Imagine a day when the state cross country meet isn’t held at the Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City.
Though the event is unlikely to move because of its history and central location, the Missouri State High School Activities Association is accepting proposals from venues and cities to host state championships from 2018 through 2023 for track and field, football and wrestling and for 2019 through 2024 for cross country and volleyball.
Proposal packets will be available on Oct. 16. The MSHSAA board of directors could consider the proposals at its meeting on Nov. 29.
Oak Hills is the longest-running state championship venue, having hosted the state cross country meet since 1976.
“It would have to be a pretty good proposal for cross country to move,” said Jason West, a spokesman for the state association. “The last time (2011) we did proposals for cross country, we received bids from Jefferson City, Springfield and Joplin and the proposal from Joplin monetary-wise was the better proposal. The board also considered travel costs and number of schools that would have to increase their travel.”
What makes cross country and track and field different among high team sports is that far more schools participate than, say, in football, soccer or baseball. The competition involves boys and girls simultaneously and, by the time the state meets are held, many schools send only one or two participants.
“The board looks at centralized locations for those sports,” West said.
No team has had more success in cross country in this decade than the boys at Festus, the three-time defending Class 3 state champions and have won four of the last five titles. You’d think head coach Bryant Wright would do just about anything to keep the Tigers running in the state capital.
Not so, says Bryant.
“The only problem with the history is the course has changed so many times over the years,” Wright said. “I wouldn’t want it to change but I see (Oak Hills) and how difficult it is for us, and look at other states and their courses and it’s hard to compare times.
“The big thing is Jeff City knows how to run the meet. There are other good courses set up but Jeff City does a good job of handling all the people. I don’t think the central location should be a big deal because the other sports don’t have that.”
Crystal City boys and girls head coach Ken Jones ran for Bourbon High at Oak Hills more than 20 years ago and takes his Hornet qualifiers there every year. Jones said he’s old-fashioned and doesn’t like major changes.
Like Wright, Jones has had a lot of success at Oak Hills with the Hornet girls in the last four years. The Hornets won the Class 1 state title in 2015 and haven’t finished lower than sixth since 2013.
“I remember that bus ride (for Bourbon),” Jones said. “It’s got a lot of tradition. The last five years our (girls) teams have been successful up there.”
However, the state cross country meet might be outgrowing Jefferson City. To avoid the congestion of so many teams and athletes for the state meet, Wright annually has the Tigers stay in Columbia, but they’re staying in Fulton this year because motel rooms were cheaper. Jones said despite calling hotels to rent rooms in Jefferson City in April, he couldn’t find any, so the Hornets will bed down in Fulton, too.
“Over the last several years, if you’re not calling 10 months in advance, you’re not getting a room,” Jones said.
West said for every coach who would like to see cross country moved, there’s two more who want it to stay put.
“Those are the programs that have that established a routine of where they eat and have special rewards built in because they know where they’re at,” West said.
State wrestlers have been competing on the University of Missouri campus since 1973. The Hearnes Center held the competition from that year until 2006, when the state’s best wrestlers jogged across the parking lot to the Mizzou Arena.
Mizzou has also been the site for the boys and girls basketball championships since 1992, but the state competition for that sport will be played at JQH Arena on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield in 2018.
Lincoln University’s Dwight T. Reed Stadium had been the site of the state track and field championships for more than two decades before it jumped across Lafayette Street two years ago to Adkins Stadium at Jefferson City High.
West said the last two years at Adkins has been a feeling-out process for athletes, coaches and fans.
“I think everyone’s OK with (Adkins),” West said. “We lose that everything is within the track concept at Lincoln. We got a few (request for proposals) from the Kansas City area, and Staley put together a nice proposal but the recommendation was to stay at Adkins.
“The best thing about Lincoln is everyone sits in the main stadium and most everyone could see all of the events. Now that we have javelin, I don’t see us finding one venue where everything fits.”
The Edward Jones Dome had held the football championships since 1997 until splitting the classes apart and leaving St. Louis last fall. Class 6 and the eight-man championships were at Faurot Field in Columbia and Classes 1-5 were played at Plaster Stadium in Springfield.
West said Joplin has hinted that it would like to host the Class 2 and Class 4 football championships because of its proximity to Webb City and Lamar. Lamar has won the last six Class 2 titles and Webb City won five straight Class 4 crowns between 2010-2014. West added that there was serious discussion two years ago to move the eight-man final to the northwest corner of the state.
“Do you want it in a big venue like Faurot Field and have those amenities or would you like to have a more intimate setting like at Plaster Stadium or (Southeast Missouri State University) where the crowds are going to be the same as they were in the dome but have a much bigger feel because there’s not wide-open spaces?” West said.
“From our end, the best part of playing at the dome, while it wasn’t inclusive for the crowd, it did get loud pretty easily. Logistics-wise (Edward Jones Dome) was good because of the space in the lower bowl. Most stadiums aren’t equipped to host eight teams in one day or have enough media work space. We may have six radio broadcasts of the same game. Most colleges aren’t equipped for that.”
I think the best place to host the state football series of games would be Hunter Stadium at Lindenwood University in St. Charles. The stadium can hold about 5,000 fans and is modern enough to meet the needs of media and the participating schools. It would provide an intimate setting for the games, with plenty of hotels and restaurants with a couple miles of the campus.
I asked Scott Tate, the CEO and president of the Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce, on Facebook how many hotel rooms St. Charles and the rest of the county could offer such a large event. Tate’s response was there are 1,800 rooms in St. Charles city and another 2,000 in the county.
MSHSAA has conducted informal economic impact studies for host sites for its state events. Hotel stays are one way to measure how much money is generated.
“The feedback we get back from the host communities is positive,” West said.