By the time the Festus girls track and field team was hoisting its second consecutive Class 4 state track and field championship trophy on the evening of May 30 in Jefferson City, the 2025-2026 school year for county sports officially ended.
The Tigers literally left the other 60 schools who sent athletes in the dust after winning three events and placing in 11 of 19. And with their top-scoring athlete – Jah’Meshia Patterson – returning for her senior year, it’s not too early to whisper, “three-peat.” The mercurial Patterson is capable of attacking the state record books in the 100-meter hurdles, but she has work to do. She won state in it in 14.20 seconds, and said her goal next spring is to be under 14. Skyye Lee set the record of 13.34 for Parkway Central in 2024.
When we reconvene for the 2026-2027 school year, Festus will attempt a three-peat in girls cross country. Lucy Boyer, Kyndall Gildea, Bailee Tolbert, Marisa Peter and Kendall Counts were on last year’s state championship squad, and if they all return, the Tigers will again be the team to beat.
Wes Armbruster is the head coach of both state champion girls teams at Festus, so he’ll be going for his fifth in a row. That’s about as incredible as Bryant Wright winning eight state crowns in a row (2014-2021) for the Festus boys cross country team. Wright has retired, and Armbruster is the new head coach for the Tiger boys. I’d imagine replacing Wright, even with the success Armbruster is enjoying with the girls, will be closely watched by the entire running community.
The same day the Festus girls won and the Tiger boys finished tied for fourth, the school’s baseball team was in St. Louis trying to stay alive against Chaminade in the Class 5 state quarterfinals. All spring I’ve been making a big deal about the stellar lefthanded pitching in the county, and those pitchers made those remarks stand up. But as often happens in the playoffs, runs are at a premium because the teams that are left all have those types of arms. The Red Devils scored 14 runs in the seventh inning in game two and knocked the Tigers to the offseason.
Like track and field, wrestling and cross country, I’d stack our baseball teams, athletes and coaches against anyone. I broke into this business covering three of the best high school baseball coaches in Hall of Famers Tony Perkins at Francis Howell, Bob Dunahue at Francis Howell North and Charlie Meeker at St. Charles. I watched all three of those coaches lead their teams to state in the 1990s when it was at Mizzou. I was there when Joplin’s Josh Tupper threw the only no-hitter in state final history to beat Dunahue’s Knights. That led to Dunahue saying, “(Tupper) could have thrown a raw pork chop past a hungry wolf at dawn.” Still my favorite quote of all time.
I couldn’t imagine Jeff Montgomery saying something like that if Festus fell victim to a no-hitter in a state final, but that doesn’t mean Montgomery doesn’t appreciate dominating performances by his opponents. The Tigers have been swept in the best-of-3 quarterfinals the last two years by the pitching-rich blue bloods from Vianney and Chaminade. Festus loses lefthanded pitchers Jackson Smith and Cale Schaumburg to graduation, but there are more southpaws in the pipeline. I don’t see pitching becoming a problem for Montgomery, who has given no signs he’s ready to step aside after three decades with the program. Montgomery reminds me more of Perkins than anyone in how loyal and how much they love what they do where they do it.
Along with Armbruster and the Festus girls chasing history, there’s plenty to look forward to when the next school year begins. Hillsboro, Festus and St. Pius X have represented the county in the football Show-Me Bowl the last three years. Will the county send a team for a fourth year in a row? The Lancers certainly appear capable of making the five-hour drive to St. Joseph given the return of the only 3,000-yard rusher in county history, Cody Shaver. Remember, Shaver did that with a broken thumb.
Staying at St. Pius, the school’s girls volleyball team will attempt to return to St. Joseph as well for a third straight state final appearance. After winning the Class 4 state crown in 2024 under head coach Shannon Leftridge, the Lancers were second last year under Terese Ruble. Now Deb Nicollerat takes the reins, and her first win as the St. Pius coach be will the 500th of her long career. Some generational talent has played on the last two Lancer finalists, but despite the coaching turnover, the program’s success stretches back far enough to believe there’s more to come.
That wraps up my 10th year as the sports editor at the Leader. Of the four people who interviewed and hired me, only publisher, Peggy Scott, hasn’t retired. Given that I’m 60 and getting closer, I’ll admit that watching them leave to enjoy their just reward for a lifetime’s work has made me envious at times. But I’m not willing to trade in my last few years in the workforce to make the time go faster. It already goes fast enough at this age.
I can’t say how much longer I’ll be the sports editor here. Some of that is because of my health. Some of that has to do with my desire. And a lot of it, like the past 30-plus years, has to do with my performance. The last thing I worry about is AI replacing me. Until Elon Musk invents a robot who can chase highly-trained teenage athletes around for eight or nine hours, then write several thousand words about it, I might have one of the last professions safe from being retired by microchips.
Have a great summer.