DISTRICT SOCCER ON TAP

Before last season, Jackson High School had never before won a district tournament championship in boys soccer.

This year, the Indians are favored to make it two in a row.

Jackson is the top seed out of five teams for the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament that will be played Monday through Thursday in Poplar Bluff.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame will serve as the host for the five-team Class 1A-3A, District 1 Tournament that begins Friday and concludes Tuesday.

Following is a look at each district:

Class 4A, District 1

Jackson, sporting an 18-4-2 record and 46-goal scorer Nathan Windeknecht, has to be considered a solid favorite.

But coach Bonnie Knowlan realizes that it won't be a cakewalk for the Indians to win their second straight district title.

"Cape Central is always tough and Poplar Bluff keeps improving," she said. "I don't expect it to be easy for us."

Perennial area power Cape Central, which has slumped to consecutive losing seasons, is seeded second. The Tigers are 9-13-2.

Host Poplar Bluff is seeded third and has been an improving squad in recent years. The bottom two seeds, Sikeston and Farmington, are huge underdogs.

Action begins Monday when Sikeston faces Farmington at 5 p.m. The winner plays Jackson Tuesday at 5 p.m. in one semifinal, with Cape Central and Poplar Bluff squaring off in the other semifinal at 7.

The championship game is set for 6:30 p.m. next Thursday. The winner moves on to sectional play Nov. 10 at the Anheuser-Busch Sports Centre in Fenton.

Class 1A-3A, District 1

St. Pius is seeded first, with Lutheran South second, host Notre Dame third, Windsor fourth and Bayless fifth.

Windsor will play host to Bayless at 3 p.m. Friday in an opening-round game but the rest of the tournament will be played in Cape Girardeau.

The semifinals will be Saturday, with St. Pius playing the Windsor/Baylor winner at noon and Notre Dame facing Lutheran South at 2 p.m.

The title contest is set for Tuesday at 3 p.m. The winner advances to sectional action Nov. 7 at the Anheuser-Busch Sports Centre in Fenton.

Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn, whose team has a 15-4-4 record, said St. Pius definitely rates as the favorite entering the tourney.

"They're really good and they have the state's best (1A-3A) player," said Wittenborn. "Lutheran South is also having a really good year, so we'll have a tough first game."

The player Wittenborn was referring to is Mike Tranchilla, a member of the youth national team who has scored 25 goals this year for St. Pius, which is 17-3-4.

Lutheran South, Notre Dame's first-round opponent, has a 15-2-2 record that includes a 2-0 loss to St. Pius.

"It should be an interesting tournament," Wittenborn said. "We're not the favorite, but hopefully playing at home will be a big advantage."

Runners set for meets

Area cross country teams will take the final step that hopefully leads them to state when district and sectional meets are held Saturday.

Class 4A squads Cape Central and Jackson had their district meets last weekend and will compete in sectional competition Saturday.

Class 1A through 3A teams will have their district meets Saturday.

The state meets for all classes will be held Nov. 7 in Jefferson City.

Cape Central qualified both its boys and girls teams for the sectional meet in St. Louis. Jackson qualified its entire girls team and also several boys. The top four teams and top 30 individuals from the sectional qualify for state.

Kelly and Notre Dame will compete in the 2A, District 1 Meet in St. Louis. Kelly's girls won last year's state title while the boys were second.

Perryville will participate in the 3A, District 1 Meet at Potosi.

Advance's young cross country program will take part in the 1A, District 5 Meet in Alton.

The top two teams and top 15 individuals from the 1A, 2A and 3A districts qualify for state.