Notre Dame hosts three events to cap first full week of season

~ Soccerfest, Volleyballfest and Softballfest all conclude Saturday.

The hustle and bustle of high school sports has officially begun, and no place will be busier this weekend than Notre Dame Regional High School.

Notre Dame will host 28 teams in three different sports in its annual Soccerfest, Volleyballfest and Softballfest.

The soccer and softball events begin today, and the volleyball tournament starts Friday.

Softball will be played at two sites this year, with games at Notre Dame and Kelso. Poplar Bluff is the defending champion, having defeated host Notre Dame 2-1 in the finals last year.

The softball field will include 12 teams in three pools. Area teams Chaffee, Kelly and Delta join the Bulldogs in the field. The championship game is set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame.

St. Vincent is back to defend its Volleyballfest title but will once again have to deal with the likes of host Notre Dame and last year's runner-up Bell City in order to repeat. The eight-team field also includes Central and Perryville, and it will conclude with the championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Area soccer teams Central and Jackson will each make their debuts today at the Soccerfest. Notre Dame, which opened its season Monday with a 10-0 win at Kennett, also is in the eight-team field.

Central will face Marion (Ill.) while Jackson will face St. Pius on one side of the bracket. Notre Dame will face Sikeston in a rematch of last year's Class 2 District 1 championship game, and defending Soccerfest champion Carbondale (Ill.) will play Poplar Bluff in the other opening-round game.

The finals will be 7 p.m. Saturday.

Cross country meet

The Jackson Invitational is the unofficial kickoff meet for area high school cross country teams.

As usual, the invitational will divide the field into classes with races for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. The meet will begin 10 a.m. Saturday at Jackson City Park, although depending on the heat the race could start earlier.

"We are expecting the temperatures to be cooler this year," Jackson coach Andrea Talley wrote in a news release for the event.

Central, Notre Dame, Saxony Lutheran, Delta, Kelly, Oak Ridge and Advance will be on hand for the event along with teams from the St. Louis area. In addition, Woodland will be competing in its first meet since introducing cross country.

Jackson sophomore Greg Gibson won his division last year, the only area individual winner.

The event this year also will feature an eighth-grade race beginning at 9:30 a.m.

MSHSAA awards

Several current and former area high school athletes were recently named Missouri State High School Activities Association sportsmanship award winners: A.J. Horn (Delta), Kaci Menz (Delta), Alfred VanGennip (Leopold), Stacey Seabaugh (Leopold), Logan Haines (Notre Dame), Eden Ellison (Notre Dame), Walter Ruesler (Oak Ridge), Nikki Moll (Oak Ridge), Jesse Kueker (Perryville), Amber Hacker (Perryville), Schott Schwiesow (Saxony Lutheran) and Whitney Pohlman (Saxony Lutheran).

The MSHSAA also released its scholastic achievement awards for the 2005-06 school year. Notre Dame had 12 varsity teams honored.