Local athletes recognized by newspaper, semoball.com

Much effort goes into becoming a sports standout, so it's exciting to see high school athletes honored for their hard work and dedication to their craft.

Recently the Southeast Missourian sports staff selected the high school students who are some of the best in the newspaper's coverage area. The All-Southeast Missourian teams for boys and girls cross country, boys soccer, volleyball and football will be announced over the next few days, as well as the Player of the Year in each of these sports.

Feature stories on each player of the year can be found in the sports section or on semoball.com, along with galleries of all members of the All-Southeast Missourian teams.

Some of these athletes also joined another elite crowd. Last Friday, athletes in several sports were announced as finalists for this year's Semoball Awards.

Sports writers from the Southeast Missourian, Dexter Statesman, Daily Dunklin Democrat, Daily American Republic and Standard Democrat, along with a broadcaster from the SEMO ESPN Sports Radio Network, select athletes from 57 high schools in Southeast Missouri as finalists in 19 sports.

The fourth annual Semoball Awards will be July 8 at the River Campus. This year's keynote speaker will be announced in the coming weeks and will certainly not disappoint.

Congratulations to each of these athletes on their success and recognition.