Raytown South High School

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Raytown South Senior High School
School type Public
Established 1961
District Raytown C-2 School District
Principal Dr. Kevin Overfelt
Faculty Lori Flaherty (activities)
Dr. Earl Donalson
Mary Magnusson
Scott Moore
Students 1,404
Colors Red and White
Mascot Cardinals
Location 8211 Sterling
Raytown, MO 64138
Information (816) 268-7330
Website http://www.raytownschools.org/shs/index.htm

Raytown South Senior High School is a high school located in Raytown, Missouri. The school was established in 1961, and graduated its first class of seniors in 1963. The enrollment at South peaked in the late 1970's, when it had the largest public school enrollment in the state of Missouri. As Raytown became less of a "destination-suburb" in the 1990's, the enrollment fell drastically. It is thought that the class of 1998, amassing 247 students, was the smallest graduating class ever.

Contents

[edit] Academics

[edit] Speech/Debate

The forensics program has had several national champions in various styles of debate.

[edit] Choir

From 1984-2001, under the direction of Mary Bodney, the choir program saw ssveral dozen student attain All-State status. The choir program was widely recognized in Kansas City, performing at various places such as Crown Center, Arrowhead Stadium and Royals Stadium. Every May, thousands came to an annual variety show called Southern Comfort.

[edit] Journalism

The Raytown South school newspaper, Southern Exposure has seen several of its former editors go one to be collegiate newspaper editors.

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Men's Basketball

From the inception of the school until March of 2006, the program was under the direction of the legendary Bud Lathrop. His career record was 955-300, going 924-267 at South. As of his retirement, Lathrop was ranked No. 7 all-time in high school career coaching victories in the United States.

Lathrop's teams won Missouri State Titles in:

  • 1970 - Squad went 27-1
  • 1972
  • 1977 - led by the F-Troop, better known as Bill Fennelly, Kevin Fromm and Larry Frevert.
  • 1990 - Went 31-0 and were led by Jevon Crudup.

He also went to the Final Four six other times in:

  • 1974
  • 1975
  • 1985
  • 1992
  • 1993
  • 2003

He advanced to the state playoffs 23 times, and won 35 conference championships. Lathrop is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

254 of Lathrop's former players went on to play college basketball at various levels.

[edit] Football

The Cardinal football program has produced its' share of college athletes as well. Being such a well-known mecca for basketball, the football program often fell shirt of expectations. It has had intermittent success through the years.

The most successful team was the 1980 squad that reached the state semifinals before losing to Joplin Parkwood. That team was guided by Bruce Johnson, who won over 100 games as head coach from 1973-1991. Following the 1980 season, South would not win another playoff game under Johnson.

In 1992, Johnson's Defensive Coordinator, Hank Spellman, took over. Spellman earned honors from the [[Kansas City Star}} as Coach of the Year for leading the Cardinals to an 8-2 record. Unfortunately, Spellman's remaining tenure was fraught with underachieving teams. He was forced to retire following the 1996 season after going 5-25 in his final three seasons, despite the Cardinals. dropping from a 5A school to a 4A school.

In May 1997, former University of Kansas quarterback Kelly Donohoe replaced Spellman. Numbers were down in the program, and Donohoe only had 12 seniors his first season. The Cardinsls went 8-2 in the regular season, and won their first playoff game in 17 seasons when they defeated Marshall 42-12 in a sectional battle. The dream ended four days later in a quarterfinal loss.

in 1999-2000, Donohoe led the team to a 16-4 combined mark, narrowly losing the district title both seasons.

Donohoe left Ray-South after only three seasons when he became the head coach at Blue Springs High School. David Allie replaced Donohoe and went 30-30 in his first six seasons. The Cardinals made it back to the postseason in 2004, but lost to Lee's Summit West, a school in its first year of existence.

In 2006, Ray-South's enrollment had rebounded enough for the football team to return to the 5A level. The move hurt the team that season, as they limped to a 2-8 record.

Overall, since the beginning of the 1990 season, the Cardinals have gone 77-93, with a 1-2 record in playoff games,

[edit] Famous Alumni

[edit] External links

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