Poplar Bluff

It didn’t take Poplar Bluff R-1 Athletic Director Kent Keith long to find an opponent to open the Mules football season. A day after Keith learned Illinois was moving football to the spring and that Poplar Bluff’s season-opening game against O’Fallon was off, he had found a replacement...

Just 31 days before kickoff, the Poplar Bluff football team is now looking for an opponent to face. The Mules were to host O’Fallon, Illinois, on Aug. 28 until Wednesday when football in that state was pushed back to next spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic...

The building of the Missouri Bulls 16-under baseball squad has been an on-going process throughout this summer, as manager Todd Pennington has molded a “really talented” group of athletes together for the first time as a unit.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Chad Casey couldn’t quite get his steps down in the triple jump Wednesday after such a long layoff. The recent Poplar Bluff graduate cleared 18-feet, 11.75-inches in the long jump, finishing third at the SEMO Conference Senior Track & Field Showcase at Notre Dame Regional High School. But Casey scratched on four attempts in the triple jump...

Arjun Sahai got one more chance to wear the royal blue and white of Notre Dame Regional High School Tuesday as he took part in a high school showcase at his home court, Brother David Migliorino Tennis Complex. Sahai, a 2020 Bulldogs graduate, is headed in the fall to St. Louis University where he will pursue medical studies...

Daryl Vaughn decided to pass on an opportunity to play college baseball to join the Air Force. He took flight to keep his team from falling behind at the SEMO Conference Senior Baseball Showcase on Monday. The recent Poplar Bluff graduate made a diving catch in the right-field gap leading to a double play in a tie game...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — There are four games — made up of seniors from all eight SEMO Conference baseball programs — scheduled for July 6 at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau. Seniors from Cape Central and Sikeston play seniors from Notre Dame and New Madrid County Central at 1 p.m...

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the 2020 Semoball Awards into a production like never before, as the event will be conducted as a “virtual” event on Facebook Live on July 11 at 7 p.m. instead of a live show that the sports fans throughout Southeast Missouri have grown accustomed to through the years.

The man who gave Three Rivers the Raiders nickname and picked black and gold as the team’s colors is working in a different medium. Bob Cradic set scoring records for the Poplar Bluff High School basketball team and was the program’s first player to earn all-state honors before playing in college. He was a high school basketball coach at Salem when a former teammate called to see if he might be interested in a new job...

SEMO Conference baseball players will have the opportunity to take the field together one more time this summer. The first annual SEMO Conference Senior Baseball Showcase is slated to take place Monday, July 6, at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau. “It’s exciting to get the opportunity to get on the field with the boys again,” Poplar Bluff Bluff senior Dawson Hanner said. “It’s going to be a fun day.”...

A knee injury ended Josiah Kilgore’s football career and limited the Poplar Bluff senior during the basketball season. In the spring, track was canceled before it even started due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Had a few colleges hitting me up and then I got hurt and everybody pretty much left,” said Kilgore of being recruited to play football in college...

After 71 days, the Poplar Bluff Mules are getting back to work. Starting Monday, athletes and coaches will be able to meet on campus as part of summer activities under guidelines set by the district to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. “We’re going to cope with it the best we can,” Mules football coach David Sievers said. “Football is hard to social distance at...

Each year the Semoball Awards recognizes outstanding high school athletes from around the region. That tradition continues this summer albeit in a different format because of lingering COVID-19 concerns and social distancing requirements.

The 2020 Semoball Awards will be conducted in a "virtual" fashion on Facebook Live on July 11 at 7 p.m. Here is a list of the 2019-20 Winter Sports Finalists for the 2020 Semoball Awards. 2019-20 Winter Semoball Nominees Taydrianna Barnett, Sikeston...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Volleyball (4 years), soccer (3). PARENTS: Christina and Frank Spencer SIBLINGS: Taylor and Hannah Spencer PETS: Meka (Chocolate Lab) and Piper (Black Lab) PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: I plan to attend Southeast Missouri State University to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Baseball (3 years) PARENTS: Stacey and Sharon Burkey SIBLINGS: Josh Burkey PETS: Two dogs (Cocoa, Princess) PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend Missouri State University on a baseball scholarship. WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT SCHOOL: I miss playing baseball for the Mules and the daily interaction with friends and teachers at school...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Baseball, basketball, soccer PARENTS: Maria E. Acevedo and Daryl E. Vaughn SIBLINGS: Soley Dugas and Damaya Vaughn WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT SCHOOL: I miss playing baseball and witnessing the final joys of senior year and high school...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Basketball (4 years), baseball (3). PARENTS: Ken and Julie Becker SIBLINGS: Three, ages 27, 22, 18. PETS: Three dogs PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend Three Rivers College for two years then transfer to Missouri State University and major in Physical Therapy...

Poplar Bluff’s Daryl Vaughn thought his baseball tryout for Hannibal-LaGrange University went well, so did Poplar Bluff coach Steve Edwards. The college said they’d call. It was either going to be a good phone call or a bad one. A few days later, Vaughn’s phone rang, and he excused himself to go outside and take the call. He was offered a college baseball scholarship and recently signed to play for Hannibal-LaGrange...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Baseball (3 years), basketball (4) PARENTS: Chris and Teresa Webb SIBLINGS: Lauren Webb, 15. PETS: Dog (Cooper) PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend Three Rivers College and play baseball for the Raiders. WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT SCHOOL: Hanging with my friends, attending sporting events, lunchtime with the crew, and getting trapped in the elevator for (what felt like) hours while Mr. ...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Track and field (2 years), cross country (4), swim (4), soccer (1). PARENTS: Misty and Micheal Wiseman SIBLINGS: Taylor Wiseman, 21; Hannah Wiseman, 13. PETS: Dog, Ellie; cat, Marmalade. PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: I will be attending Mizzou in the fall, majoring in agribusiness...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Baseball (3 years), basketball (2) PARENTS: Roger and Julie Hanner SIBLINGS: Shelby Joiner, Madison Hanner, Savannah Hanner PETS: Two dogs (Thor and Loki) PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend Three Rivers College and play baseball...

Poplar Bluff High School SPORTS: Track (2 years), swim (4), soccer (2). PARENTS: Matt and Julie Cisne SIBLINGS: Dylan Cisne, 19; Morgan Cisne, 13 PETS: Two dogs, Ginger and Oakley PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Go to Three Rivers for one year and then go to Arkansas State to finish a degree in Education and maybe also become a coach...