In less than a week, area high school student-athletes will begin their quest for conference, district and state titles competing in their respective sports or activities.

Nearly 20 former Owensville High School (OHS) student athletes will also continue their academic and athletic careers at colleges and universities throughout the state of Missouri.

There are at least two football players with Owensville ties that will be suiting up on the collegiate gridiron this fall.

Following the likes of former Dutchmen wide receiver Matt Angell, Asa Baker will begin his junior season at Lindenwood University in St. Charles as a returning offensive lineman for a Lion squad making the transition to NCAA Division I football as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).

Baker spent his middle school football playing days in Owensville before making the move to southwest Missouri to play his high school football for the Reeds Spring Wolves helping them to a pair of Central Ozarks Conference (COC) Small Division titles.

Helping the Dutchmen to a district title last fall, 2022 OHS graduate Brent Helmig will also venture into southwest Missouri to suit up this fall for the Southwest Baptist University (SBU) Bearcats located in Bolivar.

A member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), area fans could get a chance to see Helmig suit up in a Bearcat uniform when SBU pays a visit to Rolla on Saturday, Nov. 12 to take on the Missouri University of Science and Technology (S & T) Miners.

Staying in fall sports, former Dutchgirl volleyball player Emily McKinney will soon start her sophomore season close to home over in Union as a member of the East Central College (ECC) Lady Falcon volleyball team.

One of four returners on the team, McKinney’s sophomore season will begin Sunday in Vincennes, Ind., when ECC will take on Vincennes University and Shawnee Community College in the Hoosier State.

Spending her high school soccer playing days in the spring, 2022 OHS graduate Paige Loyd will make the transition to collegiate women’s soccer as a member of the ECC Lady Falcon soccer team.

Under newly-hired head coach Joseph Benninger, Loyd and the ECC Lady Falcons will open their season with a home match on Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 11 a.m., against the John Wood Community College (JWCC) Lady Trailblazers out of Quincy, Ill.

Over the past few years, the American Midwest Conference (AMC) has taken advantage of Owensville’s tremendous success in track and cross country.

At least five former Dutchmen and Dutchgirls will continue their cross country running careers this fall throughout mid-Missouri.

At William Woods University (WWU) in Fulton, the OHS trio of Mekayla Gibson, Freddy Zheng and Kyah Weirich will don green uniforms for the Lady Owls and Owls cross country program.

Gibson will be entering her sophomore season at WWU while Zheng and Weirich will be freshmen in Fulton.

Staying in the AMC, Carter Brocato will begin his junior season at Columbia College as a member of the Cougar cross country and track teams.

Earning AMC Freshman of the Year honors a few years ago, Brocato still has eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shifting northeast but still in the AMC, Jacob Giedinghagen will begin his senior season as a member of the Trojan cross country and track programs at Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) in Hannibal.

This winter on the hardwood, the lone former Dutchgirl that will be continuing her basketball career will be freshman Anna Finley and Missouri S&T in Rolla.

Area fans might want to mark Thursday, Jan. 19 next year on their calendars as Truman State University’s (TSU) Lady Bulldogs pay a visit to Rolla to take on the Lady Miners in a GLVC women’s basketball showdown.

This is significant due to the fact that former St. Francis Borgia Lady Knight Kaitlyn Patke will also be a freshman for the Lady Bulldogs making this an intriguing match up of former area basketball standouts.

OHS track and field fans could log all kinds of miles in an attempt to keep up with all of the former Dutchmen and Dutchgirl track athletes competing collegiately throughout Missouri.

In addition to the aforementioned WWU trio, three other colleges and universities will have former Dutchmen and Dutchgirls competing in their respective events.

In Joplin at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU), Bryan and Katie Candrl will be entering their junior and sophomore seasons respectively while 2022 OHS graduate Jacob Breedlove will enter his freshman season as a member of the Lions track program.

OHS will also be represented at the home of the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.

Also 2022 OHS graduates, Alan Kopp and Alexis Kohrmann will both soon beginning their freshman seasons as members of the Roadrunners track and field squad at State Fair Community College (SFCC).

Kiera Finn will also be running track and field collegiately as a member of the Lady Cardinals track team at Mineral Area College (MAC) in Hillsboro.

Dutchmen baseball fans will also be visiting Union frequently over the next two years as 2022 OHS graduates Gavin Loague and Dominic Grigaitis recently announced their intent to play college baseball as members of the recently re-launched ECC Falcon baseball program.

Known for her success in track and field at OHS, former Dutchgirl Mackenzie Rademacher will return to the University of Central Missouri (UCM) in Warrensburg for her sophomore year looking to lead the UCM Women’s Rugby team back to Nationals.

If I have missed any Owensville area athletes that are currently competing in college, please email me at wjohnson@wardpub.com and I will update my list accordingly.