Cross Country

On January 30 of this year, Semoball.com published an interview with then-Jackson High School senior runner Scout Pettit, who had been named to the 2018 All-Southeast Missourian Boys Cross Country Team.

What I learned from living the initial 52 years of my life in the state of Indiana was that Hoosiers are passionate about three things: religion, farming, and sports. And depending on the time of year and whether the Indiana University men’s basketball team is underachieving or not, the order of those things could fluctuate.

Two proposals passed at the 2019 Missouri High School Activities Association Election in May will alter the postseason playoff field for local high schools in the Missouri Bootheel beginning in the 2020-21 school year.

Poplar Bluff’s Dylan Cisne has earned a college scholarship after competing in a sport for just two years. Cisne recently signed to run cross country with Mineral Area College. “It is a dream come true for me, Cisne said. “It is amazing. I’m just happy to run for a great coach in (Mineral Area coach Steve Davis). ...

In a few days, basketball postseason begins for teams across Missouri, but for an hour Wednesday afternoon, the focus was back on fall sports. In a live one-hour radio show on SEMO ESPN, 55 student-athletes were announced as fall sports finalists for the 2019 Semoball Awards...

List of college signees in the Southeast Missourian coverage area that were submitted to the newspaper

Check out the six selections for the All-Southeast Missourian boys cross country team

Blake Morris didn't plan to set a school record. Earlier that day, he and his coach had even discussed conserving his energy with another race coming up in a few days. The weather was so nice, though, and the Notre Dame junior felt great in warm-ups. He started strong, running his fastest-ever first mile, clocking in under five minutes, and it continued from there...

It didn't matter if the weather was bitterly cold, if there was pouring rain or a muddy course to navigate. There was always one constant for the Jackson girls cross country team. Kennedy Bauer had a smile on her face. That enthusiasm was infectious, lifting the spirits of her teammates, and when the race started, Bauer continued to lead by example...

Check out the six selections for the All-Southeast Missourian girls cross country team

It was quite a successful fall sports season in the Southeast Missouri area. The Advance volleyball team won its first-ever state championship, and Jackson football finished the regular season undefeated for the first time in over a decade before falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual Class 5 state champions...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Kennett junior Kobe Patterson capped off his cross country season with his first appearance at the state championship meet Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City. Patterson placed 93rd out of 164 runners with a time of 17:51...

Paced by three top-50 finishers, the Oak Ridge boys cross country team finished second at the Class 1 state championships on Saturday in Jefferson City, Missouri Tanner Schamburg led the way in 36th place with a time of 18 minutes, 55.43 seconds, and Philip Marshall was right behind him in 37th. Mason Keith rounded out the trio of top 50 finishers, coming in 48th in 19:08.13...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Kennett junior Kobe Patterson is state bound after securing a Top 15 finish at the Class 3, District 1 cross country meet Saturday at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau. Patterson finished 11th in the boys meet with a time of 17:29.28. Maxwell McDaniel of Festus won the meet with a time of 15:53.94...

The Jackson girls cross country team finished fourth in a Class 4 Sectional 1 meet Saturday in Washington, Missouri, to qualify for the state championship. Kennedy Bauer led the way with a second-place finish in 19 minutes, 33.56 seconds. Kaylee Wilson was the next-highest finisher for the Indians, coming in 25th in 20:27.72...

Prior to the start of Saturday's Class 1 District 1 and Class 3 District 1 cross country district championship meets, runners and coaches looked calm and collected. Members of the Dexter boys team threw a Frisbee back and forth near the starting line. The Herculaneum Bearcats crowded around their food and water table while the girls tied blue ribbons into their braids. If teams weren't walking the course at Notre Dame Regional High School, they were huddled together underneath their tents...

DEXTER, Mo. - The Kennett varsity cross country team placed fourth among 13 teams at the Dexter Invitational Saturday at Dexter High School. East Carter County won the meet, with 47 points, followed by Fredericktown (51), Woodland (53), Kennett (71), Dexter (75), Delta (81), Bloomfield (82), Valle Catholic (131), and Meadow Heights (138). Crystal City, Greenville, Willow Springs, and Advance did not have the minimum of five runners required to score as a team...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Kennett high school cross country team is preparing for postseason play after fine-tuning its skills at the Heartland Conference Championship at Cape County North Park in Cape Girardeau last week. Kennett finished seventh out of 10 schools at its conference meet Oct. ...

Jackson senior Kennedy Bauer was the first runner to cross the finish line at the Class 4 District 1 cross country Tournament on Saturday at the Jackson City Park to earn the individual district championship and helped lead the Indians to second place...

The Perryville boys soccer team scored three goals in each half to wrap up the regular season with a 6-1 conference victory at home over the Windsor. Dayton Strattman and Jake Unterreiner netted two goals apiece to lead Perryville (13-10, 4-1 JCAA Conference). Unterreiner added one assist and Stanley Volansky chipped in one goal and one assist. Nick Omelchenko recorded the other goal for the Pirates and Austin Welk provided two additional assists...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — It was a struggle in all four matches for the Sikeston volleyball team, at the SEMO Conference Tournament, on Tuesday evening. The Bulldogs were swept in all four of its matches and are the No. 5-seed for bracket play — which begins on Thursday — at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex...

The Notre Dame cross country teams picked up the championships in each gender division in the Farmington Invitational at Engler Park on Saturday. Freshman Esperanza Zalite was the first runner to cross the finish line on the girls' side with a time of 20 minutes, 9.59 seconds to lead the Lady Bulldogs to victory. Teammates Paige Beussink and Kathryn Taylor landed in the Top 10 at fourth and eighth, respectively, as Notre Dame edged host Farmington by three points to capture the girls' title...

JACKSON, Mo. - The Kennett high school cross country team had two runners medal at the Saxony Lutheran Meet at Jackson City Park Oct. 4. Kennett’s Kobe Patterson (18:35) placed third and Kennett’s Alex Yates (19:51) took 22nd. Kennett’s Ronaldo Guerrero (21:10) finished 42nd, Kennett’s Larry Payne (21:16) placed 43rd, Kennett’s Carson Blansett (22:17) came in 52nd, and Kennett’s Brett Bradley (22:26) took 53rd...

CARTERVILLE, Ill. — Two goals from senior Jeffrey Thornbrough made the difference for the Sikeston soccer team on Tuesday night. Sikeston defeated Carterville, Illinois, on the road, 2-1 to move to 10-12 on the season. It was also the Bulldogs last regular season game of the year and will take the pitch next on October 30, at the district tournament, at the Sikeston Recreation Complex...

Nicholas Hux posted a first-place time of 5 minutes, 14.46 seconds in the 500 freestyle as the Notre Dame boys swimming team finished 18 points of Monett to win the championship of the 25th Annual Roger Eastman (Fort Zumwalt North) Invitational on Saturday at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Missouri...

SIKESTON — Two days after losing a tough, three-set match to Portageville, the Sikeston volleyball team returned to the court, at the Sikeston Field House, for senior night on Thursday against Malden. The Bulldogs lost both sets, as the Green Wave exposed Sikeston’s weakness, at the setter position...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - A short-handed Kennett high school cross country team competed at the Notre Dame Invitational in Cape Girardeau Saturday. “We finished 16th out of 16 teams in the boys’ varsity race,” Kennett cross country coach Fred Garmon said. ...

After every team huddle, the Advance volleyball team yells the word "Mission" in unison. Mission was accomplished on Saturday as the defending tournament champion Hornets didn't drop a match to clinch their second consecutive championship at the 20-team Perryville Tournament...

Blake Morris didn't get the time he wanted. He did, however, get the victory. For the second consecutive year, the Notre Dame junior won the boys varsity cross country race at the Notre Dame Invitational, leading the host Bulldogs to a second-place team finish Saturday...

VAN BUREN, Mo. - A short-handed Kennett cross country team competed in the Dwayne Graham Invitational at Big Spring National Park in Van Buren Wednesday. “Normally, this course has some of the biggest hills we’ll face all season,” Kennett cross country coach Fred Garmon said. ...

SIKESTON — Senior night turned into a night to remember for the Sikeston boys soccer team on Thursday at the Sikeston Recreation Complex. The Bulldogs completed a clean sweep in their week of matches, with it all culminating in a golden goal win 15 seconds into overtime against Poplar Bluff...

CAPE CENTRAL, Mo. - The Kennett cross country team traveled to Cape Girardeau for the Cape Central Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. The Indians place 11th out of 13 teams in the boys varsity division. Notre Dame won the meet. “We talked all week about how this course is deceptively hard to run,” Kennett coach Fred Garmon said. ...

The Advance volleyball team added two more wins to its flawless record and improved to 7-0 on the season with victories over Valle Catholic and host Jackson at the inaugural Spike Fest Challenge at Jackson High School on Saturday. The Hornets swept the Warriors in straight sets (25-23, 25-22) in their first game of the day, dropping the Warriors' record to 2-4. ...

IRONTON, Mo. - The Kennett high school cross country team competed in conditions perhaps more suitable for the Kennett swim team Saturday at the Arcadia Valley Invitational in Ironton, Missouri. In addition to a talented field of runners, Kennett also had to contend with the remains of Tropical Storm Gordon, which dumped several inches of rain on the course before Saturday’s races...

Nearly 60 teams participated at the 31st Annual St. Francis Medical Center Dig for Life Volleyball Challenge over the weekend at various venues throughout Cape Girardeau. The program, founded by former Southeast Missouri State University women's volleyball coach Cindy Gannon, raises breast cancer awareness and helps provides mammograms to women in the area who otherwise could not afford such important screening. ...

Expectations are on the rise as Kennett nears the start of its third cross country season after launching the program in 2016. Six of the eight runners in the program are returners from last season’s boys squad. “We are a lot more experienced this year,” Kennett junior Kobe Patterson said. “The past years the courses have been new to us but this year we know what to expect. We’d love to win a district or conference championship this year.”...

The Jackson boys soccer team captured the Notre Dame Soccer Fest with a tight, 1-0 victory over host Notre Dame on Saturday at the Brad Wittenborn Soccer Complex in Cape Girardeau. Xavier Heinley broke the deadlock with the lone goal of the contest for the Indians (5-0)...

Cape Girardeau Central senior Jared Neikirk was the first runner to cross the finish line with a first-place time of 10 minutes, 36.94 seconds to help lead the Tigers to second place at the Fleet Feet Cross Country Kickoff Classic at the Arnold City Park on Thursday...

Preview capsules for area cross country teams

Twenty-six teams kicked off the cross country season Saturday at the Jackson Invitational at Jackson City Park. The host program had a strong day, led by its senior girls. With each grade getting its own race, Kennedy Bauer topped the senior showdown with a time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds, just 18 seconds ahead of teammate Kaylee Wilson in second. Faith Littleton crossed the line fifth in that race to lead the Indians to a team victory in the race...

Notre Dame junior Blake Morris was the first runner to cross the finish line with local foe Saxony Lutheran senior Caleb Cornelius right behind him in second place in Saturday's First-to-the-Finish Kickoff Classic on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois...

No longer will Missouri high schools have to wait to see an enrollment spike or drop take effect. Beginning this year, the Missouri State High School Activities Association will release new class and district assignments annually. The goal is to make sure schools of similar size are competing against one another, accounting for sudden, drastic shifts in student enrollment...