The Montgomery County Wildcats and Wellsville-Middletown Tigers will start preparing for the 2026 fall season as their fall sports teams begin their practice sessions on Aug. 10, which is the official first day of practice for all Missouri high school sports teams.

MCHS has cross country, football, softball and volleyball, while W-M has cross country and softball in the fall athletic season.

MCHS is holding a fall activity parent meeting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 9 at its gymnasium. Per school officials, all of those participating in a sport of activity and at least one parent/guardian are expected to attend.

On Aug. 10, W-M is holding practice for softball players from 3:30 p.m.-6 p.m. and for cross country runners from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. For MCHS, locations and practice times will be decided by each program/coach.

All of the MCHS fall sports coaches will return this fall. They are Matt Smith (football), Audra Heimer (softball), Carli Bleyle (volleyball) and Chasity Rodgers (cross country).

Alex Thull will return as W-M softball coach this fall. The Tigers have a new cross country coach in Lucy Gay.

The MCHS football team will look to turn in another successful season this fall after getting back on the winning track in 2025. The Wildcats were 9-3 and captured their first district championship since 2005. They lost to St. Pius X in a Class 2 state quarterfinal game.

Smith returns for his second year as head coach. He replaced longtime coach John Klekamp last year and went on to turn in the most successful season by a first-year MCHS coach since Ben Blank, who coached the Wildcats to a 12-2 record and a second-place finish in the Class 2 state tournament in 2005.

The football team begins its season on Aug. 28 with a home game against Hermann.

The softball team won a school-record 28 games, captured its first Eastern Missouri Conference title, celebrated its first district crown since 2018 and placed fourth in the Class 2 state tournament.

The Wildcats qualified for the Final Four for the first time after beating Chaffee 7-5 in a Class 2 state quarterfinal. MCHS lost to Mid-Buchanan in the third-place game at the Class 2 Final Four in Springfield to place fourth.

The softball team joined the 2005 football team, the 1991 volleyball team, the 2019 baseball team and four boys basketball teams in a group of MCHS teams that placed in state competition.

Audra Heimer returns for her 12th season as MCHS coach. She has 171 wins in her tenure.

The softball Wildcats start their season on Aug. 29 at the MCHS Fall Classic. They won that tournament last year.

Bleyle is back for her second year as MCHS volleyball coach. Her team finished with just three wins in her first season last year.

The volleyball team starts its season on Aug. 29 at the Tolton Catholic Tournament.

Rodgers is back for her 14th season as MCHS cross country team. She returned as head coach last year after a one-year hiatus.

In 2025, the cross country team had five runners earn all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors, but didn’t have any state qualifiers for the first time since 2017.

Thull is back in his third year as W-M softball coach. His team finished with one win last fall. The Tigers beat the St. Louis Patriots in the middle of the 2025 season to snap a 28-game losing streak.

W-M begins its season on Aug. 28 with a home game against Community R-6.
Gay replaces Skyler Durham as W-M cross country coach. She is a 2020 W-M graduate and a four-time state qualifier in cross country.

The cross country team starts its season on Aug. 28 at the Mexico Invitational.