Central, ND to put rivalry on display

~ The schools will meet on the basketball court tonight and in the pool later in the week.

Central and Notre Dame will take their rivalry to the pool this week, competing in the three-team Show Me Conference swimming meet at Central Municipal Pool.

The diving competition will take place at 4 p.m. Wednesday, with the pool events scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday. The Tigers have won the past two conference titles, with Notre Dame owning the inaugural title.

"I'm looking forward to it," Central coach Dayna Powell said.

While the conference title will be on the line, this will also be the last opportunity for swimmers to make state-qualifying cuts. Notre Dame still is trying to make the time in the 200 free relay.

"It could happen at conference," Notre Dame coach Lenny Kuper said of his 200 relay team, which needs to drop about three seconds off its top time.

Central is led by seniors Kris Metje, Jason Mercer and Dan Austin, junior Hunter Givens and sophomore Peyton Waggener. Those five helped the Tigers qualify all three relays for the state meet, and Givens (100 free), Mercer (50 free, 100 butterfly), Metje (200 free, 500 free) and Waggener (100 breast) all qualified individually. Senior diver Tanner Rust made the state cut on Saturday at the Springfield Invitational.

Powell said Jake Meyer should have a good shot at qualifying in the 500 free at the conference meet, and Waggener could possibly make a run at a state cut in the 200 IM.

Notre Dame senior Jameson Kuper has been dominant again this season -- he has not lost a race since earning all-state honors in two events last year -- and could have his choice of events to compete in at the state meet. The Bulldogs also recently qualified their 200 medley relay team of Jordan Voss, Kuper, Edward Doyle and Adam Reinagel.

"The upper-level guys are ecstatic about qualifying for state, and that pumps them up for conference," Lenny Kuper said.

Show Me Center showdown

Bragging rights will be on the line at the Show Me Center tonight when Central and Notre Dame meet in a pair of varsity basketball games.

The girls game will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the boys game.

The Notre Dame boys (17-2) routed Central 75-55 in the quarterfinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament earlier this season. Notre Dame was seeded fifth, but upset No. 4 Central, No. 1 Charleston and No. 2 Jackson to win the title.

Central (10-8) picked up a big home win last week against state-ranked Doniphan. The Tigers knocked off the Dons, ranked third in Class 3, 85-79 in overtime. Central lost 62-56 to Poplar Bluff, ranked No. 10 in Class 5, on Friday.

Central meets its third straight ranked team in Notre Dame, No. 5 in Class 4.

Central's boys won the rivalry game last year 83-74, and Notre Dame won the girls game 55-30.

Advance baseball ranked

After knocking off Oran in the district final last year, Advance is ranked fifth in Class 1 in the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association preseason poll.

Advance fell to Holcomb 9-6 in the sectional round and finished 18-3.

In Class 3, North County and Sikeston are seeded eighth and ninth, respectively.

Southeast Missouri is well represented in Class 2, with three teams in the preseason top 10. South Pemiscot is ranked fifth, followed by Twin Rivers and Clearwater.

College notes

• Truman State sophomore Ashley Colon, a Central graduate, earned MIAA field athlete of the week honors for her performance at the Iowa State Open on Friday and Saturday. Colon got a provisional qualifying mark in the weight throw with a distance of 54 feet 51/2 inches. Colon won the event, and placed eighth in the shot put with a throw of 41-10.