THE LATEST LINE: RAIN CAN'T PUT DAMPER ON ANNUAL TRACK MEET

With heavy rain and big-time winds, it was some of the worst weather ever in the 16-year history of Southeast Missouri State University's annual track and field meet now known as the ALL SPORT Relays.

But you couldn't tell how bad things were based on the competition Friday and Saturday at the Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex.

That's because a high-quality group of athletes and coaches were able to overcome the adversity and turn in numerous eye-popping performances.

"It's a tribute to the athletes and the coaches that the meet turned out to be so good despite the weather," said SEMO coach and meet director Joey Haines. "I don't know if it's ever rained that much for this meet before, but I can remember it being a lot colder."

It certainly wasn't cold on the track. And one of the hottest athletes during the meet was SEMO's own Shannon O'Dell, a senior from Farmington.

O'Dell put on a tireless show as she competed in six events, winning one and running on three victorious relay teams.

The effort by O'Dell was just one of many impressive performances by the athletes.

And also impressive was the job meet officials did in making sure things ran so smoothly despite the weather and a 90-minute delay due to lightning Saturday morning.

* How about one final note about the thrilling NCAA basketball tournament that concluded last Monday with Arizona's overtime win over Kentucky:

What a scintillating run by an Arizona squad that finished only fifth in its own conference and had no senior starters. The Wildcats deserve all the accolades they received -- and many more.

And one more thing: If anybody tells you they had Arizona penciled in as champion when the tournament began, don't believe them.

* It's still more than a year off, but there will be plenty of changes locally for the 1998 high school football season.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association recently released its revamped district alignments for the '98 and '99 seasons. Several area schools will be shuffled around into different districts and enrollment classifications.

Sikeston will drop from 5A to 4A, leaving a local 5A district of Cape Central, Jackson, Poplar Bluff and Vianney from St. Louis.

Sikeston will join Farmington, North County and Potosi in a 4A district.

Charleston will drop from 3A to 2A, making for a 3A district of Fredericktown, Kennett, Dexter and New Madrid.

Charleston joins Scott City, Crystal City and Grandview in one local 2A district, with the other area 2A district comprising holdovers Caruthersville, East Prairie, Malden and Portageville.

The area 1A district of Chaffee, Hayti and Valle remains intact.

* If you're looking for a feel-good sports story, look no further than former SEMO baseball standout Steve Bieser from Ste. Genevieve.

Bieser, never considered a sure-fire prospect, toiled for eight years in the minor leagues before making the New York Mets' opening-day roster this season.

Talk about perseverance and determination finally paying off.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian