Gateway Athletic Conference
The Gateway Athletic Conference (or GAC) tournament features schools from the western edge of the St. Louis Metro Area extending from the towns of St. Charles, Warrenton and Washington. The Conference tournament is usually held in March.
History
The Gateway Athletic Conference tournament was first founded in 2002 with the assistance of Fort Zumwalt West coach Jeremy Gibbs. The first iteration of the tournament featured only four teams [1] Historically, the tournament has been dominated by Francis Howell Central and Fort Zumwalt West High Schools, which have won eight of the nine Conference championships, with the score currently 5-3 in favor of FHC. Attendance at the GAC tournament generally hovers around 6-8 of the 14 teams eligible to attend.
Characteristics
The GAC tournament is usually run on the State question provider and is largely administrated by Jeremy Gibbs. It is organized similarly to most MSHSAA format tournaments. Teams play three preliminary matches at 9:00 A.M., 10:00 A.M., and 11:00 A.M., there is a lunch break between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M. during which the top teams are seeded, and then those teams play single elimination playoff matches at 1:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M. The tournament champions win the same plaque which is awarded to the winner of a Gateway Athletic Conference championship in any other sport.
The GAC tournament, like those of most MSHSAA tournaments, gives top scorer awards for the most tossups answered in the preliminary rounds, rather than for the highest PPG.
Interestingly, no team which has won the Conference has won the corresponding MSHSAA District for the years 2006-2009. Francis Howell Central, which won 3 of those 4 GAC competitions, was defeated by Fort Zumwalt West in 2006 and 2009 and by both Zumwalt West and Kirksville in 2008. [2][3][4] Fort Zumwalt West, which won the Conference in 2007, was defeated by Kirksville in 2007. [5] This trend was broken in 2010, when Fort Zumwalt West defeated Warrenton 380-120 to win the District title after winning the 2010 Conference title over Francis Howell Central.
Participants
Italics Denote Schools Currently Inactive in the Conference
- Fort Zumwalt West High School
- Francis Howell Central High School
- Francis Howell High School
- Washington High School
- Warrenton High School
- Troy Buchanan High School
- Fort Zumwalt North High School
- Francis Howell North High School
- Wentzville Timberland High School
- Fort Zumwalt South High School
- Wentzville Holt High School
- Fort Zumwalt East High School
- Duchesne High School
- St. Charles High School
- St. Charles West High School
Results
2009 GAC Tournament
The 2009 Gateway Athletic Conference was won by Francis Howell Central after a finals match against Fort Zumwalt West where FHC came back from a 50 point deficit after the end of the first quarter to win 275-265. [6] The initial top seeds in preliminary play were Warrenton and Francis Howell Central. [7]
2010 GAC Tournament
The 2010 Gateway Athletic Conference was won by Fort Zumwalt West, which defeated Francis Howell Central by 20 points, 230-210. [8]
Links are to results located on the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | High Scorer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Francis Howell Central | Fort Zumwalt South | |
| 2003 | Francis Howell Central | Fort Zumwalt North | |
| 2004 | Washington High School | Fort Zumwalt West | |
| 2005 | Fort Zumwalt West | Francis Howell Central | |
| 2006 | Francis Howell Central | Fort Zumwalt West | |
| 2007 | Fort Zumwalt West | Francis Howell Central | Teresa 'Teri' Kilmer, FZW |
| 2008 | Francis Howell Central | Fort Zumwalt West | Becca Genet and Julia Price, FZW |
| 2009 | Francis Howell Central | Fort Zumwalt West | Julia Price, FZW |
| 2010 | Fort Zumwalt West | Francis Howell Central | Blake Hiza, FHC |