Missouri 2022-23

[eygotem]

A belated thread to discuss the upcoming season in Missouri. About a month ago the MOQB Student Discord ran a team poll, the results of which can be found here .

As for my own thoughts:
Ladue will be very good, with Max Yang being a great player along with an excellent supporting cast. It might be a stretch but I think this team has a good shot of winning nationals, especially HSNCT given their strength at geo. The clear favorites whenever the full team shows up.

Fair Grove has a strong team with the dynamic duo of Braden and Christian. They have the best chance of beating Ladue and I wouldn't be surprised if they won their division of SSNCT, which they came close to last season.

STL Patriots still has Owen Farra, an excellent all-around player. Not sure how many tournaments the team will attend though, and reliance on one person isn't ideal. They'll be strong when they do show up.

Parkway West retains half of its team that placed 30th at NSC. A good set of specialists that should place highly, assuming they've been practicing.

Mexico has Camden Williams, a rapidly improving generalist who should make waves this season. Keep an eye out on this team, this will probably be their breakout season.

College Heights has Braxton Davis, likely the best science player in the state. If they've caught up in the other subjects this team could certainly make a comeback.

Lindbergh has a new but rapidly improving squad that could make waves this season. Safiya is pretty dedicated.

With the first tournaments approaching this weekend, I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out!

[Atlashill]

Additional teams/players worth watching:

I'd also keep an eye on Avnith Kumar of Jefferson City. Like Camden, Avnith is a sophomore who made a splash last year, leading the Jays to a district title. I would not underestimate this team.

Warrenton has stout senior leadership from Grant Buechner, who was at or neat the top of the individual standings at tournaments toward the end of last season. If the Warriors can build around him and improve on bonus conversion, they could make waves in the GAC.

It'll be a crucial season for Palmyra to retain their momentum, after the graduation of their core group of seniors. However, their JV won their conference tournament last year, led by Elizabeth Salo, who will have to step it up if the Panthers are to maintain the successes they've posted the past three years.

As for the KC metro... yeah... not a lot of fireworks here. Oddly, the team that might be the one to beat is across the state line at Blue Valley North, but given KSHSAA's onerous restrictions, we will be lucky if we see them venture east at any point this fall. As for actual Missouri schools, KC Lutheran's Issac Herkamp is back for his senior year, but much of the support he's relied on the past two years has graduated.

(addendum) Oh, and there's Houston, whose team received a police escort back into town after dominating Class Three at state this past May, the first state championship for any team from HHS in over eight decades. And their top two players are seniors this fall, Ben Cook and Andy Durham.

[1992 in spaceflight]

I also just posted about the return of the NASAT Workshop on December 17th at Columbia Independent School. Hope to see any interested people there!