BIG 8 TOURNAMENT TOPS A BUSY PREP WEEKEND

Of the eight teams to be playing this weekend in the Big 8 Tournament hosted by Cape Central, two are from Illinois and three are either from or near St. Louis.

But the top two teams, going by their records going in, are from Cape Girardeau.

In terms of winning percentage, Cape Central (12-5) and Notre Dame (11-4) will be the teams to beat when the tournament gets under way today.

The games will be played on three fields.

Three of the four first-round games will be played at Capaha Field today with the exception being Notre Dame playing on its home field against Oran (8-5) today at 4:30. Oran is a late addition to the tournament after Paducah (Ky) Tilghman dropped out. Cape Central will play Mehlville (8-8) at 4 p.m. to get the tournament started at Capaha. Harrisburg, Ill. (14-7) will take on Eureka (7-7) at 6; and Mt. Vernon, Ill. (8-6) and Owensville (7-6) will wrap up the first-round games at 8.

"There are going to be a number of good teams in it," said Cape Central coach Steve Williams. "I think it's a situation where any of a few teams could win. No team is a predominant favorite. Notre Dame's awfully good, Harrisburg's good, we've got a chance and Mehlville has improved a lot over last year."

On Saturday, the games will be played at both Cape Central and Notre Dame because Capaha Field will be occupied by Southeast Missouri State's doubleheader with Murray State.

Second-round games will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with the championship game slated for 4:15 p.m. at Tiger Field.

Kelly Track & Field Invitational

The ninth annual Kelly Track and Field Invitational will be held Saturday with 13 schools competing in a meet geared for tough small-school competition.

Among the schools competing will be Kelly, Oran, Kennett, Caruthersville, Scott City, Chaffee, Charleston, East Prairie, Valle-Ste. Genevieve, Dexter, Malden, Hayti and New Madrid County Central.

Charleston will field a girls team only.

The action will get underway at about 10 a.m. with the conclusion to occur around 3:45 p.m.

Malden, Kennett and New Madrid figure to compete for the boys title, while a strong Valle squad is the slight favorite to win a wide-open field on the girls side.

"The competition will be closer in the girls than in the boys," said Kelly coach Bill Davis.

Noon Optimist Spring Classic

Cape Central and Notre Dame will also be holding a Noon Optimist Spring Classic soccer tournament this weekend. The eight-team field will include Cape Central, Notre Dame, Jackson, Perryville, St. Vincent, Poplar Bluff and Farmington.

The action will get underway at 4 p.m. today when St. Vincent takes on Perryville. All the games will be played at Notre Dame.

Kelly Baseball Tournament

Kelly will be holding a four-team baseball tournament with Jackson, Scott City and East Carter County on Saturday.

Kelly and Scott City will get things started at 9 a.m. with Jackson and East Carter to follow.

The losers will play after that with the championship game to be played at about 3:30 p.m.