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Final group of 2017 Semoball Awards candidates announced with spring sport reveal
Ten months after the high school sports calendar began, we now know all 148 of our on-field nominees for the 2017 Semoball Awards.
On Friday, the spring sport finalists for baseball, softball, girls soccer, boys and girls track and field, golf and boys tennis for the event -- to be held Saturday, July 8, at the Bedell Performance Center at Southeast Missouri State's River Campus -- were announced as part of a live selection show on SEMO ESPN Radio.
Nominees for Coach of the Year, Sportsmanship and Comeback Player of the Year were also revealed, as was the recipient of the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, Kirk Chronister.
Chronister amassed a 772-285 record coaching Doniphan and Poplar Bluff girls basketball, making him the all-time winningest girls basketball coach in Missouri history.
Chronister will be presented with the award and honored with a video presentation at the Fourth Annual Semoball Awards.
Most of the award recipients on the night of the event will be high school student-athletes, though, and one of the finalists was in studio for the selection reveal as Notre Dame two-sport standout Abby Rollet joined the show.
Rollet is a 2017 finalist in softball, in which she helped Notre Dame to a Class 3 final four berth and third-place finish. The senior hit .426 with 12 doubles and a school-record 10 home runs.
She also earned Class 2 Goalkeeper of the Year this spring while protecting the net for the Bulldogs as they won the first state title in program history.
After two years at Notre Dame that saw her go to three state tournaments and lift one state trophy, Rollet is excited for one last hurrah as a high school student-athlete.
"For me it means the world, because I love high school," Rollet said. "I got back from soccer the other night and I was pumped until we got off that bus, and as soon as we got off that bus ... I was like, 'Oh, no,' and the tears started to come.
"Just getting to stretch out my high school career like this is amazing and is a blessing, and I will be forever grateful to go."
Among her fellow softball finalists there are some familiar names, with four finalists back from a year ago -- the largest number of any spring sport.
That group is headlined by Van Buren's Summer Shockley, who joins the three-time club after also picking up nominations in 2015 and 2016.
Shockley hit .564 with 44 RBIs, 14 home runs, five doubles and five triples, and in the pitcher's circle went 16-5 with a 0.39 ERA and 226 strikeouts. That performance helped the Bulldogs win a Class 1 state championship in the fall.
Other repeat finalists in softball include Kennett's Hannah Criswell, Notre Dame's Madison Landeros and Poplar Bluff's Shelby Sievers.
Baseball features a pair of returning finalists, with another circling back around.
Bell City's Cole Nichols is once again among the 10 nominees on the baseball diamond, alongside Scott City's Braden Cox.
Nichols' teammate, Austin Hicks, will make a return to the even after being nominated two years ago in 2015.
Nichols -- with .449 batting average, 48 runs scored, 1.301 on-base + slugging percentage and a 2.63 ERA on the mound -- and Hicks -- 11-1 as a hitter with a 0.83 ERA and 116 Ks in 75 2/3 innings -- lifted a Class 1 state championship trophy for a third consecutive season.
Cox hit .532 with 11 doubles for the Rams and went 7-1 on the hill with a 2.29 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 52 innings.
The rest of the group will be first-timers, including Greenville's Trey McDaniel and a pair of Poplar Bluff standouts, Ronin Rice and Tyson Cox.
Girls soccer will feature two returning nominees in Notre Dame's Megan Heisserer and Poplar Bluff's Shelbey Johnson, along with newcomers Lauren Welker of Jackson, Abby Wilson of Notre Dame and Faith Kapp of St. Vincent.
Heisserer and Wilson helped lead the Bulldogs to their first ever Class 2 state championship, with the former scoring 32 goals with 15 assists while the latter helped the defense nearly set a school record in goals allowed per game.
Johnson re-set her own school record, scoring 35 goals in just 18 games.
Boys track won't feature a single veteran finalist, but will feature four state champions -- Caruthersville's George Qualls (also a finalist for football offense), Charleston's Q'nairies Anderson, Hayti's Dante Lewis and Woodland's Bruester Young.
Sikeston's Antravia Green is back among girls track and field standouts, but the group also features three underclassmen, including a pair of freshman, Notre Dame's Riley Burger and East Prairie's Makenzie Williams.
The golf grouping offers a reminder that the category is not just for boys, as state medalist Sarah Bell and Allison Bray, both of girls team state champion Notre Dame, join returning finalist Nathan Woolard of Poplar Bluff and a pair of other guys to vie for top honors on the links.
In the three-year history of the Semoball Awards, only one other female has made the shortlist, and that was Bell in 2015.
In boys tennis, 2016 Semoball Awards Player of the Year Humza Siddiqui, of Poplar Bluff, is back to try to defend his crown, while Zach Potts of Dexter finds himself among the final five again.
All sport finalists are in the running for Male and Female Athlete of the Year honors.
Four championship-winning coaches -- Van Buren softball's Jack Childress, Oran boys basketball's Joe Shoemaker, Bell City baseball's Justin Simpher and Notre Dame girls soccer's Ryan Schweain -- will face off for Coach of the Year honors, as will Poplar Bluff's Steven Edwards after Mules baseball had an unprecedented season.
Simpher was a COY candidate a year ago as well.
The sportsmanship award will turn the spotlight on three teams. While last year's finalists were all individuals, this time around it's Van Buren boys basketball, Cape Girardeau Central football and Malden softball who are in the running after offer group acts of sportsmanship. Go to semoball.com/awards to read more on their stories.
Jackson senior Bryce Dickerson is the first ever two-time finalist for the Comeback Player of the Year award, after again having to overcome a serious leg injury to qualify for state in wrestling. He is also a wrestling finalist.
Perryville's Dru Hemmann, Notre Dame's Layne Robinson, Poplar Bluff's Savannah Hicks and Poplar Bluff's Logan Bell all offer inspiring stories as well.
The event's keynote speaker will be former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop and World Series MVP David Eckstein.
Tickets are on sale online at semoball.com/awards, where you can also go to see a full list of all the finalists for 2017 honors or get more information, including the winners and nominees from the previous three years.
In honor of Chronister, attendees can use the promo code LIFETIME17 when ordering online to receive $10 off a general admission ticket.
A special Father's Day promotion is also in affect through June 19 -- use DAD17 to receive $25 off a VIP ticket.
The Semoball Awards are brought to you by presenting sponsor SoutheastHEALTH, official bank sponsor First Midwest Bank and title sponsors Athlon Sports, the St. Louis Cardinals, SEMO ESPN Radio, rustmedia and your local newspaper.
BASEBALL
Austin Hicks (Bell City, Sr.)
Cole Nichols (Bell City, Sr.)
Trey McDaniel (Greenville, Sr.)
Ronin Rice (Poplar Bluff, Sr.)
Tyson Cox (Poplar Bluff, Jr.)
Ian Torrey (Portagevile, Jr.)
Braden Cox (Scott City, Sr.)
Riley Cain (South Pemiscot, Sr.)
Spencer Burnham (Van Buren, Sr.)
Trey Smith (Sikeston, Sr.)
SOFTBALL
Kylie Lane (Cape Girardeau Central, Jr.)
Alyssa Moore (Kelly, Jr.)
Hannah Criswell (Kennett, Sr.)
Madison Landeros (Notre Dame, Jr.)
Abby Rollet (Notre Dame, Sr.)
Shelby Sievers (Poplar Bluff, Jr.)
Gracie King (Poplar Bluff, Sr.)
Jamie Glastetter (Scott City, Sr.)
Summer Shockley (Van Buren, Sr.)
Jenny Morey (Van Buren, Jr.)
GIRLS SOCCER
Lauren Welker (Jackson, Jr.)
Megan Heisserer (Notre Dame, So.)
Abby Wilson (Notre Dame, So.)
Shelbey Johnson (Poplar Bluff, Jr.)
Faith Kapp (St. Vincent, Sr.)
GOLF
Peyton Bell (Bloomfield, Jr.)
Jonathan Bell (Notre Dame, Sr.)
Nathan Woolard (Poplar Bluff, Jr.)
Sarah Bell (Notre Dame, Jr.)
Allison Bray (Notre Dame, Jr.)
BOYS TENNIS
Zach Potts (Dexter, Sr.)
Collin Smith (Notre Dame, Sr.)
Humza Siddiqui (Poplar Bluff, Sr.)
Trenton Nepean (Poplar Bluff, Sr.)
Brett Johnson (Sikeston, Jr.)
GIRLS TRACK & FIELD
Makenzie Williams (East Prairie, Fr.)
Tebrya Benford (Malden, So.)
Riley Burger (Notre Dame, Fr.)
Claire Morrill (Notre Dame, Jr.)
Antravia Green (Sikeston, Sr.)
BOYS TRACK & FIELD
George Qualls (Caruthersville, Sr.)
Q'nairies Anderson (Charleston, So.)
Dante Lewis (Hayti, Sr.)
Isaiah Johnson (Poplar Bluff, So.)
Bruester Young (Woodland, Sr.)
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Van Buren boys basketball
Cape Girardeau Central football
Malden softball
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryce Dickerson (Jackson, Sr.)
Dru Hemmann (Perryville, Fr.)
Layne Robinson (Notre Dame, So.)
Savannah Hicks (Poplar Bluff, Fr.)
Logan Bell (Poplar Bluff, Jr.)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jack Childress (Van Buren softball)
Joe Shoemaker (Oran boys basketball)
Justin Simpher (Bell City baseball)
Steven Edwards (Poplar Bluff baseball/boys soccer)
Ryan Schweain (Notre Dame girls soccer)