Rourke gave him the floor. What came next – and over the next two years – defined the Joplin Memorial High School boys basketball teams… Read more »
News
Category: Teams/Programs
Kansas City Central High School Boys Track & Field Era 1964-1972
When it comes to Missouri high school sports dynasties, it would be hard to top the track and field dynasty built by Kansas City’s Central High School in the 1960s and early 1970s. For eight years, the Blue Eagles were untouchable, compiling one of the best track and field stories in state history. The Missouri… Read more »
Kansas City Corporate Challenge
When the United States boycotted the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980, the man who cared deeply for public parks and recreation in Kansas City’s largest counties sprung into action. No, Leon Younger didn’t save the Games. Instead, he called several businesses and created what he called the Corporate Olympics, with Kansas City-area businesses entering employees… Read more »
Kickapoo High School Girls Basketball Program
Walk into the gym at Kickapoo High School, and it’s understandable why jaws drop in awe. See the banners of the six girls basketball state championships? And the retired jerseys of 24 All-State players? However, in the fall of 1973, before the Lady Chiefs’ first ever practice – and just a year after federal Title… Read more »
1993-1995 Era Kickapoo High School Boys Cross Country
Sift through the old scrapbooks of Kickapoo High School’s boys cross country teams of the mid-1990s, and you might be left in awe – even more so than if you happen to stroll by the trophy case at the Springfield school. There’s one touting the 1993 team competing in the University of Kansas Invitational and… Read more »
1992 Lady Bears Final Four team
The poet Maya Angelou once said, “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” It’s a quote that seems fitting about the Missouri State Lady Bears that reached the 1992 Final Four. Ask any player, and you’ll hear inspiring stories about the journey along the way.… Read more »
2001 Lady Bears Final Four team
A team of destiny. That’s arguably the only way to describe the Missouri State Lady Bears of 2000-2001 basketball season. Put it this way: The team’s jersey numbers added up to 314, which as many know is the area code of St. Louis. It was the site that March of the Final Four. “We thought,… Read more »
Lafayette (Wildwood) High School Girls Swimming & Diving Program
It all began with incremental goals. Win 10 meets in a season here, place in the top three at the conference, maybe qualify relays and individuals for the state meet and so forth. In other words, the rise of one of the most storied high school girls swimming programs in the Show-Me State had humble… Read more »
Lamar High School Football Program
To coach Scott Bailey, those who have watched the rise of the Lamar High School Football Program should know one thing: It wasn’t his doing alone. “In our town, the school is important, and our town supports all the things that our kids do, with football being one of them,” Bailey said. A turnaround known… Read more »
Liberty High School Cheerleading Program
Stroll by the fieldhouse at Liberty High School and there they are: one state championship trophy after another showcasing the most successful high school cheerleading program in the Show-Me State. Not that it was always this way. And it wasn’t that long ago. “When I joined as a varsity assistant in 2003, we were excited… Read more »
1975 Licking High School volleyball team
In the summer of 1975, as word spread in the small community of Licking that MSHSAA would hold its first state volleyball tournament in the fall, team captains Glenna (Driesel) Adovasio and Trish (Kissiar) Knight rounded up the troops and regularly walked over to the house of the high school janitor. After all, before you… Read more »
1983-1989 Era Licking High School Baseball
In Texas County, where Highway 63 meanders through scenic countryside, there’s a baseball field that is no frills – which was just perfect for the blue-collar guys who once played there. Yes, the outfield fence and scoreboard are relatively new. Decades ago, however, dirt covered the entire infield. And some things haven’t changed: weather-worn bleachers,… Read more »
Lighthouse Christian Chargers Football National Title Teams
When folks heard about the possibility of a start-up, homeschool football program, anybody would have understood if it took years to build something special. Well, the Lighthouse Christian Chargers didn’t care to stick to the script. In fact, they’ve collected so much hardware already that there doesn’t seem to be any slowing down. Launched in… Read more »
Lincoln University Track and Field Program
Under the guidance of Coach Victor Thomas, the Lincoln University Track program has sprinted to tremendous success. The women’s program has won 10 NCAA National Championships, with the first coming in 2003 at the outdoor national championships, where his athletes won seven events, one short of the record for first place finishes at the Division… Read more »
1972-1979 Lindbergh High School Boys Cross Country
The story goes that Tom McCracken, still young and passionate as a 20-something track & field coach, successfully lobbied the athletic director of Lindbergh High School to make him the head coach of the boys cross country program. This was in 1969. “I didn’t know any better and said, ‘If you give me this job,… Read more »
Linn High School Cross Country Program
Look through the cross country portion of the website of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), and they are right up there with the giants. It’s pretty remarkable, really. Running cross country for Linn High School and getting noticed has required grueling offseason workouts and in-season practices. And all for a program located… Read more »