Category: History

Payton DeHart, Nixa Eagles (2014)

Payton DeHart Sets Nixa Scoring Records

Payton DeHart, Nixa Eagles (2014)
Payton DeHart, Nixa Eagles (2014)
Congratulations to Payton DeHart, who established new career scoring records for the Nixa Eagles with her two goals in Tuesday’s Sectional game win against Kickapoo.

Payton now has 75 goals and 44 assists for 194 points, all career records at Nixa. She passed Jessie Yach (04-07) who had 73 goals, 31 assists and 177 points.

Payton will continue her soccer career for the Tusculum Pioneers, an NCAA Division II program in Greeneville, Tennessee. Payton has been named 1st team all conference three consecutive seasons (2011-13), and in 2013 was 1st Team All State, Team and District Offensive MVP as well as Southwest Player of the Year.

She plays Club with the Springfield Soccer Club Team. She’s pictured below in an advertisement I made for the 2012 State Cup held in Springfield that Summer.

StateCup-SGF

Camdenton Lady Lakers class of 2014

Whitney Snow Sets Missouri Soccer Scoring Record

Camdenton Lady Lakers class of 2014
Whitney Snow scores on header in final home game, 18 May 2014

Senior Whitney Snow of the Camdenton Lakers made her final game a memorable one. In the Class 3 District 10 semifinal, Snow scored on a corner kick early in the first half to tie the game at Waynesville. It would be the only goal for the Lakers who were eliminated in a hard fought match with a controversial game-winner. As noted by the story in the Waynesville Guide

It was announced that Snow’s goal gave her 143 points on the season, which is a new state record. The previous record was 142. Snow scored 59 goals (players receive two points per goal) and 25 assists this season.

[table]
Total Points (2x goals + assists)
Name, School, Year, Gr, Goal, Assist, TP
Whitney Snow, Camdenton, 2014, Sr, 59, 25, 143
Whitney Smith, Platte County, 2010, Sr, 65, 12, 142
Michaella Fulmer, O’Hara, 2005, So, 60, 7, 127
Bethany Coons, Union, 2012, Fr, 55, 13, 123
Kaylee Smith, Platte County, 2008, Jr, 41, 35, 117
[/table]

Missouri High School Girls Soccer Records

Whitney Snow, Missouri Elite FCWhitney has signed to play at Southwest Baptist University where she’ll trade the purple of the Lakers for the purple of the Bearcats. The signing announcement summarized her career well:

Whitney comes to SBU after a very successful high school and club career where she will be a 3-Time All-State Player in Missouri. Considered one of the best players ever to come out of Camdenton and coached by one of the state’s most respected coaches in JD Hunter, Whitney will be a 3-Time All-State Player, 2-Time Conference- Co-Offensive Player of the Year, 3 Time All-Conference Performer, 3-Time All-Central Missouri Performer, 2-Time All-District Player of the Year, and numerous other honors. “SBU is a good Christian school with excellent academics and a very good and improving soccer program,” said Whitney. Whitney will major in Education with plans on being certified in both Missouri and New York as a teacher.

Whitney played club soccer with Missouri Elite FC out of Springfield, Missouri.

On a related note, Head Coach JD Hunter of the Camdenton Lakers has announced his retirement after 17 years leading the girls program. He’s pictured below with his final senior class. Well done Coach and enjoy all that free time!

Camdenton Lady Lakers class of 2014
Head Coach JD Hunter with seniors #17 Danica Brewer, Grace Scheidemantle #24, Kareli Macias #16, Whitney Snow and Morgan Henry

Tommy Tombridge Faces Leo Messi Tonight at 6pm

tommy tombridge northwesternTommy Tombridge, Northwestern 2013/Kickapoo 2009, will be in goal tonight representing “the rest of the world” in the live broadcast of Leo Messi and Friends from Soldier Field in Chicago.

Game time is 6:00 pm and it will be broadcast live on ESPN

Via the Chicago Business Journal – The list of international soccer stars who will play in the Messi & Friends vs. the Rest of the World soccer game at Soldier Field on July 6 has changed just days before the event and will also feature former Northwestern University soccer players, event organizers said. That includes former Chaminade/Northwestern player David Roth.

UPDATED – a more recent story provides the list of players (see below) which includes #1, Tommy Tombridge, goalkeeper!

The announcement comes after a Messi & Friends match scheduled for tonight in Los Angeles was canceled yesterday “due to irreconcilable issues with the local promoter.” The Chicago game, however, is being staged separately by Miami-based event company Numero 5 and is still scheduled to take place.

“I am happy that this upcoming event is coming together, and am glad I can be a part of it,” Lionel Messi said in a statement.

A press conference featuring Mr. Messi and other select players is scheduled for Friday night. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday at Soldier Field. It’s also scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN. Read more.

david-roth-tommy-tombridge-leo-messiAs his Head Coach at Northwestern, Tim Lenahan noted on Tommy’s Facebook profile – What makes this story great is that Tommy will probably playing in his last game as he just committed to becoming a Pilot and officer in the US Air Force which is a 10 year commitment. Great way to go out!

UPDATE – Tommy, in goal for Leo Messi’s side, was part of the ESPN Top Ten Saturday, earning the #1 spot, as his former teammate buried a bicycle.

I’ve got dozens of shots of Tommy through the years but this is the one I used to illustrate his College Recruitment story, from the Region II tournament semifinal in 2007 against the Michigan Wolves. Good luck as you pursue your next challenge Tommy, the Air Force made a good choice. There are almost 600 photos in a Flickr set of the two year run the boys had earning State titles.

Tommy Tombridge, Springfield SC
Tommy with save against MI Wolves, 2007 Region II semifinal
Jack Jewsbury, April 2008

Diversity Carries “Captain Jack” to Stability in MLS

Jack Jewsbury, April 2008
Jack Jewsbury, April 2008
Anyone who saw Jack Jewsbury score goals during his high school and collegiate career would have laughed at the idea of the prolific finisher having a decade-plus long career in Major League Soccer as a defender.

But that’s exactly what has developed for the versatile Springfield Kickapoo (’99) and St. Louis University (’99-’02) product.

During his time at Kickapoo Jewsbury gained lots of attention by putting up scoring records for both season (59 his senior year) and career (124) that were among the best in the state.

Jack Jewsbury, SLU Billikens
Jack Jewsbury, SLU Billikens
He was a key part of the SLU offense playing as a forward for the first three years of his time there. It wasn’t until mid-way through his senior year, as the team struggled to score and attack, that he was dropped back into more of an attacking midfielder role. He graduated from SLU tied for 10th all-time on the school’s career scoring list with 101 points.

But a chance encounter during the MLS combine that winter ended up changing the course of Jewsbury’s professional career forever.

When he showed up for the MLS combine, still with an offense-first mind about him, there was a spot on his team for a defensive midfielder, even though he had never played the position he decided to give it a shot.

“My options were to start as a defender and be guaranteed playing time or to take the chance of sitting the bench and waiting to get my time to play.”

The then coaching staff of the Kansas City Wizards were in charge of is combine squad and quickly took notice that Jewsbury had ability to play defense at the next level. “It is funny how it all changed over a month. I went from being a forward to attacking mid, to a holding midfielder so they drafted me in that position.”

Continue reading “Diversity Carries “Captain Jack” to Stability in MLS” →

Miriam Taylor, Camdenton Lakers (2013)

Miriam Taylor Sets Records for Camdenton Soccer

Miriam Taylor, Camdenton Lakers (2013)
Miriam Taylor, Camdenton Lakers (2013)
Senior captain Miriam Taylor was featured in the Lake News for a recent record set for Camdenton. She has scored 20 or more goals in all four of her years representing the Lakers.

After the team played in the Moberly Tournament this past weekend, in which they defeated Kirksville 6-1 and tied with Moberly in a 3-3 contest, the Lady Lakers took on West Plains on Tuesday night in an Ozark Conference battle.

Camdenton won the contest 10-0 to improve to 7-4-1 on the season. Taylor scored three goals on the night, which put her at 20 on the season, clenching that record. When Coach J.D. Hunter informed her of her accomplishment, Taylor’s reply was simple.

“I couldn’t have done it without the team.”

The 20 goals extends the Career Scoring mark for the school that she already held. As Coach JD Hunter noted in a Facebook post at the beginning of April, she set the Career Assist mark of 45 in the game against Hillcrest.

First, Senior forward Miriam Taylor had two assists on the night which gives her 45 assists in her career. This makes Miriam Camdenton’s top career assist leader (to go along with her 78 career goals whic his also a Camdenton record). Great job, Miriam. She told me tonight that she’s even more excited about the assist record than she is about the goal scoring record.

While the Lady Laker’s record book is not current, it’s easy to see that it will be rewritten by the time the season ends.

Miriam will be taking her scoring prowess to Lewis & Clark CC in the Fall. She’ll be joined there in 2014 by Nicole Howard of Rolla, which should strike some fear into more than a few defensive lines down the road.