The Hounds had great success this past fall sports season, with boys’ cross country, football and soccer teams advancing to the state playoffs.  The girls’ tennis and boys’ swim teams were much improved as well.  However, these accomplishments paled in comparison to the academic achievement of the fall teams.

This past fall season, nine of the 11 varsity teams qualified for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Scholastic Achievement Awards. The award necessitates an average team GPA of 3.0 or better. Athletic Director Bob Bone expressed gratitude toward the student athlete population.

“I think that the job that our student athletes are able to do, not only in the classroom but on the courts, fields and pools is just phenomenal,” Bone said. “The way we are able to balance the two is I think pretty special to Clayton High School.”

Superintendent Mary Herrmann agreed that this balance of academic and athletic success reflects “very positively on the entire school community.”

Senior Charlie Beard is boys’ swim team captain and led his team to success in the classroom and in the pool. The boys’ swim team had an average GPA of 3.71, the strongest GPA of the fall sports teams.

“I know many very talented kids who excel in both areas: academics and athletics,” Beard said. “It is an honor to go to school with these scholar-athletes every day.”

Student athletes are in contact with their coaches for several hours on a daily basis. As representatives of the Clayton School District, coaches put academics before athletics.  Cross country coach Kurtis Werner said that, in one instance, he kept an individual out of practice until work was complete, but the problem solved itself.

“There are a few that will struggle academically, but most of the time, as a coach, a phone call home or a quick email will usually solve the problem on the parental front,” Werner said. “I have been very fortunate to not have to do that too many times.”

Beard agreed that his coach encourages academics, mentioning that swimming coach Wally Lundt “has always made sure that academics come before swim team.”

According to Werner, however, because he works with runners, the disciplined mentality carries over to schoolwork and academic problems are rare.

“It is, more or less, on the student front,” Werner said. “I just do my job as a concerned coach when I see academic grades falling into that low C and D range.”

Bone agreed the student athletes should receive most of the credit for their academic achievement, but also mentioned the faculty, coaches and “their understanding of how important academics are here” as well as the support staff, “who help our students be successful.”

Herrmann said that, in addition to the students and faculty, the entire educational community deserved credit.

“Credit should go most directly the student athletes themselves, but also their parents, teachers, and coaches,” Herrmann said. “All members of the educational community share responsibility for shaping a culture of high expectations.”

While participating in high school athletics at any level is a huge commitment, research shows that, in addition to maintaining health, participating in a sport can aid academic standing.

According to Lee S. Sitkowski’s “The Effects of Participation in Athletics on Academic Performance among High School Sophomores and Juniors,” a dissertation presented in 2008 to the faculty of the School of Education at Liberty University, “it was found that athletic participation had a positive impact on academic performance.”

Bone was familiar with similar research and agreed that the correlation between academics and athletics was just another reason to participate in sports. He stated that students who are involved in athletics “normally have a higher GPA and their attendance is better.”

Hermann called participation in extracurricular activities “tremendously valuable.”

“Students who are active in athletics and other co-curricular activities often feel more connected to school and tend to be more engaged in all aspects of the educational experience,” Herrmann said. “A student’s ability to achieve academically and manage the time commitment and stress of extra curricular activities, however, is highly individualized and each student must find his or her own balance.”

Having problems with managing time and procrastination is a central problem among the CHS student population. Werner agreed that involvement in sports can, in some cases, help students overcome these problems. He mentioned that, from his experiences as a former student athlete at both the high school and collegiate levels, he noticed that involvement in sports provides discipline and can force a student to better manage time.

A large majority of CHS teams have received the MSHSAA award, but Bone said that this year’s fall season provides a benchmark for future years, both from an academic and athletic standpoint.

“This is something that certainly we take a lot of pride in and try to recognize those teams,” Bones said of the award.

The fall sports season was a memorable one for CHS, living up to Clayton’s academic reputation and setting a new standard for athletic achievement.