Raytown South Senior High School

Infobox School
name = Raytown South Senior High School

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motto =
district = Raytown C-2 School District
established = 1961
type = Public
principal = Dr. Kevin Overfelt
faculty = Lori Flaherty (activities)
Dr. Earl Donalson
Mary Magnusson
Scott Moore
enrollment = 1,404
free_label = Colors
free_text = Red and White
free_label2 = Mascot
free_text2 = Cardinals
location = 8211 Sterling
Raytown, MO 64138
information = [phone]
website = http://www.raytownschools.org

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.

Academics

Speech/Debate

The forensics program has had several national champions in various styles of debate. In 2006, Coy Carter and Tyson Sprick were state champions in Duet Acting, becoming Coach Kelli Morrill's first state champs in Missouri. That year the squad set a school record, qualifying six students to the national tournament in Dallas, Texas. In 2007, the squad broke that record, sending 10 to nationals in Wichita, Kansas.

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". In November 2005, under the direction of Dustin Cates, Cardinal Chorale traveled to New York City and sang at Carnegie Hall, along with several other show choirs from across the country. It is now under the direction Of Stacy Schumacher who graduated from Raytown South in 1997.

Journalism

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

Athletics

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.

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 short 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. 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 1992 season, the Cardinals have gone 72-78, with a 1-2 record in playoff games,

Famous Alumni

* Jevon Crudup - Played Basketball at the University of Missouri and was drafted 48th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1994 NBA Draft
* Jason Belser - Played football at the University of Oklahoma and had a long career with the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs.
* Kara Brock - Television and film actress.
* Mara Brock Akil - Writer and television producer
* Bob Dernier -
* J.J. Smith
* Steve Schall
* John D. Carmack - Co-founder of id Software.

External links

* [http://examiner.net/stories/032506/spo_032506046.shtml Lathrop's Unparalleled Career]
* [http://examiner.net/stories/012003/spo_012003051.shtml A Look Back at 1990]
* [http://www.raytownschools.org/shs/index.htm Raytown South High School]