Changes are coming for MSHSAA and OVC events

Watching the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament will require a longer road trip, and seeing the state high school basketball tournaments for teams in Class 1, 2 or 3 might require a little extra shuffling, too.

First, for the decision that is set in stone: The OVC recently voted to relocate its postseason tournament from Paducah, Ky., to Pringles Park, home of the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in Jackson, Tenn. Pringles Park will host the tournament for at least three years starting in 2010; next year's tournament will be May 26-30.

And a decision being debated but not voted on (yet): The MSHSAA Board of Directors has asked for further study of an idea that would use two facilities for first-day games in the Class 1, 2 and 3 state high school basketball championships, saying the move would be "more advantageous" for the athletes involved.

The plan would help balance the schedule through the first day of the event, altering the existing schedule that calls for more than 12 hours of nonstop basketball at Mizzou Arena. The proposal being considered would use both Mizzou Arena and Hearnes Center for the first day of games.

With that idea still up in the air until a later vote, the association did approve a plan that would keep the championship events for wrestling and basketball on the Mizzou campus for at least the next four years, while track and field state championships will stay in Jefferson City for at least the next two years.

The area's best sports program? The numbers say Notre Dame

For the second year in a row, the numbers point to Notre Dame as the best athletic program out of more than 80 in Southeast Missouri.

Notre Dame finished with 36 points in the annual SemoSportsWeb.com all-sports standings, 14.5 points ahead of runnerup Herculaneum. St. Vincent finished third, Festus fourth and Farmington, Sikeston and Valle in a tie for fifth.

Notre Dame clinched the No. 1 spot on the list when the school won the Class 3 state baseball championship.

Fifty-two of the region's 83 high schools earned points in the list, which awards points based on postseason success in each of the state's athletic competitions (10 points for a state title, 8 for second place, and so on). Click here to see the full list of all 52 schools and their ranking.

The list (at least the top two) is identical to last year, when Notre Dame won with 39 points and Herculaneum finished second with 22 (a 17-point edge). This year, Notre Dame finished with 36 points, and Herculaneum had 22.5.