From across Southeast Missouri, people descended upon Cape Girardeau on Saturday night for the region's premier sports awards show.
Student-athletes from 57 area high schools were on hand for the Fourth Annual Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, as awards were handed out in 25 sports categories.
A handful of local athletes received awards in the individual categories.
For the second consecutive year, Poplar Bluff's Humza Siddiqui was tabbed as the Blattner Endodontic Care Boys Tennis Athlete of the Year. The senior was 13-2 in doubles and advanced to a Class 2 sectional in singles, as he finished with an 18-3 record.
"I think last year, and this year both, I wasn't expecting it at all," Siddiqui said. "So hearing my name is a huge relief."
Poplar Bluff's Taylor Norwood earned a second straight award for Girls Swimming Athlete of the Year. Norwood was the Show-Me Conference MVP, as she won the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke and was part of two relay-winning teams. The junior qualified for state in seven individual events but due to state rules could only compete in two. She was eighth at state in the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
"It was amazing," Norwood said. "I'm so thankful to even be there [with] the group of girls I was with. It's just an awesome atmosphere."
Greenville's Trey McDaniel was lights out on the mound en route to being named the National Scouting Report Baseball Athlete of the Year. The Southern Illinois signee compiled a 0.46 ERA with 202 strikeouts and just 10 walks in 85 1/3 innings. When he wasn't pitching, McDaniel was the Bears' shortstop and batted .577 with 15 doubles, four triples and five home runs to go along with 42 RBIs.
"It means everything to me," McDaniel said. "I've been putting a lot of work in, a lot of hard work, and I'm kind of speechless. I wasn't expecting it, this being my first time coming. It's quite an honor."
Summer Shockley won a Class 1 state championship with Van Buren in the fall and in the process took home the top honor as Crader Distributing and your local STIHL dealers Softball Athlete of the Year. She helped lead the Bulldogs to a state title, throwing consecutive no-hitters in the sectional and quarterfinal, two of her four no-hitters. She earned the win in the semifinal, giving up one run and striking out 11, and also got the victory in the championship game.
On the season, Shockley was 16-5 on the mound with a 0.39 ERA and 226 strikeouts to 50 walks. She batted .564 with 44 RBIs and 35 runs and earned Class 1 first-team all-state honors.
"Very nerve-wracking definitely watching the videos," Shockley said. "A lot of hard work paid for definitely through my four years of high school. I worked overtime, a lot of overtime, a lot of weekends, so definitely worth it.
A finalist for the second straight year, this time Krysten Garrison took home the honor of My Daddy's Cheesecake Volleyball Athlete of the Year. The Dexter junior had an area-high 506 kills and a .415 hitting percentage. She complemented those numbers with 242 digs, 99 blocks, 61 assists and 32 aces. Garrison, who won't play for Dexter in the fall due to an ACL injury, has verbally committed to New Mexico State.
"I'm pretty excited," Garrison said. "It's a really big honor, especially being a junior and I actually tore my ACL so I won't be playing next year, so I'm really happy to get it this year."
Scott City's Braden Cox and Kennett's Heidi Shetley received the top individual honors, capping an eventful night.
Cox was named the Male Athlete of the Year presented by SoutheastHEALTH. He was a finalist in two categories -- football offense and baseball. Cox rushed for 2,432 yards and 35 touchdowns and was a Carr Trophy finalist. In the spring, he batted .532 with 28 RBIs and 32 runs and went 7-1 on the mound with a 2.29 ERA, earning a Class 3 first-team all-state selection. He struck out 78 batters and issued just 17 walks. He will play baseball at Jefferson College.
"Probably one of the happiest moments of my life right now," an emotional Cox said. "I'm not even kidding. I did not expect that at all. It's all the hard work, really."
Shetley earned Female Athlete of the Year presented by SoutheastHEALTH, one of two honors she garnered. She was also named the First Midwest Bank Female Scholar Athlete, making her the only participant to take home two wins on Saturday.
Shetley was a two-sport finalist, earning the nod in girls tennis and basketball. In tennis, the senior was part of a second-place doubles team at state, going 26-4 in doubles and 9-1 in singles play as the Indians won a 10th consecutive district title. She averaged a double-double on the hardwood with 15 points and 10 rebounds per game, along with three steals, and shot 51 percent from the field. In the process, Shetley earned all-state Class 3 honors.
Throughout her high school career, the Indian standout has amassed five total sporting nominations in addition to scholar-athlete recognition.
"This is definitely go out on a good note for my senior year," Shetley said. Next year, I'll be going off to college. This has definitely been the year. ... I'm speechless."
Longtime Poplar Bluff girls basketball coach Kirk Chronister earned the Lifetime Achievement award. Chronister has 772 career wins, a state record for girls basketball coaches, and a .730 winning percentage. That includes 63 playoff victories and 20 seasons with 20-plus wins. His teams won 14 district titles and made six final four appearances, including one second-place and two third-place finishes. Chronister retired this past season after two seasons at Doniphan. He previously coached the Mules for 39 seasons.
During his acceptance speech, Chronister asked his 93-year-old father to stand. His dad then received a standing ovation.
"He was my scorekeeper for many years," Chronister said. Other than myself, he's seen more Poplar Bluff and Doniphan basketball games than anybody."
A heart-warming gesture during a junior varsity game against a rival earned the Van Buren boys basketball team the Athlon Sports Best in Sportsmanship award. In the final minute of a December game, the Bulldogs inbounded the ball to East Carter freshman Jacob Rogney and allowed him to score. Rogney has a learning disability after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. As Rogney gathered the ball and put it through the hoop, players and fans from both teams chanted his name.
"We've always kind of been a character first," Van Buren coach Adam Epps said. "As a coaching staff that's always what we've kind of preached, and these guys are the ones who go out there and do it. It's really special for our program to get recognized for this.
"They do a lot of other stuff that should be recognized, as well too, but I'm just proud of our program, proud of our guys most of all."
Bloomfield once again takes home the Rust Media Best Fans award, beating out second-place St. Vincent. Bloomfield took 80 percent of the final voting during May. This is the second straight Semoball Awards win for a passionate fanbase. Peyton Bell, a finalist in golf, accepted the award for the school.
Bell, who moved to Bloomfield his freshman year, remembers a whole cheering section showing up two hours early a quarterfinal boys basketball game at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament his junior year. That exemplifies the type of support the school gets, Bell said.
"Our fans are awesome," Bell said. "We have Class 1 in golf, Class 2 in basketball and volleyball. We're a small school, but the fan support that we have is something you see at Class 3, Class 4 schools that don't compete as well. But as a school we compete pretty well as a whole and our fans and community do a really good job of supporting us and we really appreciate it as student-athletes."
Former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein held a question and answer session with the audience during this year's event, instead of the traditional speech from the keynote speaker.
And after all the final award was handed out to Cox, all the athletes were invited up on stage for their moment in the spotlight.
A perfect ending to a joyful night.