Pittsburg wins 3rd straight Rohde Award

Pittsburg has won the Martin Rohde Award, the Southeast Kansas League’s all-sports championship, for the third consecutive school year and the 13th time overall since the award was established in 1976-77. The school has won the award more times than any other school, including nine of the last 11. The last time a school other than Pittsburg or Chanute won the award was Labette County in 2005-06.

Pittsburg, the league’s only Class 5A school, scored 79 ½ points in tabulation compiled by the Fort Scott Tribune. The school winning a sport receives the most points possible while the school that finishes last is awarded one point. Independence was second with 68 ½ points followed by Chanute with 62, Fort Scott with 56, Labette County 41 ½, Parsons 36, and Coffeyville with 28.

Pittsburg won 10 sports, the most by a school since detailed records began with the 1992-93 school year. That broke the record set by Purple Dragon teams last school year when they won nine. Pittsburg won championships this academic year in girls’ tennis, volleyball, girls’ golf, soccer, wrestling, boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball and boys’ and girls’ track. The league holds championships in 16 sports.

Pittsburg was the first school in Southeast Kansas League history to sweep all three winter sports — wrestling and both basketball titles. This was also an instance of a school winning the Rhode Award without winning the football championship. Pittsburg has elected to remove itself from league football competition due to the newly-implemented regular-season and playoff structures that were introduced in Class 5A this school year. In Class 5A, all 32 teams qualify for the playoffs with the first round held in Week Nine.

Winning the all-sports award without football is surprisingly common, happening 25 times in 41 years.

The last school to win the all-sports title without also winning football was Chanute in 2012-13.

Pittsburg also scored the fewest points for a league champion in any sport as the Purple Dragon squad was the only one able to field a full girls’ golf team the entire season. Since the other schools were thus ineligible to win the championship, Pittsburg received only one point for girls’ golf.

Independence won three sports this season — football, boys’ tennis and softball. Fort Scott won two — both cross-country championships. Chanute won boys’ golf.