O'Fallon High School
Made First Year In
Southwestern Sports Conference
"Interesting"

After journeying through the Mississippi Valley and South Seven conferences during the last two decades, OTHS arrived at a destination that many saw as inevitable several years earlier - the Southwestern Conference.

Steadily increasing enrollment figures contributed to O'Fallon's move into a league steeped in tradition.

Although many Panther teams have competed against nearly all SWC schools in non-conference match-ups for years, the meetings, in many cases, lacked the intensity which comes from competing for league status and conference championships.  All that changed for O'Fallon teams last August when the Panthers began a full conference schedule in every sport.

Southwestern Conference Final All-Sport Standings · Edwardsville 116 · Belleville West 93 · Belleville East 87.5 · O'Fallon 87 · Granite City 77.5 · Alton 68 · East St. Louis 60.5 · Collinsville 55

Last week, the conference schools convened for a league banquet to honor those teams who earned conference championships during the 2000-01 school year.  Additionally, the All-Sport trophy was presented to the conference school who had accumulated the most points in varsity competition in all sports.

This year's winner - Edwardsville High School - has established dominance in securing the All-Sports awards since their entry into the league - several seasons prior to O'Fallon's inauguration, setting a standard that the other conference schools - OTHS included - will attempt to achieve.

Consistency in all three high school sports seasons has been Edwardsville's formula for success.  While other conference schools tend to dominate in specific sports (i.e. Belleville West in volleyball, Granite City in soccer, East St. Louis in track, etc.), Edwardsville has established solid programs in a variety of sports, negating individual dominance by other schools in the conference.

It will be O'Fallon High's challenge to challenge the Tigers in future campaigns across the board, seeking to improve in areas that have already been successful and improving the level of competition in others.

Kudos are in order for OTHS' two SWC champions! Girls' Cross Country and Softball While the Panther cross country team was expected to challenge for top honors in the conference thanks to a talented mix of young runners and seasoned veterans running under the watchful eye of coach Neil James, the Panther softball team charged to the top of the conference heap unexpectedly.

With a number of new faces in the starting line-up, Coach Jan Lugge's team quickly jelled into a competitive and gutsy unit capable of knocking off anyone at any time.  For most of the spring campaign, behind the fiercely competitive Becky Stone and clutch hitting provided by Katie Louis, Paige Cohick and the rest of the Panthers starters, O'Fallon roared to the top of the league standings and with a victory over Belleville West in one of their two conference meetings, tied the powerful Maroons who finished the season as the third best team in Illinois.

O'Fallon High's new athletic facility - the Panther Dome - has received generally positive reviews since its opening last November.  As arguably one of the premier high school venues in the southern half of the stale, the dome's reputation has preceded it - all the way to Bloomington and the offices of the IHSA.

With the ability to handle large crowds and the amenities included in the structure, the IHSA has already contacted OTHS asking if the school would accept the Class AA sectional volleyball tournament in November and the Class AA boys' basketball sectional tournament next March.

Accepting these two major State series tournaments will showcase not only the Panther Dome but also OTHS and the City O'Fallon for the anticipated large crowds that these two tournaments will generate.

With the Panther Dome establishing OTHS as a major venue for slate tournament series competitions, the high school and the community in general should begin to consider upgrading another facility.

This summer, the high school will be resurfacing the six-lane track at the football stadium.  This improvement is a step in the right direction, but further improvements are necessary to the football stadium.

Those local fans who travel to other football venues in the Southwestern Conference are aware of the discrepancies in the facilities offered at OTHS in comparison to those in Edwardsville, Collinsville, East St. Louis and Alton.

Although the stands for home fans are sufficient for most home games, the visitors' bleachers are an embarrassment.  Inadequate seating, antiquated lighting and several areas that resemble backwater swamps on the Kaskaskia River greet visitors to the OTHS facility.

OTHS Pre-Dome Aerial Photo - October 1998

The six-lane track encircling the field is not adequate to host IHSA events which require an eight-lane track for state-sponsored competitions.  The scoreboard and goal posts currently in use were installed when the facility was first constructed.

A community and school commitment to up-grade this facility coupled with an expansion and improvement of practice facilities in the school's property across Weber Drive would create an athletic complex that would serve the high school and the community for years to come.