Southeast's nickname chage was area's top sport story of 2004

The Southeast Missourian's top 10 stories for 2004, as voted on by members of the staff:

1. Southeast changes its nickname to Redhawks

The most dramatic story in Southeast Missouri sports in 2004 didn't take place on the football field or the basketball court. In a meeting room at the Show Me Center, the Southeast Missouri State Board of Regents voted unanimously to retire the Native American nicknames the school had utilized for more than 80 years. Months of work by a committee appointed by university president Dr. Kenneth Dobbins was showcased in a presentation to the board that made the case for retiring the school's nicknames -- Indians for men and Otahkians for women -- and replace them with Redhawks.

The school officially will use the nickname beginning Jan. 22 when the men's and women's basketball teams play Austin Peay.

The Indians nickname was retired in a ceremony in October.

2. St. Vincent wins football crown

The St. Vincent football program had been the most consistently successful program in the Southeast Missourian coverage area, with state title game appearances in 1998 and 2000. The Indians, however, were part of a regional state title drought that dated back to Chaffee's 1983 title.

The drought ended Nov. 27, when St. Vincent dominated previously unbeaten East Buchanan 21-0 in Class 1 state championship game at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis.

That was as close to home playoff game the Indians had. They won at South Shelby, Salisbury and Marionville in three playoff games that required about 1,500 miles of travel.

Led by coach Keith Winkler, St. Vincent always hopped off the bus ready to play, mixing a ball-control running game with a stingy defense that allowed just 6.9 points per game. In the state title game, St. Vincent forces six turnovers and four fumbles to post the shutout.

The Indians, who finished 13-1, had nine players named to the Missouri Football Coaches Assocaition all-state team -- including six first-teamers.

3. Bell City wins Class 2 boys basketball championship

Compared to the lack of championships for football teams in the area, the Bell City High School boys basketball team is spoiling its fans.

The Cubs rolled past St. Elizabeth 74-62 on March 20 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia to claim the program's second Class 1 state basketball championship in three years.

Bell City finished 29-4 for its third straight 20-win season in coach David Heeb's four seasons.

Senior Dominitrix Johnson, an all-state selection, scored 40 points in the title game for the Cubs, including a 16-point first quarter effort that set the tone for the game. He had averaged 29 points per game heading into the state tournament.

4. Jackson basketball player Jason Schafer passes away

The Jackson High School basketball program and the Jackson community suffered a loss Sept. 20 when Jason Schafer died as a result of injuries suffered in a one-car accident the previous night.

Schafer, a senior, was a starter for the Indians basketball team and had played AAU and USSA basketball during the summer. Schafer was 17 years old.

"I can still see him walking with his strut, chest out, full of confidence," teammate Jack Puisis said at a memorial service for Schafer. "Calling him a friend was an understatement. He was my brother."

5. Saxony Lutheran wins Class 1 boys cross country crown

Larry Cleair is building a dynasty. The Saxony Lutheran boys cross country program has been around two years. Its trophy case already had a fourth-place state trophy from 2003.

This year, the Crusaders added the state championship trophy.

Led by three top-25 finishers -- district champion Brandon Etzold, a sophomore; Trey Maevers, a junior; and Peter Winningham, a sophomore -- Saxony Lutheran posted a score of 80 in the Class 1 state meet at Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City to beat Van Buren by 27 points.

The Crusaders won a district title for the second straight year and ran a lineup at state with no seniors.

The team doesn't mind thinking ahead to 2005 and a possible repeat.

"If the Lord is willing," Cleair said, "we'll do it."

6. Kelly cruises to softball title

The Kelly Hawks posted a pair of dramatic victories to capture the Class 2 softball championship at the Rainbow Sports Complex in Columbia.

Good pitching, good defense and timely hitting -- constants that helped the Hawks throughout a 25-6 campaign --were present in the final two games.

Senior pitcher Whitney Beggs, who finished the season 13-3 and earned all-state honors, nearly pitched a perfect game in the state title game, settling for a one-hitter in a 1-0 victory against St. Joseph Bishop LeBlond.

Beggs also drove in Kelly Essner for the game's lone run.

Kelly had to come from behind with a four-run seventh inning for a 5-2 victory against defending state champion Putnam County in the semifinal game. Essner, also an all-stater after making no errors at shortstop all season, drove in the go-ahead run in the semifinal and scored the game-winning run in the final.

The state title was the program's second for coach Rhonda Ratledge, who guided the Hawks to the top spot in 1997.

7. Southeast's Eugene Amano drafted by Titans

Eugene Amano had to wait through the NFL draft an awful long time to hear his name. But the Tennessee Titans selected Amano, a 6-foot-3, 315-pound center who had started four seasons at Southeast, in the seventh and final round. Amano was the 239th selection among 255 players taken in the draft.

But Amano, who won the Rimington Award as the top center in NCAA Division I-AA during the 2003 season, proved he belong in his rookie season by becoming a capable player in the Titans' injury riddled offensive line. He joins another former Southeast player, the New York Giants' Willie Ponder, in the NFL.

8. Advance's Garrett Broshuis stars at Mizzou, drafted by Giants

Garrett Broshuis, who played high school baseball at Advance, also received a call from the professional ranks on draft day in 2004.

Broshuis, who had a breakthrough season as a junior pitcher at the University of Missouri, was chosen by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round with the 160th overall pick.

At Missouri, Broshuis tied the school record for wins with an 11-0 record. He posted a 2.61 earned run average, allowing 97 hits and 24 walks in 114 innings while striking out 91. He was a first-team all-Big 12 Conference selection.

Included in his efforts was 8 1/3 shutout innings in Missouri's 8-0 upset victory against top-ranked Texas in May.

Six hours shy of graduation and carrying a 3.92 grade point average at the time he was drafted, Broshuis signed with the Giants and pitched in two levels of Class A ball.

9. Southeast women's track sweeps OVC titles

Two championships in one year.

That's what the Southeast Missouri State women's track team did in 2004 by winning the Ohio Valley Conference indoor crown in February and adding its second straight outdoor title in May.

Central graduate Heather Jenkins, a junior, won indoor crowns in the shot put and weight throw and added outdoor wins in the shot put and discus. She set an OVC and Southeast school record to win the shot put at 51 feet. The OVC's outdoor female athlete of the year qualified to compete in the NCAA championships as an at-large entry in the discus.

Sophomores Brooke Woodruff (800 meters) and Michele Jett (pole vault) won indoor and outdoor titles in their events. Sophomore Lindsay Zeiler won the mile and 3,000 meters at the indoor meet and the 1,500 at the outdoor meet. At the outdoor meet, the 400 relay team of sophomore Natasha Fortenberry, freshman Nyisha Porter, senior Lyndsey Stevenson and sophomore Rose Fulton also placed first.

10. Scott City's Groves, Kelly's Lewer star in state track

Scott City senior Loren Groves and Kelly senior Nathan Lewer were no strangers to success at the state high school track meet at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

In fact, 2004 was just an opportunity to repeat state championships won the previous year.

Lewer captured the Class 2 high jump title for the second straight year by clearing the bar at 6 feet 6 inches. After securing the title, at a mark two inches shorter than his winning mark the previous year, he took three attempts at posting a personal best of 6-9 but was unable to clear it.

Groves set a Class 2 state record on her way to winning the discus championship with a mark of 151-7, more than seven feet better than the record she set as a junior. She capped her busy state meet by adding a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles, a fourth-place finish in the shot put and a fifth-place finish in the 300 hurdles.