CHRONOLOGY

1900 -- Five years after becoming the first organized football team south of St. Louis, the Jackson Military Academy Tigers win the Southeast Missouri football championship, defeating Elmwood College of Farmington, Cape Girardeau Teachers College (twice), Carbondale Teachers College and Caruthersville.

-- Hubert "Shucks" Pruett is born on Sept. 1. Pruett, a Malden and Dexter native, would become the pitcher that Babe Ruth couldn't hit.

1901 -- Cape Girardeau becomes one of the most famous bicycle-race towns in the Midwest. A quarter-mile track is constructed and it attracts some of the world's best riders. Cape Girardeau hosts the world champion race in the mile. Assorted races generally draw crowds of more than 2,000.

1902 -- Jackson's football team plays a seven game schedule (the most games played in one season to that point), going 5-1-1 under coach James Watt. Its only loss was to Cape Normal, a team it had beaten twice rather easily earlier that year. Watt coached Jackson's team from 1900-1907.

1904 -- Southeast Missouri State -- then known as the Cape Girardeau Teachers College -- goes 2-0 with football wins over Jackson Military Academy and the Poplar Bluff Athletic Club.

1905 -- President Theodore Roosevelt urges changes be made in football to make the game safer.

1906 -- The Capahas play a game with the Boston Bloomers (a women's team). The Capahas win the game 5-4, but umpire Bill Bergmann declares that the pitcher and the second basemen are men. More than 2,000 people attended the event.

-- Clyde Elder is the first coach of the Teachers College basketball team. The team went 0-2.

-- A basketball team from the Webster Society and another from the Benton Society meet at Normal Academy Gymnasium in probably the first organized game of basketball in Cape Girardeau.

1907 -- A crowd between 1,500 and 2,000 watches a Thanksgiving football game between Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau Normal School. Poplar Bluff's team, in its first year of existence, wins the game 26-0.

-- Bloomfield fields what is believed to be one of the first basketball teams in the state. And it was a girls team! It wasn't until 1910, when Bloomfield's boys finally had a team.

1908 -- Sikeston forms its first football team. Touchdowns are counted as five points and the Bulldogs win their first game 10-5 over Charleston. Sikeston wins 13 of its first 14 games.

-- Rube Waddell, a great major league pitcher, breaks his duck call on a hunting trip in New Madrid and persuades a hunter who is deaf into swapping with him. Waddell bags the limit.

-- Members of the St. Louis Browns, in a barnstorming game, defeat the Capahas 11-5

-- A baseball game at Sikeston ends in the sixth inning after the grandstand is destroyed by fire.

1909 -- Chaffee amateur baseball team captain Frank Brockmire hits the umpire in the face, causing, what the local newspaper described as a "general mixup."

1910 -- Charleston and Sikeston play their first Thanksgiving Day football game.

1911 -- Sikeston's football team goes undefeated and allows no points in a seven-game season. Seven Sikeston players are named to the first-ever All-Southeast Missouri team.

1912 -- Cape Normal's basketball team is unable to accept an invitation to intercollege tournament at St. Louis because of a $5 entry fee.

-- Charles "Big Jeff" Tesreau, reared on a farm near Fredericktown and later a pitcher for Perryville, pitches a no-hit game for the New York Giants against the Phillies. Tesreau didn't get to celebrate the accomplishment right away though

-- Cape Central initiates a football program.

-- The Boston Bloomer girls baseball team defeats Jackson's amateur team 5-3.

1913 -- The forward pass becomes popular in football.

-- Baskets with bottomless nets come into general use in basketball.

1914 -- The Jackson School Board passes a ruling which requires all members of the football team to present written consent from their parents before they could play.

-- A SEMO baseball league is organized which includes Sikeston, Cape, Chaffee, Caruthersville, New Madrid and Portageville.

1915 -- The first attempt is made to form a regional prep football league.

-- Kennett plays its first home football game.

1916 -- The SEMO basketball tournament is organized.

1917 -- The Poplar Bluff student body votes not to field a football team becuase "The student body this year happens not to possess many very heavy players and the prospects for a team were regarded as not being bright ... " PBHS did not have another team until 1920. World War I was credited as perhaps having something to do with this as several young men were drafted.

1918 -- A terrible flu epidemic causes the cancellation of most of Southeast Missouri's prep football games.

-- The Cape-Jackson football rivalry begins. Cape wins the first game 12-0.

1919 -- Sikeston's football team defeats Caruthersville 148-0 for largest margin of victory in school history.

1920 -- The Central Tigers forfeit a football game against Jackson in the second quarter on Thanksgiving Day.

-- "Big Jack" (unknown last name) fans 20 Chaffee batters, establishing what is thought to be a Capaha record.

1921 -- A baseball field is raised at what used to be called Fairground Park (now Capaha).

-- Central High School, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston withdraw from the SEMO Basketball League due to dissatisfaction for several years. A New league is formed.

-- A game between the Cape Capahas and a team from Chaffee breaks into a riot in the fourth inning at Chaffee. Manager Wayne Berry of the Capahas has his nose broken in the argument.

1922 -- Chaffee changes its mascot from the Bulldogs to the Red Devils after being defeated by Mexico -- dressed in bright red uniforms -- in the state finals. Chaffee dubbed Mexico's players as red devils and, after reflecting upon the merits of that team, decided to change their names to the Red Devils.

With Southeast Missourians Elam Vangilder and Hubert "Shucks" Pruett turning in stellar pitching, the St. Louis Browns field their best team ever. They finish a slim one game behind Babe Ruth's Yankees.

1923 -- In an attempt to stop spectators from running up and down and across side lines and the field to watch plays, Terchers College football coach Ferd J. courleux arranges to rent bleachers.

1924 -- Bloomfield High School wins its first football game in history against Blodgett. Bloomfield was 0-11 before winning a game.

-- Umpire Dutch Heisler calls a strike on a batter and it takes half an hour for all the fights to run their course in a game where Sikeston beat Cape 9-4.

1925 -- In its fourth year of playing a college schedule, the Will Mayfield College (Marble Hill) football team records its first non-losing season, going 4-4-1. The football program was dropped in 1929 and the school closed for good in 1934. The Great Depression is credited with wiping out most small colleges, including Will Mayfield.

1926 -- Portageville's football team goes 9-0 and doesn't allow a point under coach Vic Reaves in the program's second year of existence. The team scores 240 points.

-- The Stoddard County basketball tournament is organized

-- Poplar Bluff's football team goes 7-0-1 and doesn't allow a point all season.

1927 -- Missouri's first state basketball tournament is organized.

1928 -- Legendary Cape Central coach Lou Muegge begins his career. He would coach for two years before returning to his coaching duties from 1934-54.

-- Chaffee installs first set of football lights in the Southeast Missouri region.

1929 -- Football game between Chaffee and Jackson is postponed due to a smallpox epidemic.

-- Cape Central's football team goes 8-0 and doesn't give up any points behind legendary coach Lou Muegge. Central had another shutout season under Muegge 13 years later.

1930 -- Houck Stadium is built and hosts a crowd of more than 6,000 when Southeast hosted Southern Illinois University in a 12-6 loss. The referee of the game is James T. Blair, Jr., governor of Missouri from 1957-61.

-- Gerald Lee of Morley breaks his neck during a football game against Fornfelt and prompts Morley to drop the sport. Diehlstadt and Blodgett follow suit as a result of this serious injury, which results in death two weeks later.

-- A Fisk football player intercepts a pass, but runs the wrong way in a 7-3 loss to Dexter. Fisk, a small town on route 60 between Sikeston and Poplar Bluff, had a football program for four years.

1931 -- Benton is the Missouri boys basketball state champs with a 21-18 victory over New Point.

-- Capahas play their first night game in history.

-- Dizzy Dean says: "I'll strike out 15 of those Capahas in Sunday's game at Charleston (Oct. 9) at Charleston. I could beat those bush leaguers pitching left-handed. Those Cape boys might as will leave their bats at home." Cape's own Elam Vangilder steals the show, striking out 22 and beating Dean and the Charleston team 4-0. Three years later, Dean would be the major league's MVP and eventually a Hall of Fame pitcher.

1932 -- The Fruitland Greyhounds claim the boys state Class B basketball championship with a 24-22 win over University High. Fruitland was the first team from Southeast Missouri to win a state championship.

1933 -- The Central Tigers football team interupts practice to discuss selecting a queen for the Thagnksgiving Day game celebration. Coach Olaf Robinson admonishes them to dismiss all thoughts of girls.

1934 -- Jackson beats Southwest (Kansas City) 17-11 for the Missouri state basketball title.

-- A thrown whisky bottle strikes a spectator and several inoxicated persons are ejected in a Cape-Paducah football game at Houck Stadium.

1935 -- The Jackson football team goes 10-0 and allows no points, while scoring 307 points under coach Ryland Milner.

1936 -- Southeast Missouri State begins its longest football winning streak -- 16 games under coach E.R. "Abe" Stuber.

1937 -- Southeast Missouri State's football team records first undefeated season in school history with a schedule consisting of more than two games. The Indians hold their opponents to just 12 points all year.

1938 -- North and south SEMO high school football divisions are established with the two divisional winners facing each other at the end of the year to play for the title.

1939 -- A crowd of 1,315, the largest ever to gather at Houck Field House (to that point) watches the semifinal boxing bouts of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Golden Gloves Tournament. In 12 boxing matches, three were decided via a knockout.

-- Fruitland High School closes its doors, ending a great decade of basketball for the Fruitland Greyhounds.

-- Dexter native Max West, in his second season as a starting outfielder with the Boston Braves, enjoys the best season of his seven-year Major League career. West bats .285 with 19 home runs and 82 RBI.

1940 -- Zalma wins the Class B state basketball championship with a 25-21 victory over Bland.

-- A tornado destroys Chaffee's original gymnasium.

1941 -- Benton beats Soldan 50-27 for the Class A state basketball championship.

1942 -- Cape Central's football team defeats Sikeston 78-0 for Bulldogs' worst defeat in history.

-- Kirksville football team drops football game with Cape because of a war emergency.

1943 -- Southeast Missouri State basketball team wins MIAA championship under coach C.P. Harris.

-- The St. Louis Browns hold their spring training at Capaha Field.

1944 -- Tiny Bismarck High School becomes the darlings of basketball fans and media throughout the Midwest. The Indians win the small division championship of the highly-prestigious Normandy Tournament. Led by future Murray State star Johnny "Red" Reagan, the hustle and small town character of the team makes them a crowd favorite. The team goes on to win the state championship in a year in which no size classes exist. They finish with a 38-3 record.

1945 -- No Southeast Missouri State football games are played because of World War II.

-- A young teacher named Arnold Ryan agrees to coach the Puxico High School basketball team.

-- The Flat River Bears beat the host Preps in the championship game of the first College (later University) High Christmas Tournament.

1946 -- John Crites, basketball star of the Jackson Indians, breaks out with the German measles just before game time in the state tournament at St. Louis. Jackson loses the game to Soldan 48-34.

1947 -- Southeast football coach Abe Stuber comes back from an NCAA meeting in New York and favors the five new rules adopted for football. They were: Moving the ball 15 yards in insted of 20 when the ball goes out of bounds; eliminate hard equipment outside of uniforms; declaring the ball dead after blocked extra-point kicks; allowing substitution without calling a time out as long as it takes less than 25 seconds; and eliminating shifts that cause off-side penalties.

1948 -- Sikeston's football team starts an amazing eight-season run of 73-1-3. Sikeston goes unbeaten for 49 straight games starting with the first game of 1948.

1949 -- The Jackson VFW basketball team hosts the "Cleveland Clowns" a team which fields the world's tallest basketball player, Gilbert "Tiny" Reichert, an imposing man of more than eight feet.

1950 -- Win Wilfong, a basketball legend in Southeast Missouri who went on to play for the NBA champion St. Louis Hawks, scores 21 points per game over four games in the state playoffs for his Puxico Indians. The Indians, who reshaped the way basketball was played, took third in state and Wilfong was named to the tournaments "Mystical Team."

1951 -- The Puxico Indians basketball team wins the Missouri Class B state championship under coach Arnold Ryan. The team, which was one of the first teams on any level to utilize a fullcourt press, goes 40-0 and crushes opponent after opponetn, averaging more than 89 points per game.

-- Satchel Paige throws a one-hitter in a 9-0 shutout as the barnstorming players of the St. Louis Browns defeated the Capahas 9-0.

-- The Cape Legion junior baseball team wins the first of two straight state titles.

1952 -- The Puxico Indians basketball team scores a whopping 85 points to Shelbyville's 37, winning the Missouri Class B Championship for the second straight year.

1953 -- The Morehouse Tigers under coach W.E. "Gene" Harrod roll off 39 straight games but lose in the state finals, 58-56, to Sparta. The team consists of high school All-Americans Norm Vickers and Doyle Denbow. The Morehouse Tigers create a quiet dynasty with several spectacular seasons, but are largely overshadowed by the Indians from Puxico.

1954 -- Under Lou Muegge, Cape Central captures its first state championship in any sport, winning the Class A basketball crown with a 79-55 win over Christrian Brothers of St. Louis at Houck Field House. Paul Stehr is named MVP of the state tournament. Central finishes the season at 26-1. Later, Central wins the state baseball tournament with a 5-4 win over Lutheran South in Muegge's final season as coach after 22 years of service.

1955 -- Jerry Burnett of Wardell High closes his high school career with 2,311 points and a whopping 31.0 points per game average.

1956 -- Abe Stuber, a longtime coach of several sports at Southeast Missouri State University, was named defensive backfield coach of the Green Bay Packers. Stuber was defensive back coach one season for the Philadelphia Eagles prior to his signing with Green Bay.

1957 -- The old Puxico Gymnasium, a log cabin-like structure burns down.

-- Carl Ritter averages 23 points per game as a junior for the Advance Hornets, who fall 50-49 in the state championship game against Kansas City Pembroke.

-- The Arbyrd Tigers end a losing streak of more than 90 games when they beat their arch rival, the Cardwell Indians, 49-41.

1958 -- Jackson hosts an NBA preseason game between the St. Louis Hawks and the Philadelphia Warriors. Former prep star at Puxico, Win Wilfong, scores 16 points in the Hawks' 103-85 vicotry.

1959 -- Sikeston ties Jackson for the Big Eight Conference Championship, making 12 straight years that the Bulldogs have claimed or partially claimed the conference title.

1960 -- In their best season ever, the Wardell Cardinals (now part of North Pemiscot High School) go 32-1, seeing their 32-game winning streak snapped during district play.

1961 -- The Southeast Missouri State basketball team takes second place in the NCAA Division II tournament under the coaching of Charles Parsely. It is the first time Southeast (25-3) claims 20 wins in a season.

1962 -- Murle Lindstrom (now, Murle Breer), a female golfer from Cape Girardeau, wins the U.S. Open at Myrtle Beach with a score of 1-over par. She takes home $1,800, the second largest purse in women's golf at that time.

-- Cape Central wins the state baseball championship under coach Leon Brinkopf with a 4-2 win over St. Louis University High.

1963 -- The Dexter Bearcats enjoy their most dominating team ever. Coached by future Southeast Coach Tom Thrower, the Bearcats go 10-0, outscoring goes 318 to 59.

1964 -- The Richland Rebels, averaging over 100 points per game much of the season, take a 35-0 record into the Class B state championship game. Powerful Buffalo beats them for the first of back-to-back state titles.

1965 -- South Iron's basketball team defeats Golden City 69-47 to win the Class S title.

1966 -- The Bloomfield Wildcats, with head coach Tom Hewgley and assistant coach Charlie Spoonhour, make their second straight Final Four appearance. After a 34-2 mark the year before, they go 32-3, finishing fourth in state.

-- Carrol Cookson takes over as head basketball coach at Advance High School. He will go on to post a 300-85 record in 13 seasons, including four straight Final Four appearances.

-- The Valle of Ste. Genevieve football team goes 10-0 and amazingly outscores opponents 535-0.

1967 -- Jess Bolen starts his coaching tenure for the Capahas and leads the team to a 20-6 record. Bolen is still coaching the summer amateur baseball team.

1968 -- The state of Missouri institutes a football playoff system and Perryville wins the Class 3A state championship with a 14-0 win over Marshall.

1969 -- Oran loses the state championship basketball game -- and its unblemished record -- when

Fred Johnson is whistled for taking too long to shoot a free throw in the final seconds. A made shot would've tied the game at 74, but Dixon won the game 76-74.

1970 -- Southeast draws its biggest football crowd in history, a 10,000-member audience in the season opener against Murray State.

-- This is the only year between 1957 and 1971 where a Southeast Missouri high school basketball team doesn't send a team to a state final four game.

-- Legendary Puxico coach Arnold Ryan dies after being hit in the head by a thrown baseball.

1971 -- The Capahas finish their summer season with an outstanding 32-4 record.

1972 -- Advance claims the Class S boys state title in basketball with a 69-61 victory over Morrisville.

1973 -- Scott City's football team goes undefeated and is not scored upon in nine games.

-- Southeast Missouri State organizes women's varsity athletics.

-- Puxico's Kenny Andrews plays briefly in the NCAA national championship game at the St. Louis Arena, as Bill Walton's 43-point effort sinks his Memphis State Tigers __-__.

1974 -- Cape Girardeau native Eddie Slaughter sets a Southeast Missouri State University record for receptions in a career. He snags No. 101 in his final game his senior year.

1975 -- Chaffee wins the Missouri Class A baseball championship over St. Francis Borgia 4-2. Mike Payne was the coach.

-- Advance wins the Class 1A basketball championship over Northeast Nodaway, 55-44.

-- Charleston wins the Class 3A state basketball championship by one point, 57-56 over Lafayette (St. Joseph).

1976 -- Scott County Central wins the Class 1A state basketball title in a game where Otto Porter sets a state-championship record with 25 rebounds.

-- The Capahas set a season record for wins, posting a 47-13 record.

1977 -- Chaffee wins the Missouri Class A baseball championship under Mike Payne with an 8-1 win over Dixon.

-- Southeast Missouri State place kicker Mike Wood establishes a new NCAA record for career field goals. Wood played professionall with the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diege Chargers.

1978 -- Lesterville, behind coach Stephanie Hanna, goes 22-0 on its way to a volleyball state championship. It was the first volleyball state championship ever won by a Southeast Missouri team.

1979 -- Scott County Central wins the second of 12 state championships with a 73-58 win over Northeast Nodaway.

1980 -- Cape Central wins basketball state championship with two-point victory over Hickman Mills; The team was led by Ron Jones, who broke a school record for career points (1,556) and points per game in a season (26.5). Jones went on to play basketball at the University of Missouri.

-- Cape Central's football team forfeits the last three games of the season because of an ineligible player.

-- Scott Central wins a state championship, but unlike its others, this one was in Class 2A, a 94-52 slaughter of Slater. The margin of victory remains the biggest in a state championship game in history.

-- Charleston claims second state basketball title, 50-44, over Republic.

-- Capahas win the first of nine state championships.

1981 -- Ron Shumate, who would end up with a school-record 306 wins, begins 16-year stint as Southeast basketball coach.

1982 -- Scott County's girls go undefeated and win their first and only state championship ... in Class 2A. The Bravettes burned Salisbury 85-49.

1983 -- Chaffee wins the Class 1A state football championship under coach Michael Wessel with a 13-7 win over Norborne and the Red Devils also win the Class 1A baseball title under coach Rick Chastain with a 6-2 win over Englewood Christian.

-- Notre Dame captures the Class 2A baseball championship under the coaching of Jim Glastetter. The Bulldogs beat Licking 7-0 in the title game.

-- Scott County Central beats Clopton 89-71 for a state basketball title, a game where Anthony Timmons scores a championship-game record of 47 points. Lamont Frazier pulls down 23 rebounds.

1984 -- Notre Dame wins its second consecutive state baseball title under coach Jim Glastetter with an 11-4 win over Mansfield.

-- Scott County's girls follow the boys' suit with a state championship over Benton County. The Bravettes won 38-31.

-- The Clearwater Lady Tigers, under coach Carmen Schafer (now Morgan) wins the first of three Class 2A state championships during the 1980s.

1985 -- Scott County Central wins first of a state-record seven consecutive state basketball titles. Northeast Nodaway was the first victim 73-58.

-- Scott County Central sweeps the state tournament as the girls team beats Northeast Nodaway 47-34.

1986 -- Southeast basketball team takes second place in NCAA Division II tournament under coach Ron Shumate.

-- Charleston wins the Class 3A state baskeball championship over Logan-Rogersville 44-43.

-- It takes Scott County three overtimes to defeat Wellsville 84-76 for the state title.

-- Notre Dame wins first of back-to-back state titles in basketball with a 66-47 win over Nixa.

1987 -- The Show-Me Center is built.

-- The Capahas win their first 28 games, the club's longest winning streak. More amazing, the Caps go 16 straight games without committing an error. The Major League record for consecutive errorless games is 13.

-- Ho, hum. Another state basketball title for Scott County Central.

-- Notre Dame wins Class 2A basketball championship 74-68 over Harville and establishes a record for assists (27) in a state championship game.

-- For the second straight year, and for the third time in its history, Charleston wins the state basketball championship by one point, this time over Fulton 37-36.

-- Tragedy strikes the Southeast Missouri State track as Paul Bryan, an athlete from the University of California-Pennsylvania collapses and later dies at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships.

-- Clearwater wins its second Class 2A state volleyball championship.

1988 -- See third reference in 1987.

1989 -- Southeast Missouri State University is the Division II runner-up for third time in school history. Ron Shumate was the coach.

-- Darla Michele Pannier, a Cape Central graduate and likely the most talented female basketball player to emerge from the school, dies in an automobile accident en route to a camp where she was to instruct. Pannier was an All-American high school athlete and played in the first Hall of Fame game. The Most Valuable Player award at the annual girls Hall of Fame game has been named in her honor.

-- Charleston wins another basketball state title. Marhsfield was its victim this time 54-49.

-- By this time, it isn't the Class 1A state basketball tournament anymore. It's the Scott County Central Invitational. Braves win another state championship.

-- The Clearwater Lady Tigers win their third state volleyball championship in six years.

1990 -- Same state story for Scott County Central. New victim is New Franklin in the largest margin of victory ever recorded in a Class 1A state championship game.

-- Charleston goes undefeated and wins a basketball state title 67-47 over Soldan.

-- Zalma wins the Class 1A volleyball state championship under coach Carl Ritter, Jr. with a three-set win over Oscaola. Zalma won the third set 15-13.

1991 -- Southeast Missouri State joins the Ohio Valley Conference and moves up to Division I.

-- Scott County ends seven-year reign at the top with a state championship win over Greenwood, 56-48. Marcus Timmons becomes the only boy in the history of Missouri high school baskeball to start on four different state championship teams.

-- When one Scott County dynasty ends, another begins: the Bravettes win the first of three straight state championships, this one 56-46.

-- Portageville wins first of four straight Class 2A basketball titles.

1992 -- Portageville wins state title in OT over Eugene 85-82.

-- Charleston holds Eldon to just 19 points in state championship game.

-- Scott County Central's girls basketball team blows apart North Shelby 85-38 in the Class 1A state title game. Shatonya Fort makes 16-of-17 field goals for a Class 1A championship-game record 37 points.

-- The Jackson Lady Indians make their first Final Four appearance, taking fourth in state (Class 4A). Senior all-stater Andrea Seimer is named Miss Missouri Basketball and accepts a scholarship to play at Mizzou.

-- Bloomfield's volleyball goes undefeated (36-0-1) en route to a two-set state title win over Versailles.

1993 -- Notre Dame captures its third Class 2A baseball title under Jim Glastetter with a 3-1 victory over Mansfield.

-- Scott County's boys win their 12th state basketball state championship, while the girls win their third straight with a lopsided 73-44 win over Rich Hill.

-- Portageville knocks off Brookfield 63-41 in third straight state championship.

-- Leopold becomes the second Bollinger County volleyball team in as many years to capture the state volleyball crown. The Lady Wildcats, under coach Greg Nenninger, defeat Purdy 13-15, 25-12 and 15-12.

1994 -- Cape Girardeau Central captures the Class 4A state baseball championhip under coach Steve Williams by defeating Joplin 8-1 in the state final.

-- Portageville ends four-year reign at the top of the Class 2A basketball totem pole.

-- Bernie wins the first of three straight state titles in volleyball with an easy 15-5, 15-5 win over Purdy.

-- Woodland (Marble Hill) becomes the third different Bollinger County volleyball team in the last three years to win a volleyball state title. The Lady Cardinals, behind Johnna Weiter, win the Class 2A crown a three-set win over St. Mary's

1995 -- Southeast Missouri State University outfielder Kerry Robinson captivates the local baseball scene with a 35-game hitting streak, an Ohio Valley Conference record. The streak was, at the time, the longest current hitting streak in the nation.

-- Bernie, in the midst of a volleyball dynasty under the leadership of coach Bill Zoll, posts an unblemished 38-0 record enroute to a state title.

-- A Poplar Bluff-Dexter basketball game is halted with 4:18 left in the third quarter when gel leaked from a least one Mule's shoe. The floor was deemed to dangerous to play and the game ended at 54-33. All statistics were final.

1996 -- Charleston wins its ninth state championship a 61-54 win over Mexico.

-- Bell City's volleyball coach becomes the second Carl Ritter to guide a team to the state championship. Carl Ritter, Jr. accomplished the feat with Zalma in 1990 and Ritter, Sr. led the Lady Cubs to a two set win over New Haven nine years later.

-- Bernie wins its third straight state volleyball title with a 16-14, 17-15 win over Diamond.

1997 -- The NCAA investigates Southeast's basketball program, finding violations including cash payments, loans, excessive compensation, and compensation for work not performed. Shumate -- Southeast's winningest coach -- was fired and three assistant coaches also left the program.

-- Kelly's softball team wins a state championship with a 2-0 win over Westran. Rhonda Evans guides the Lady Hawks to an 18-4 record.

-- Scott City basketball player Jon Beck, then a junior, scores 59 points in one game, including a state record 16 3-pointers against Egyptian, Ill. He is featured on ESPN's Scholastic Sports America.

-- Leopold, behind coach Greg Nenninger, wins its second volleyball state championship with a three set win over Smithton.

1998 -- Jackson's wrestling team has 48 dual-match winning streak snapped by wrestling power Ste. Genevieve.

-- Jackson's girls basketball team clobbers Sikeston 82-6 in a district game, enroute to their third straight Class 4A final appearance and its fourth straight Final Four showing. The Lady Indians, under the astute coaching of Ron Cook, established themselves as a state power, but did not win a state title during that span.

1999 -- Murray State crushes Southeast's hopes of its first NCAA Division I Tournament berth with a wild running shot at the buzzer. Led by center and OVC Player of the Year Bud Eley, Southeast's basketball team has its best showing since moving up to Division I in 1991.

-- Former St. Vincent quarterback Scott Pingel, and a receiver at Division III Westminster College in Fulton, breaks Jerry Rice's NCAA all-division record for most receptions in a college career. Pingel also establishes a new NCAA record for most career receiving yards.