Jesse Helms of Hillsboro broke into the top 10 during the stroke play portion of last week’s Missouri Amateur Championship golf tournament at Boone Valley Golf Club. A former all-state player at Hillsboro High and a college standout at Truman State, Helms shot 75-76 – 151 to tie for eight during the 36-hole stroke play positioning rounds at last week’s men’s amateur. Helms, who now lives in Kansas City, was knocked out of the tournament in the first round of match play. He lost to red-hot Poplar Bluff High golf whiz Carr Vernon 3 and 1 in the round of 64. Vernon, 17, won three times in match play before being knocked out in the tournament quarterfinals.
Bob Hanneken of Fenton also qualified for the match play part of the state amateur. Hanneken shot 80-81 – 161 and came out of stroke play tied for 52nd. He fell to Tom Barry of St. Louis 3 and 2 in the first round of match play.
Not quite making the match play cut at last week’s state amateur were Jeremy Schwob of Fenton and Chris Collins of Imperial. Schwob carded a terrific 77 in the first round, but an 89 in the second round pushed him four strokes beyond the cut for the 64-player match play field. Collins shot 88-86 – 174.
SPECIAL THANKS: Incoming St. Pius athletics director Kevin Halley was gracious in describing the help longtime coach and AD Barb Charboneau provided in the last year as the two prepared to change positions in 2011-12. "Having her around is probably one of the greatest things that’s happened for me," Halley said. Charboneau will move to assistant AD, while Halley moves into the AD job.
STATE HONORS: A long list of St. Pius X kickers collected all-state notice when the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association passed out its season-ending honors. The Lancers, who went 24-2, had six players on the all-state list, including three first-teamers. Selected to the Class 1 first team were senior defender Kortney Lauders, sophomore forward Caroline Basler and freshman midfielder Haylee Eastridge. Melissa Collins, a senior defender, was on the second team, and sophomores Holly Magre, a goalie, and Ashley Marks, a forward, earned honorable mention. ...
Courtney Young from Fenton was named the Class 2 Offensive Player of the Year for helping Visitation repeat as state champ. Young is a senior. … In Class 3, another Fenton player, senior Andrea Strebler of Ursuline and junior Jessica Smugala of Seckman were second-team selections, and in Class 2 De Soto junior Kinsley Fitzpatrick was a second-team pick.
COLLEGE PLANS: A pair of Hillsboro High athletes recently settled their college plans Ryan Bubulka signed a letter of intent to join the football program at Upper Iowa University, while Alex Vining-Farris commited to the soccer program at St. Charles Community College.
FORE! Alli Abbas of Festus won the fifth annual Parker Decker Summer kickoff Golf Tournament at Joachim Golf Club last week. Abbas, who will be a junior in the fall at Festus, carded a 40 to win the event. The leaders in each age group: ages 15-18 – Abbas, Tyler Stratton, Chris Sheeran, Tyler Schnurbusch, Johnathan Price; ages 12-14 – Ethan Koch, John Tierney, Jerry Payne, Chase Richardet, Samuel Bowman; ages 9-11 – Claire Shadowens, Owen Johnson, Jordan Mouser, Seth Bowman, Kaleb Rhyneer. Long drive honors went to Sheeran in the 15-18 age group, Richardet in the 12-14 age group and Johnson in the 9-11 age group. … Steve King oversaw the tournament, which is held in memory the late Parker Decker, a long-time area youth sports booster.
MORE FORE! Lindsey Eisenreich of Rockwood Summit teed it up for Team Missouri at this week’s junior girls Four State Championship at Beatrice Country Club in Beatrice, Neb. Eisenreich, who will be a senior in the fall, was a member of the four-girl team representing Missouri in the annual event. Eisenreich earned her place on the Missouri squad by finishing third in the recent Missouri Women’s Golf Association Junior Championships.
LEGION ALL-TIMERS: Festus Post 253 coach Pat Bone was talking about the doors former Festus ace Matt Stites has forced open as a standout pitcher with Festus High, the Festus legion, Jefferson College and Mizzou. Stites, a hard-throwing 5-foot-11 right-hander, will go down as one of the most talented players ever produced in the area. "He was definitely the most dominating player we ever had," Bone said. "Sometimes it wasn’t fair what he did to other teams." ... The winner of the American Legion’s Bob Feller Award as the national pitcher of the year in 2009, Stites recently signed with San Diego after being picked in the 17th round of the first-year player draft. He was assigned to the Padres’ Eugene Emeralds rookie league team in the Northwest League. ... Bone has had a lineup of all-stars in 20 seasons heading the legion program at Festus. ...
If Stites is the most dominating pitcher, who would Bone put in the No. 2 spot? How about Drew Horell, the ace of the 1996 team? "He was incredible in 1996," Bone said. "He didn’t have overpowering stuff, but he willed himself to win."
