NCHS Looks To Continue Success In Fall Sports
By Brent Huelsmann
With the summer in full swing, fall sports will be just around the corner. Throughout the history of the Southern Illinois River to River Conference the Nashville Hornets and Hornettes have done well in fall sports competition. In the fall, Nashville competes in Cross Country, golf, football, and volleyball. In every fall sport, you'll find Nashville near the top in conference championships.
The Southern Illinois River to River Conference was founded in 1993, with Nashville playing in the Mississippi Division. Currently six teams compete in the Mississippi Division. Nashville, Carterville, Pinckneyville, Sparta, Anna-Jonesboro, and DuQuoin all compete. Nashville is in first or second in total conference championships in five of the six fall sports they compete in.
The Hornettes volleyball team, coached by Josh Konkel, leads all other Mississippi Division teams by a wide margin with 15 conference championships. The Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats are second with 3. Nashville has won the conference championship in 10 of the past 13 years.
In Boys Golf, Nashville again dominates with 15 conference championship wins. Again Anna-Jonesboro is in second with three conference championships. The Hornets have won or tied for the title in nine out of the past 11 seasons.
Nashville is tied at the top of the leader-board in Girls Golf with eight conference championships. Nashville is tied with Sparta. Nashville and rival Pinckneyville have won or tied for the title for the past seven years. Pinckneyville is third with two conference championships in girls golf.
Sparta leads all Mississippi Division opponents when it comes to Cross Country. The Sparta Bulldogs lead with 18 boys cross country conference titles, and 10 girls cross country titles. Nashville is second in boys cross country with three titles, and fifth in girls cross country with two titles.
The Hornets football team is second in SIRR-Mississippi Division conference championships with three. DuQuoin leads with 13 conference championships. Although the Hornets did not win the conference last season, Nashville still went further than any other conference team, making in to the Final Four, losing to Auburn.
The Hornettes volleyball team will start the season with the conference tournament on August 27. The football team will kick off the season, at home, against the Carlyle Indians on August 26. Boys golf will tee off against Trico and Pinckneyville on August 17, while the girls golf team begins the season with the Nashville Invitational on August 18. The cross country teams will start their seasons at the New Athens Invitational on August 23.
