Dexter, Missouri - The Lady Cats Tennis Team begin their season under new head coach April Aldridge and new assistant coach Chris Brannan.
"My daughter Morgan started tennis last year," commented Coach Aldridge. "And I didn't want to see the program fall off or struggle this year. The school searched for a few months and couldn't find anyone within the District or retired to agree to coach the girls tennis program, so I called Chris and together we decided to coach this year."
Coach Aldridge has a background in coaching volleyball at the club level and I have given private tennis lessons for about 20 years," Coach Brannan said. "I have also worked with the Kennett high school girls tennis team on a needed basis for about the same length of time."
Dexter will compete in Class 1, District 1 against Kennett, Caruthersville, Charleston, Notre Dame, and Sikeston. Fredericktown is leaving Class 1, District 1 for Class 1, District 2 and Sikeston dropped from Class 2, District 1 to Class 1, District 1. Kennett has won the District Championship the past 9 seasons and will be a stiff competitor again this year.
"I think we will be able to compete well in the District this year. We finished 3rd behind Kennett and Notre Dame," continued Brannan. "Those two are the top tier of the District and our goal is to get to their competition level. I am hoping we can get up there this year."
Dexter will return three seniors, three juniors, and six sophomores to the squad this year. Alexis May, Macy Urhahn, and Reagan Miller are the only three seniors for the Bearcats.
"We have three seniors and they form a solid base for the team and are among our top varsity players," stated Aldridge. "We are still in the process of setting our opening day so I don't have a lineup ready to publish."
"Overall, our entire group works hard at practice," continued Aldridge. "They put in quite a bit of time over the summer in our open court workouts and have shown major improvement in all areas of their game."
The Lady Cats will open at Sikeston on Monday, August 22nd at 4:00 p.m. and return home on Tuesday, August 23rd against Charleston and home on Thursday, August 25th against Cape Central also at 4:00 p.m.
"Our first week we have three matches," stated Brannan. "We are trying to get in a lot of match time in this week (weather permitting) in preparation for that first week."
The Lady Cats will be on the road for five regular season matches and be at home for seven matches.
Dexter will also compete in two tournaments; the Kennett Invitational which begins on September 10th and the Farmington invitational which begins on September 17th.
Juniors are Morgan Aldridge, Nicole Sells, and Rachel Singh. Sophomores are Hannah Bien, Malia Cook, Abigail Dorton, Keirstan Keirsey, Maci McBride, and Jadyn Northcutt. At this time there are no freshman on the team.
2016 Varsity Girls Tennis Schedule
8/22 4 p.m. at Sikeston
8/23 4 p.m. Charleston (H)
8/25 4 p.m. Cape Central (H)
8/29 4 p.m. Poplar Bluff (H)
8/30 4 p.m. at Kennett
8/31 4 p.m. at Poplar Bluff
9/6 4 p.m. at Arcadia Valley
9/13 4 p.m. at Notre Dame
9/15 4 p.m. Caruthersville (H)
9/19 4 p.m. Kennett (H)
9/20 4 p.m. Notre Dame (H)
9/22 4 p.m. Jackson (H)
Note: The junior varsity will play at each match except at Arcadia Valley on September 6th. The two tournaments are varsity only. September 22nd will be senior night.
Shown in the photo are from left to right first row: Reagan Miller, Lexi may, and Macy Urhahn; second row: Morgan Aldridge, Rachel Singh, and Nicole Sells; third row: Maci McBride, Keirstan Keirsey, and Jadyn Northcutt; back row: Malia Cook, Hannah Bien, and Abby Dorton.
Dexter, Missouri - It's been quite sometime since the Dexter Bearcats have hosted the annual Jamboree, but this is their year! Last year the Jamboree was held at East Prairie due to the construction on the front entrance.
With only two wins under the belt during the 2015 season the Bearcats have been working hard during the off season and hitting the weights. They hope to increase the totals in the win column this year. They are pumped and dedicated to each other as the old saying goes, "Once a Bearcat, Always a Bearcat" rings in their ears.
On Friday, August 12th the Bearcats will take the field for the first time prior to the opening of the 2016 Football Season.
Coach Goltra said, "The boys have worked hard all summer. The typical growing pains associated with installing a new offense and defense are there, but we are much better than we were at the start of the summer."
The Boys of Fall have been practicing in some almost unbearable heat the past week. Two of their practices had to be held indoors because of MSHSAA regulations.
Dexter will host the Kennett Indians, New Madrid County Central Eagles, and the East Prairie Eagles beginning at 6:00 p.m. The cost to enter Charles Bland Stadium will be $1.00.
"We aren't concerned at all about the other teams in the Jamboree," stated Goltra, "We are just focused on us getting better and getting ready for Ste. Genevieve." The Bearcats will begin their 2016 season traveling to Ste. Genevieve to take on the Dragons on Friday, August 19th. Game time 7:00 p.m.
Concessions will be available as well. So find your RED and BLACK BEARCAT shirts, put those bows in your hair, grab that hat and show your Bearcat Pride on Friday and let the boys know you support them 100% on and off the field.
The SEMO Conference announced its official changes on Wednesday, August 3, 2016. The new changes go into effect in the upcoming 2016 - 2017 school year.
Football will have four divisions with the addition of Kelly to the conference. The divisions will be the North Division-Cape Central, Farmington, Jackson, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston. South Division-Caruthersville, Dexter, Kennett and New Madrid. West Division - Chaffee, Hayti, Portageville and Scott City. East Division - Charleston, East Prairie, Kelly and Malden.
Girls Basketball will have a conference tournament this year at Poplar Bluff High School the week of November 28th through December 2nd. Saxony Lutheran has joined the conference to make it an eight team conference.
Track will have four divisions in the spring with the addition of Saxony Lutheran and Woodland. The divisions will be the North Division - Cape Central, Jackson, Notre Dame, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston. South Division - Caruthersville, Dexter, Kennett, New Madrid and Saxony Lutheran. West Division - Chaffee, Delta, Hayti, Oran, Scott Central and Scott City. East Division - Charleston, East Prairie, Kelly, Malden and Woodland.
Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Bearcats have released their 2016 varsity football schedule, which includes five road games and four home games.
Dexter opens its season on August 19th traveling to Ste. Genevieve. Game time 7:00 p.m.
The Bearcats will host Poplar Bluff as their home opener on August 26, 2016, visits New Madrid County Central on September 2nd, hosts Middle College from Memphis, TN on September 9th, travels to Sikeston on September 16th and Caruthersville on September 23rd then back at Charles Bland Stadium for Homecoming on September 30th against Kennett. Senior night will be on October 7th against Park Hills Central and they end their regular season at Malden on October 14th.
Charleston dropped Dexter leaving an open Friday night. Middle College from Memphis, Tennessee was added to their schedule to fill that spot.
“Middle College is a a second year football program. They are very athletic and made the playoffs in their first year," stated Dexter head football coach Kevin Goltra. “I think mentally and physically we can match up against them. They also graduated a large sum of seniors last year."
Coach Goltra will have the Bearcats on the practice field beginning Monday, August 1st from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. as this week is Sports Dead Week in high school football.
Athletes need to have physicals on file prior to practice. Last year's physicals expire on July 31st so if they did not get one in May at the Free Physicals Day then they need to get one before practice starts on August 1st.
Dexter will host the Football Jamboree on Friday, August 12th at 6:00 p.m.
The Bearcats will also team up with Dexter Parks and Recreation for “A Day with Bearcat” on Saturday, August 27th at Charles Bland Stadium at 9:00 a.m.
The Dexter junior varsity, freshman, and middle school schedules are also set.
The JV Bearcats will play five games away and only one game at home. They travel to Malden on August 22nd, Poplar Bluff on August 29th, New Madrid County Central on September 12th, Sikeston on September 19th, and Caruthersville on September 26th. The last game of the season will be at home on October 3rd.
The Freshman Schedule allows for only two games this season. They will travel to Poplar Bluff on August 29th and Sikeston on September 19th. The Poplar Bluff game begins at 5:00 p.m. and the Sikeston game begins at 4:30 p.m.
The T.S. Hill Middle School will have a combination of 7th grade, 8th grade and 7th/8th grade teams playing away for four games and at home for four games.
The 8th grade football team will play at home against Doniphan on September 1st. They will travel to NMCC on September 6th, Malden on September 8th, and East Prairie on September 13th. They will then play again at home for three games against Sikeston on September 22nd, Caruthersville on September 27th, and Kennett on September 29th. They finish the season traveling to Portageville on October 6th.
The 7th grade football team will start out traveling to NMCC on September 6th, Malden on September 8th, and East Prairie on September 13th. They will then be at home on September 22nd against Sikeston, at home on the 27th against Caruthersville, at home on 29th against Kennett and will end their season on October 6th traveling to Portageville.
Buffalo, Missouri - The Dexter Bearcats traveled across the state to Buffalo, Missouri during one of the hottest weeks of the summer thus far. With extreme heat conditions four teams quickly chose to drop out of the competition, but not our strong and mighty Bearcats! Only Buffalo High School and Springfield Catholic remained as competitors at the two-day camp on July 20th and 21st.
Dexter competed in the day and a half camp as one of the toughest teams among the three and was definitely the toughest team on the second day. Day two was cut short due to heat and the Bearcats were able to come home a few hours sooner. Perhaps a little beaten up with three new minor injured players, a few bruises, some jerseys that moms couldn't wait to get in the wash, but through it all they strengthened their offensive and defensive lines and learned from two opponents they had never competed against.
"Springfield Catholic gave us a good look," commented Dexter head football coach Kevin Goltra. "They have two tackles who got Division 1 offers. Their offense ran out of the shotgun and are big up front. We had great success against them and were tougher on the field."
"Buffalo High School is a spread team offense and gave us a chance to look at their offense to help us get better at what we do," continued Goltra. "I was really pleased with our efforts on the field."
The full contact camp was invitation only with 42 Dexter athletes participating.
"Corbin Strong, a sophomore, is one heck of a linebacker," stated Goltra. "If he continues to improve he will be a great asset this season and for the next two years."
"Bo McMullin is a good linebacker as well," continued Goltra. "Last year I believe he was the leading tackler for the Bearcats as a freshman. He's a smart player."
"The offensive line is extremely young this year and are doing a great job," Goltra said of his sophomore offensive line. "We are a little undersized and made up of mostly sophomores, but I have been very impressed and over the next couple of years will be amazed if they keep working hard."
"Our quarterback, Ben Sindle managed the games well against both opponents. He passes the ball well and is doing exactly what we are asking him to do on the field," Goltra said.
"Defensively we are very good against the inside run game. We are sometimes good and sometimes bad against the outside run game, it just seems we have a breakdown here or there with a player, but we are improving and getting better against the outside run. There was no doubt that Dexter won the Buffalo Full Contact Camp. Our coaching staff was really pleased with their efforts and we were able to see two different styles which will only improve our efforts during the regular season," commented Goltra.
Dexter will host the Football Jamboree on Friday, August 12th at 7:00 p.m. This will be our first look at our players. This week is Dead Week for high school athletes. Practice begins Monday, August 1, 2016 from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Parents, if your athlete has not had a recent physical he/she must get one before August 1st. Last year's physicals expire on July 31, 2016.
