End of an Era: Iconic coaches who shaped generations of Sikeston athletes say goodbye 

SIKESTON. – The conclusion of this spring sports season will mark the end of an era for two Sikeston assistant coaches.

Two staples on the sidelines, Alan Scheeter and Chris Sarakas, are retiring from education, and with that retirement, they will be taking a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be difficult to replace.

The two were recently honored at the Sikeston athletic banquet for their years of service, which is substantial, to say the least.

Although it couldn’t be confirmed at press time, Scheeter is believed to be the longest-tenured coach in school history at 27 years, with Sarakas following close behind with 24 years coaching for the Bulldogs.

Scheeter, 50, started as a junior high coach in 1996 for three years before moving up to varsity assistant in 1999. He worked the sidelines for the Bulldog football team until 2021. Also, he was an assistant on the Bulldog baseball team from 1997-2011, at which point he became head coach from 2012-2016. He is back this season for one final year under head coach Wyatt Pratt, who once played for Scheeter.

Sarakas, 52, began his coaching career in Sikeston in the 1999-2000 basketball season when he took over the freshman boys’ coaching duties as well as varsity assistant coach, a position he has held ever since. He also joined the junior high track and field staff from 2004 until 2010, when he moved up to the varsity, and is now finishing up his final year on staff under head coach Betsy Colwick, who he coached in high school.

Alan Scheeter

Scheeter, a Sikeston native and 1991 SHS graduate, will be taking with him a lifetime of memories while establishing friendships with fellow coaches and colleagues.

“I’ve been a coach longer than I haven’t – I’m 50 years old and I’ve been coaching for 27 years,” Scheeter said. “I’ve been a part of some really special things at Sikeston High School. I’ve been able to go to five final fours, three for baseball and two for football. I’m very proud of that. But I was fortunate enough to be involved in a lot of people’s lives and watch them grow. That’s why you get into coaching. Not just to be a part of a sports team, but you want to work with young people.”

Scheeter had two coaching gurus to learn from in Missouri Hall of Famer and 26-year Bulldog football head coach Charlie Vickery, and Kevin Self, who has more wins in baseball than any other coach in Sikeston history.

“I may not have told these guys this, but they were like a second father figure to me – I lost my father when I was 28,” Scheeter said of Vickery and Self. “Coaching with those guys, I had a built-in father figure and that helped me through a lot. You learn so much from those guys. Not only X’s and O’s in football or strategy of when to steal or throw a curveball, but you learn a lot from how they go about their everyday life. Coaching is not just what you do at practice or games, but it’s what you do off the field, how you talk to the kids, and how you conduct yourself. Those guys helped me in those areas.”

Scheeter was coaching during two of the most successful stints in school history in both football and baseball.

He served as the Bulldogs’ wide receivers coach throughout his tenure and was on the staff when the Bulldogs made back-to-back semifinal appearances in football in 2009 and 2010 with both teams finishing 13-1.

Another Missouri Hall of Fame coach, Kent Gibbs, was leading the Bulldogs during this time.

“I learned so much from him, even though I already had a really good background, you see about how he goes about his business,” Scheeter said of Gibbs. “Every day he’s very business-like, but at the same time he finds time to develop relationships with kids and that’s something he stressed to us.”

In baseball, Scheeter began as a junior varsity coach and varsity assistant. He was a member of Self’s staff during a run of three final four appearances in four years, taking second, fourth and third place at state in 2001, 2002 and 2004, respectively, while shattering numerous school records in the process led by future Major Leaguer and Los Angeles Dodgers first-round pick Blake DeWitt, and record-setting Missouri Tiger Jacob Priday.

During that stretch from 1997-2011, the Bulldogs won six district titles and won 20 games seven times, including six straight years from 2000-2005.

After Kevin Self resigned, Scheeter took over as head coach in 2012 as he compiled a record of 74-47 in his five seasons before resigning from baseball in 2016 to focus more on his new position in the district as A-Plus coordinator that required a lot more of his attention.

Scheeter didn’t think he would ever coach baseball again, but seven years later, his former player and newly hired head coach Wyatt Pratt came to him looking for help.

“[Pratt] made me feel like I was wanted and needed and you just can’t say no to that,” Scheeter said. “This is a guy I coached from his freshman through junior year and he busted his tail for me and as a senior, he busted his tail for [former coach] Brett Kolons. He gave a lot to Sikeston High School and now he’s asking me for help. It didn’t take long for me to say yes. You can’t turn that down.”

Scheeter “coming out of retirement” to help his former player shows how close-knit the coaching community in Sikeston has been, especially for him as he has made life-long friends in the school district.

“Andy McGill, Chad King, Steve Bays, Brett Kolons and Steve Drake – some of those guys I never knew before they came to Sikeston,” Scheeter said. “Steve Drake and I have been friends for a long time and I got an opportunity to coach with him. Brett Kolons kind of cut his teeth as an assistant coach under me and then once I got out he took over and did a fantastic job for the five years he was here. Andy McGill, there’s probably not a finer person or coach. Chad King and I lived next door to one another. We would talk football all the time and I watched his kids grow up. Steve Bays, I coached his youngest son. Watching him grow from a person to the outstanding baseball player he was, it was just a treat to see all of those things.”

Scheeter has witnessed and been on the coaching sidelines for some of Sikeston’s most memorable sports moments.

In 2004 he was the first base coach when senior standout Blake DeWitt came to bat with the bases loaded, two outs, and trailing 3-0 to North County in a Class 3 sectional game at Farmington’s Wilson-Rozier Park.

Sikeston had been dominating all season, coming in with a record of 24-1, but North County was equally as dominant in their region.

DeWitt, as he had done throughout his career, delivered an epic, towering grand slam that pushed Sikeston ahead where they eventually held on to win 4-3. The team fell short in the state semifinals, 2-1, but finished the season 27-2, the best record in school history.

The video of DeWitt’s grand slam can still be found on YouTube and the picture is immortalized in the Field House by the late Standard Democrat photographer Tim Jaynes.

“That was just summed up what Blake DeWitt was right there,” Scheeter said. “He’s without a doubt the best player to ever come through here. It was just an epic moment – that’s why he was as great as he was, for moments like that. When he came to bat, you just knew something big was going to happen.”

In 2009, the Sikeston football team was in the midst of one of their greatest seasons ever as the team steam-rolled into the quarterfinal round with a 12-0 record and a home date against powerful Ladue.

Sikeston’s fans responded in full force on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon in which an estimated 6,000 fans filled SPS Stadium as they helped lead the Bulldogs to a 28-6 victory. The pre-game resembled a college atmosphere that Scheeter will always remember.

“To see so much fan support at our home field – I mean the amount of people that were there and all the tailgating that was going on was just unreal,” Scheeter said. “We did a walk-through of the crowd when we went out to our pre-game. That is something I will never forget. And Ladue had three cracks at the end zone from inside the five with the half winding down and we stopped them. I knew right then that we’ve got them.”

One year later there was another football game that rivaled the Ladue atmosphere – this time at Southeast Missouri State University’s Houck Stadium where the 8-0 Bulldogs were meeting the 8-0 Cape Central Tigers on a late October Thursday night.

The result was a sellout of Houck Stadium with more than 11,000 people in attendance.

“My first memory is coming out and doing our pre-game warm-up and the place was packed,” Scheeter said. “We had played several games at Houck and I had never seen that many people. And our players were just business as usual – they weren’t star-struck by the huge crowd. We scored on our first drive and we fed off our crowd the rest of the game. It was a sight like I had never seen.”

Sikeston did indeed score on that opening drive in a picture that is also immortalized in the Field House as well as framed in Scheeter’s home as the Bulldogs went on to win the game 21-0.

Even though this will be his final season of coaching as well as education, Scheeter says his heart will always be with the school he loves.

“I’ve been involved in Sikeston Public Schools in one way or another since 1978, that’s when I started Kindergarten,” Scheeter said. “A lot of times people graduate from high school and they want to get as far away from where they grew up as they possibly can. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to be a part of Sikeston because I loved it when I was in school, I love it now, and I’ll love it forever. To me, there’s no better place to live, coach, or teach.”

Chris Sarakas

Sarakas, a 1989 Fredericktown High School graduate, started his career in education at Meadow Heights where he stayed for four years before taking the job at Sikeston in 1999.

At Sikeston, he taught elementary physical education and was named the freshman boys basketball coach where he would be on head coach Gregg Holifield’s staff alongside assistant coach Brian James.

The trio has been together for a remarkable 24 years.

“Being a part of coach Holifield’s staff has been special,” Sarakas said. “It’s almost unheard of for staff to stay together as long as we have. Coach Holifield isn’t just a Hall of Fame coach, but a class act and it was a privilege to coach with him and Coach James. Those great coaches, a bunch of great players, and our fans have helped propel Sikeston basketball to be respected throughout the state.”

His role expanded over the years to more detailed duties under Holifield where he worked extensively with the junior varsity teams and the scout teams in addition to taking care of a heavy workload of scouting the opponents and gathering film.

With Sarakas on staff, the Bulldog basketball program became one of the state’s most dominant, winning 13 district titles, reaching five final fours and capturing a state championship in 2011.

Additionally, Sarakas was busy coaching the freshman basketball team where he had four undefeated seasons and won 200 games, something that was accomplished in the last game he coached back in December.

“Coaching freshman basketball has been a big part of our program,” Sarakas said. “Getting our players to buy in early on hard work, acting right, and doing things the right way has set the table for what Sikeston basketball is all about. This year was special for me as I won my 200th career game as a freshman coach here at Sikeston, and it happened in the last game of the season. Kudos to all of these players that made it happen over the years.”

Sarakas mentioned many games and moments that are among his favorites, from the many thrilling district championships to the final four runs, but there are three that stand out in his mind.

“Beating Scott County Central at the Show Me Center in front of thousands of fans was awesome,” he said. “Winning a state championship with an undefeated season is part of basketball history and beating Cape Central for the district championship this year was priceless.”

A member of that team this past year was his son, Creighton.

Creighton grew up within the program. A 7-year-old Creighton is featured front and center as a ball boy in the Bulldogs’ 30-0 state championship picture hanging in the Field House.

Creighton just finished his senior season with the Bulldogs and went out with a bang, going 22-8 and reaching the state quarterfinals after upsetting No. 1 ranked Cape Central in district play.

Having his son experience all of the program’s successes and then be a part of the program is something the elder Sarakas will cherish forever.

“Being able to coach my son and watch him go from sitting on my lap on the bench from first grade to being a player for our varsity the last four years – it’s just a special thing and something I will always treasure – going through this journey together,” Sarakas said.

Sarakas also had a major impact in track and field in keeping the tradition of the “Jump City” moniker that the program was nicknamed during his tenure.

He began as a junior high track and field coach before moving up to varsity. Sikeston track and field has had plenty of success with Sarakas on staff, including winning a team state championship in 2009 and placing fourth at state twice.

Then there are the jumpers that Sarakas has coached – 19 in total that have qualified for state in either the long, triple or high jump. Of those 19, a whopping 15 of them were all-state jumpers by placing in the top eight and one of those was a state champion – Betsy Borgsmiller in the high jump.

In 2011, Sarakas traveled with Borgsmiller to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete in the Great Southwest Classic, a national event that is invitation only after the high school season. Borgsmiller placed first in the event.

Sarakas made a return trip to New Mexico in the same event last year with C.J. Posey where he placed second in the high jump.

They are the only two Sikeston athletes to ever be invited to the event.

 And if that wasn’t enough, Sarakas also offered his coaching expertise to a Scott County Central high jumper, Cameron Blissett. Sarakas would stay after his Sikeston practice to work with Blissett and noted his daily improvement. The extra work paid dividends as Blissett eventually took eighth in the state.

“It has been a pleasure to work with a couple of legendary track coaches, Jerry Dement and Terry Flannigan,” Sarakas said. “They both trusted me to be the jumps coach all these years, and I have been blessed to have some great athletes that worked hard to get Sikeston jumpers coined ‘Jump City.’ It has come full circle to coach a girl to be state champion [Borgsmiller] and then she comes back to be the head coach the last couple of years.”

Sarakas isn’t sure what his next adventure is, but he says he will be golfing and competing in bass tournaments as he has for 24 years. He says it was a difficult decision to give up his coaching duties, but he will always have fond memories of his “second home.”

“What an awesome ride it has been – working with great people for a great school and community,” Sarakas said. “I am so proud to have been a part of Sikeston basketball and to do it in front of the best fan base in the state. Once I was hired at Sikeston, I had no idea I would be here this long. It seems like yesterday I was at Lee Hunter and now here I am hanging up the whistle. Teaching and coaching here, I have made friendships and memories for a lifetime. Sikeston is a special place and has always been about one thing, ‘We Are Sikeston.’”