Since the school’s first game one hundred years ago, New Haven has established an outstanding basketball tradition recognized throughout the state. The Shamrocks have ten Final Four appearances and eight State Championships. From 1956 through 1959, the teams won four consecutive Class S State Titles and boasted an overall record of 130-9. During that span, they… Read more »
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Category: Teams/Programs
Nixa Eagles Basketball Program
Every winter, the Nixa Eagles are among the state’s must-see basketball teams. After all, notice the Final Four banners in the gym? Heck, the trophy case is crowded, too. “Our program has been successful going back to the 1950s and 1960s,” Nixa coach Jay Osborne said. “We always talk about our history with our new… Read more »
1969, 70, 71 Northeast Missouri State College Football Teams
If any three teams epitomized the spirit of a “Bulldog”, it was the three football teams of Northeast Missouri State College, now Truman State University, who garnered M.I.A.A. Conference Championships in 1969, 1970 and 1971. (Co-champions 1969, 1970 and undefeated Conference Champions in 1971). None of these teams were picked to finish higher than 4th… Read more »
1973-1979, 1982 Northeast Nodaway High School Girls Basketball
Whenever the story of a girls sports team is told, it’s easy to assume that its success came only as a result of Title IX, the 1972 federal legislation that required public schools to offer sports to girls. However, that is not the case in the communities of Ravenwood and Parnell, which are rural northwest… Read more »
1998 & 1999 Northwest Missouri State Football Teams
Two years after finishing 0-11 – and two years before winning the first of their program’s back-to-back national championships – the Northwest Missouri State football Bearcats could only shake their heads. But in a good way. In December 1996, the team they nearly beat in the playoffs went on to win it all. “We were… Read more »
Norwood High School 1991 State Championship Softball Team
In the fall of 1991, you could say the Norwood High School Lady Pirates hit preseason softball practices motivated to do a lot of damage. You see, they had won a string of conference championships but had not advanced beyond the district tournament. In other words, it was time to change the narrative, and write… Read more »
Notre Dame de Sion High School Girls Golf Program
It’s hard to believe these days, but years ago there were few, if any, opportunities for girls to compete in high school sports. In fact, it wasn’t until passage of federal Title IX legislation when high schools began to open the doors to gymnasiums and other venues to allow girls to field teams. While the… Read more »
2002-2010 Era Archbishop O’Hara High School Volleyball
Just ahead of the fall of 2002, in a private high school in Kansas City, a group of volleyball players sensed that it could be a special season. After all, previous teams had the talent, just not the postseason luck. That was the story of Archbishop O’Hara High School Volleyball. “To tell you the truth,… Read more »
Oak Grove High School Wrestling Program
The old practice room at Oak Grove High School probably sums up the Panthers wrestling program the best: It resembled an Army concrete bunker, wedge into a roughly 38 foot-by-38 foot area and no apologies. “You could build up heat and humidity in five minutes,” longtime assistant coach Clif Cromer remembered. “And it was funny… Read more »
Oak Park High School Baseball Program
In the spring of 1966, the Oak Park High School Northmen took the field for their inaugural baseball game. At the time, there was no outfield fence and, of course, no tradition. However, a coach named Jim Derry saw to it that the entire state would eventually see Oak Park through a different lense, the… Read more »
Ozark High School Baseball Program
Thumb through scrapbooks or yearbooks of Ozark High School baseball players, and it’s one of those sweet trips down Memory Lane. “Baseball Resumed” reads the headline tucked away in the 1975 Yearbook, accompanied with a collage of black-and-white photos. Four years later, in 1979, the team reached none other than the Final Four, and the… Read more »
Ozark High School Cheerleading Program
Stroll through the gym at Ozark High School, look up in the rafters, and it’s an impressive sight. See the state championship banners? The ones for cheerleading? They certainly aren’t in short supply. “It was such a cool thing,” former Ozark cheerleading coach Darryl Lyons said. “They did whatever it took to win.” You could… Read more »
2005 & 2006 Ozark High School Girls Basketball State Championship Teams
Sports history is littered with stories of teams who surpass their preseason rankings. Teams not expected to do much, who end up becoming champions. That’s where the 2005 Ozark High School girls basketball team comes in. Picked to finish ninth in their conference, the Tigers used a stingy defense to finish 24-8 and capture the… Read more »
Parkway West High School Swimming Program
The Parkway West High School (St. Louis) boys and girls swim and dive programs boast 23 team state championships between 1968 and 2013. The team has also posted five second-place finishes and six thirds. The boys have 11 titles, the girls 12. The bulk of those championships came under the tutelage of Hall of Fame coaches Dr. Lane Page… Read more »
Springfield-Greene County Park Board
In 2003, just three years after earning the Gold Medal for best public parks system in the country, the phone rang into the offices of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board. On the other end of the line was a representative from none other than Sports Illustrated. It still leaves officials shaking their heads in disbelief.… Read more »
1959 Parkview Tastemark A.L. Baseball Team
The 1959 Parkview Tastemark team became Missouri’s American Legion Junior Baseball Champion in only its third year of competition. This Cinderella contender, led by Missouri Sports Hall of Fame coach Dick Birmingham, went on to defeat the state champions from Iowa and Kansas before falling to an Oklahoma team in the four state Regional Tournament.… Read more »