Other top stories in 2005

High School

Miscellaneous

• Central tabs new AD: Darrick Smith left his post as athletic director at Central after two years and was replaced by Central assistant principal and former girls basketball coach Mark Ruark.

Basketball

• State champs: New Salem Baptist Academy of Marble Hill swept the 2004-05 boys and girls Class 1A championships in the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association.

Boys basketball

• Chiefs of the court: Jackson didn't get far in the playoffs thanks to eventual state champion Poplar Bluff, which beat the Indians 66-35 in the district title games. But the Indians were the best team in the Southeast Missourian coverage area during the 2004-05 season as evidenced by their 22-4 record and championship in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. Jackson's Jack Puisis was named the Southeast Missourian Player of the Year.

* Coaching carousel: David Heeb's move from Bell City, where he had won two state titles in five years, was the biggest move in a series of coaching changes for the area's Class 1 schools. Heeb replaced Melvin Porter at Scott County; Brian Brandtner replaced Heeb at Bell City; John Martin replaced Robert Stein at Oak Ridge; Shawn Dugger replaced Carlton Thoma at Leopold; and Ryan Harmon replaced Dwyght Ford at Zalma.

* Bulldogs rule: Fifth-seeded Notre Dame upended Jackson to win the 2005 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. The Bulldogs won their first tournament title since 1986 while denying Jackson its third straight championship.

Girls basketball

• Bobcats top cats: Delta had the longest playoff run, beating Scott County Central in the Class 1 sectional round before losing 45-29 to eventual state champion Chadwick in the quarterfinal.

Boys swimming

• Super Kuper: Notre Dame swimmer Jameson Kuper cracked the state's top eight in two events. He finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke and was seventh in the 200-yard freestyle at the state meet in February.

Wrestling

• Classic champion: Central's Cody Yeargain became the first wrestler from the home team in 11 years to win an individual title at the Tiger Classic in December. Jackson's Kamden Rampley also claimed a crown, winning for the second straight year.

Baseball

• Tripped up: Jackson (Class 4), Scott City (Class 2) and Advance (Class 1) all won district baseball titles but were wiped out in the sectional round.

Boys golf

• Scoring low: Central's Blake Driskell fired a 3-under-par 32 in a match at Cape Girardeau Country Club. He capped his junior season by finishing 27th in the Class 4 state tournament. St. Vincent finished seventh in the Class 1 team competition.

Girls tennis

• District dominance: The Central girls tennis team won the Class 2 district title for the second straight year during a 14-1 campaign and sent the doubles teams of Sarah Ford-Lindsey Pingel and Dani Gross-Monica Toole to the state tournament.

Girls soccer

• Fine finish: Molly Hartmann led the Jackson soccer team with 30 goals in her senior campaign, and the Indians finished 20-3 after losing in overtime in the Class 2 sectional round. It was Jackson's fourth straight district title and third 20-win season in a row. Notre Dame also lost in overtime in a sectional contest with St. Pius in Class 1.

Football

• Shut out: For the first time since 1992, none of the region's six teams qualified for the state playoffs. Only St. Vincent and Jackson had winning seasons, with the latter winning the SEMO North Conference title and winning at Jefferson City during a 6-4 campaign. Perryville and Chaffee both finished winless seasons, and the Red Devils' winless streak was extended to 34 games despite the return of coach Charlie Vickery.

* All-state (times two): St. Vincent's Waylon Richardet was the only local player chosen all-state by both the writers and the coaches.

* Decisive win: Jackson clinched the SEMO North by beating rival Central 44-0 at Houck Stadium.

Softball

• Runners-up: Notre Dame finished second in the Class 3 state tournament after losing a 4-3 decision to Kearney in the state title game. The Bulldogs finished 29-3 following their second straight trip to the state's final four.

Cross country

• Pirates finish third: In addition to Notre Dame's and Saxony Lutheran's successes, the Perryville boys finished third in the Class 3 team standings, led by Jesse Kueker's 25th-place finish.

Boys soccer

• Terrific Tigers: The Central boys soccer team won another district championship and avenged a regular-season beating from Rockwood Summit by beating the Falcons 4-1 in the state sectional round. The Tigers capped a 22-6-1 season with a 2-0 loss in the quarterfinals to eventual state runner-up Vianney.

Girls volleyball

• State spikers: Bell City grabbed third place in the Class 1 state meet by beating Winona 15-25, 26-24, 25-20. The Cubs finished the year 30-7-2.

Leopold was a state quarterfinalist in Class 1, while Scott City and St. Vincent won district titles in Class 2

Southeast

Administrative

• A Redhawk is born: A crowd of 6,607 packed into the Show Me Center on Jan. 22 for the birth of Southeast's mascot: Rowdy the Redhawk. The university officially adopted the new Redhawks nickname, which replaced Indian and Otahkians, on that date.

Men's basketball

• Winning year: The Redhawks put together their first winning season since 2000-01 and advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 1999-2000. A 15-14 campaign ended with a 69-52 loss to Eastern Kentucky in the OVC tournament semifinals.

* Wise Winans: Derek Winans, the fifth-leading all-time scorer in the history of the men's basketball program, was selected an Academic All-American. He is the only Academic All-American in the basketball program's history, having made the second team as a junior.

Baseball

• Streak alive: The Southeast baseball team won eight of nine games to close out OVC regular-season play and extend its streak of 11 consecutive conference tournament appearances under coach Mark Hogan. But the Redhawks were bounced in two straight and finished the year 24-32.

Gymnastics

• NCAA regional qualifiers: Tara Boldt qualified for the NCAA regional meet for the second year in a row, while Katie Bloom also made the regional field.

WOMEN's Soccer

• Winners again: The Redhawks posted their sixth consecutive winning season in the seven-year history of the program under coach Heather Nelson, going 13-6-1 and losing in the semifinals of the OVC tournament.

Softball

• Super frosh: Paced by freshman Megan McDonald, a Central graduate who was the OVC's freshman of the year, along with leading hitter Lindsay Pickering and home run leader Michelle Summers, the Redhawks qualified for the OVC tournament in a 27-28 season.

Track

• Relay success: While Southeast teams dominated the OVC and Miles Smith burst onto the national scene, several other athletes joined Smith at the NCAA outdoor nationals. Alonzo Nelson qualified in the 400-meter hurdles and in the 1,600-meter relay, a group that also featured Smith, Chaz Brown and Chris Poindexter.

Volleyball

• New coach: In their first season under Renata Nowacki -- who took over the program when longtime coach Cindy Gannon became a full-time assistant athletic director -- the Redhawks went 16-16 and advanced to the OVC tournament semifinals. Jackson graduate Jessica Koeper was an all-conference selection.

Football

• Painful defeat: The Southeast football team fell to 0-7 when Eastern Kentucky scored a touchdown on a last-second pass to post a 33-32 victory.

* Homecoming II: Southeast celebrated the return of defensive coordinator Damon Bradford, who had been serving with the Tennessee National Guard since just prior to the start of the 2004 season, by beating Tennessee State 32-24 on Nov. 12.

* Good news/bad news: The Southeast football program found a gem when freshman running back Tim Holloman rushed for 181 yards in the Redhawks' 52-21 victory against Murray State, one week after his coming-out party in the loss at Eastern Kentucky. But Holloman, who finished as the team's leading rusher, was among three current members of the program and one former member suspended from school after being charged with misdemeanors in the assault of two Southeast students at a fraternity party on Dec. 4.

* Postseason honors: Junior punter David Simonhoff made two Division I-AA All-American teams, including a first-team honor by the American Football Coaches Association. He was on The Sports Xchange second team. Simonhoff led the OVC in punting for the second straight season. Also, senior safety Mike Miller was named to the Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team.

Community

American Legion baseball

• First-time champs: Jackson won the American Legion District 14 title for the first time but was eliminated quickly in the zone tournament it hosted. Cape Girardeau, the district runner-up, also made the zone field and lasted a little longer by beating Jackson in the elimination bracket, but eventual state champion Festus rolled to the zone title.

Running/triathlons

• Winner arrested: Delbert Marriott, the winner of the Steamboat Classic triathlon, was arrested during the summer and eventually pleaded guilty to three counts during court-martial proceeding at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He was dismissed from Marine Corps as part of the agreement and sentenced to time served, which was 76 days.

Marriott this fall won the 35- to 39-year-old age division in the Coors Light/Trail of Tears triathlon.

* Dominator: Barry Knight won the Coors Light/Trail of Tears triathlon for the ninth time in 10 years and the 10th time in the event's 17 years.

* Marathon man: Southeast Missouri State cross country coach Eric Heins finished 102nd in his first run at the Boston Marathon, but was short of his goal of reaching the top 50.

* Local champ: Heins won the City of Roses Half Marathon, while Stephanie Zaragoza was the first woman finisher.

* Inaugural Bridge Run: Bryan Kelpe cruised to victory in the 5-kilometer run that crossed the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge into Illinois and back. Adela Sams won the women's division in the inaugural event, which took place in conjunction with the Southeast Missourian's centennial celebration.

Kelpe the previous week had won the 5-kilometer Free Speech Run.

* Run results: John Kipper won the Tywappity Trails 5-kilometer run, with Stephanie Bennett topping the women's division.

Tanner Cline edged Bryan Kelpe for first in the Vicky Keller Remembrance Run, a 5.35-mile race. Michelle Crosnoe won the women's division.

Rachel Schmidt of Jackson won the five-kilometer Capaha Classic, while Jason Gantt of Murphysboro, Ill., won the men's race.

Cory Huskey won the Independence Day 5-kilometer race in Jackson.

Golf

• Lassies champs: Robyn Young and Leslie Steele edged defending champions Harriett Myers and Diane Fowler in a playoff hole to win the 27th annual Lassies Classic at Cape Girardeau Country Club.

* SEMO Cup: Westwood Hills of Poplar Bluff topped Bent Creek by 24 strokes to win the SEMO Cup golf tournament at Kennett Country Club. Dalhousie finished third, Kimbeland fourth, Cape Country Club fifth and Cape Jaycee Municipal Golf Course was 10th.

Cycling

• Racing returns: The CycleWerx Cape Girardeau mountain bike race at Delaware Park marked the first competitive cycling event for the area since 1997. About 100 competitors took part in the National Off-Road Bike Association event.

Corporate Games

• Repeat champs: TG Missouri, after winning the 2004 Division I title in a tiebreaker, claimed this year's championship outright. Division of Youth Services won Division II, for employee-based organizations with fewer than 100 employees. The Corporate Games is a two-week Olympic-style competition of mostly athletic events.

Basketball

• Slam dunk: Heartland Insurance defended its title at the Slamfest tournament at Indian Park in Cape Girardeau.