Perryville High School soccer phenomenon Leah Buerck has been recognized by the Board of Education for her accomplishments on the field and in the classroom.
Jamie Robinson, president of the Board of Education, and Jeanie White, assistant superintendent, presented Leah with an Award of Excellence at the August board meeting.
Leah graduated magna cum laude in May from Perryville High School. She is the daughter of Curt and Linda Buerk of Perryville. While at PHS, Leah was a standout on the soccer, basketball and volleyball teams.
She has begun her college career wearing No. 7 for Mineral Area College Women’s Soccer, where she is studying pre-medicine.
The board recognized Leah as one of the most-decorated athletes in the region this year, and the most-decorated Lady Pirate Soccer Player of all time.
“Leah set our record for scoring as a sophomore,” said Coach Jerry Fulton, “only to break it again as a senior, scoring 45 goals and 19 assists. She also got several after-season awards including All-State and was Player of the Year for Conference, KTJJ Dream Team, Semoball and Southeast Missourian. She’s the most decorated player to ever come from our program.
“But most importantly, Leah was a great teammate and leader for our program. Plus she is a great person. We will truly miss Leah on and off the field.”
She is the all-time leading scorer for the PHS Lady Pirate Soccer program with 102 goals, 53 assists, 257 points — and she did this in just three seasons, because her junior season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her accolades this season include:
Jefferson County Conference Player of the Year
All-District First team (unanimous choice)
All-Region Class 2 Offensive Player of the Year
All-State Class 2 Co-Offensive Player of the Year
KTJJ Dream Team Girls Soccer Player of the Year
SEMOball Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Southeast Missourian Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Leah Buerck wore No. 1 for the PHS Lady Pirate Soccer team, and she’s No.1 in the record books. During her senior season, she broke her own school record by scoring 45 points. She is the all-time leading scorer for the PHS Lady Pirate Soccer program with 102 goals, 53 assists, 257 points — and she did this in just three seasons, because her junior season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leah is pictured with her parents Curt and Linda Buerck of Perryville while signing a letter of intent to play soccer at Mineral Area College. Her coaches are (back,from left) Jamie Pickel and Dan Martin at MAC, and Jerry Fulton and Dwayne Hadler at Perryville.