Pete Adkins is the most successful high school football coach this nation has ever seen. His winning percentage is the best in the country for coaches with 100 or more games and he is the third-winningest coach in football history, at any level. Adkins’ overall record is 392-60-4, an 86 percent winning percentage. He began… Read more »
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Team: Jefferson City High School
Jim Tom Blair
Jim Tom Blair was born in Jefferson City and graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1949. He attended Oklahoma A&M College, where he was the captain of the golf team. Blair’s amateur golfing career took off upon his graduation from college. He competed in the Missouri State Amateur Championship nine times beginning in 1951.… Read more »
Charlie Brown
Imagine being told that you would never again be able to do the one thing you loved most. In 1964, after his sophomore season on the University of Missouri football team, Charlie Brown awakened from major knee surgery to a doctor asserting that he had likely played his last down. Instead, the former Jefferson City… Read more »
2022 Class – Diamond Nine
CLASS of 2022 Dr. Mark Baker — Webb City High School/Missouri Southern State University Charlie Burt — Truman High School/Ban Johnson League/Missouri State University Tim Clubb — Eureka High School/Missouri State University Mary Stratton-Johnson — Hillcrest High School/Slow-Pitch Softball Jordan Logan — North Callaway High School/Jefferson College/Columbia College Renay Ries Spilker — Blue Springs High… Read more »
The Farmer Family
Mike Farmer loves telling this story. It’s about his dad, Elliott, the second baseman of the early 1930s Missouri Tigers baseball teams. “I remember being told by friends of his that he never went down swinging,” Mike says with a chuckle. “Hitting a baseball to him was (as easy) as catching a baseball.” In the… Read more »
Justin Gage
He grew up in Jefferson City and, because he was invited to the Adidas ABCD camp in New Jersey ahead of his junior year in high school, he probably could have gone out of state to play college football and basketball. However, Justin Gage chose to stay close to home. “I was always intrigued by… Read more »
Jefferson City Jays Football Program
If sports fans from far away think of the Jefferson City Jays Football Program and its rich tradition, the image probably is that of an old brick high school sitting high atop a hill – a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s – and with the football stadium tucked in at the bottom of the… Read more »
Jefferson City High School Track and Field Program
For the past quarter decade, the Jefferson City Jays have set a bar of excellence which few programs exceed. the records created by combining their boys and girls teams, boast an impressive 20 undefeated seasons, 40 District Championships and 9 State Championships. During that time, the Jays head coach Dennis Licklider has had a total… Read more »
Jefferson City High School Cross Country Program
When coach Larry York implemented a summer training program ahead of the inaugural 1972 cross country season, his Jefferson City High School runners challenged themselves. The rugged hills in town? No problem. In fact, the next year, when York convinced the Building Trades teacher to let him borrow the department’s run-down blue Air Force bus… Read more »
Kevin Kelly
When Kevin Kelly steps into a gym or stadium, he doesn’t just call a game — he paints it. For nearly half a century, mid-Missouri listeners have tuned in to hear him turn the sights and sounds of high school sports into living, breathing stories. “I love what I do. It has never seemed like… Read more »
Dr. James Leslie
Dr. James Leslie was born on August 12, 1922, in Rhineland, Missouri, the sixth child of Dr. James and Ella (McAfoos) Leslie. His family moved to Jefferson City when he was 5, where he graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1940, having been a State Champion swimmer and accomplished golfer. Leslie attended college during… Read more »
Dennis Licklider
Dennis Licklider of Holts Summit, served as the head coach for the boy’s and girl’s track and field teams at Jefferson City High School for 24 years. In those years, his teams have posted a dual meet record of 237-5 and have won 106 major championships and 40 District Championships. With 20 undefeated seasons under… Read more »
Roberta Licklider
While serving as Head Volleyball Coach for 11 years at Jefferson City High School, Roberta logged 32 years as the Assistant Girls Track Coach. Under her guidance, the Lady Jays sprint team recorded 93 Individual and Relay Championships at the District and Sectional level, and six State Championships. Her athletes also recorded 69 All-State (Top… Read more »
Tom Rackers
Growing up in Jefferson City, with his dad, Robert, working as the advertising manager at the News Tribune, Tom Rackers spent his days reading all about the sports stars of Kansas City, St. Louis and in his hometown. Back then, five newspapers combined from those I-70 cities were delivered to the family’s doorstep – two… Read more »
Justin Smith
They called him by the lovable and respected nickname “Cowboy” in the National Football League, and one West Coast newspaper described him as “the iron-clad backbone” of the San Francisco 49ers’ standout defense. High praise for a highly respected professional. Then again, perhaps that was to be expected of Justin Smith. He was once just… Read more »
Dave Steinmeyer
It began innocently enough. Fresh out of college, Dave Steinmeyer was asked for his interest in coaching a high school tennis team. Not that he had been around the sport in high school or college. “The guy at Webster Groves (High School) didn’t want to coach tennis anymore,” Steinmeyer recalled. “They asked if I’d be… Read more »