A new champion emerges for the annual All-Sports Award

A private school has again won Southeast Missouri's All-Sports Award for high school athletic programs, but for the first time it wasn't Notre Dame.

Valle Catholic won the annual competition among high schools in a 23-county area in convincing style — state championships in football, volleyball and track helped the school overtake 47 other local high schools that earned points in MSHSAA postseason events.

The annual award is tabulated by SemoSportsWeb using a system that awards teams points based on playoff performance. A team championship is worth 10 points, with eight points for second place and so on. Events used in the standings are baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.

It's the first time Valle Catholic has won the title since it began in the 2007-'08 school year. Notre Dame has won the past three awards.

Valle's 37 total postseason points bettered runnerup Notre Dame, which had 25 points. Festus was the highest-finishing public school in third with 20.5 points, Herculaneum was fourth with 20, and Farmington was fifth with 19. Click here for the full list of schools and final points.