NewsTribune_IV Hall of Fame_092921

2020-2021 Inductees D. J. Glynn • Mike Goff • Ken Gorgal • Zami (Mogill) Hay • Ray Jauch Gary Novak • Dean Riley • Joe Ruklick • Ron Zagar • Jerry Zielinski 1985-86 Ohio Boys Basketball Team Mary Dagraedt - Lifetime Achievement Award Lowell “Pops” Dale - Legacy Award/Individual Art Kimball - Distinguished Media Award 1945 Walnut Football Team - Legacy Award/Team

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2 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Welcome!

September 2021

On behalf of Shaw Media and the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame welcome to the official induction of the Class of 2020-21, FINALLY. When we introduced our inaugural class in June 2019, we immediately reconvened to choose the 2020 inductees. We started to announce the 2020 inductees and had the induction banquet planned for June 2020 but then the pandemic hit and with no other choice we had to make the heart-breaking decision to postpone the banquet and induction. We knew we would be back; we knew we had chosen an awesome class and we couldn’t wait to honor them. The 2020 inductee class turned into the Class of 2020-21 and we forged ahead to plan the event and produce this magazine to honor these great local athletes.

A lot of time, effort and thought have gone into this hall of fame magazine and the honoree banquet, so we hope you enjoy and treat it like it is – a celebration. We want to honor, reflect and have a good time acknowledging the best of the best in the Illinois Valley’s athletic history.

This event could not have been made possible without the tireless effort of so many wonderful and hard-working people.

Thank you to our committee. These men and women from across the Illinois Valley helped us select our Class of 2020-21 and inform our inductees. Without their time, effort and dedication, none of this would be possible.

Thank you to our sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible. Your willingness and excitement for this event has been unbelievable, and your dedication to supporting area athletics has been remarkable.

Thank you to everyone at Shaw Media who helped make this event possible. To the advertising staff, marketing and niche design teams your dedication has been amazing and is so greatly appreciated.

Finally, thank you to everyone who participated in the hall of fame. Whether you are a sponsor, participated in this magazine, commented on our Facebook page (@NTIVSportsHOF), read all of our inductee announcements or stories or even discussed or debated it with your friends and family, thank you. Your participation in this endeavor – whatever it may be – is vital to the success of this hall of fame.

Inside you will find photos and stories about our 2020-21 inductees and the many businesses that wanted to join us in honoring them and more. We hope you enjoy this magazine and we look forward to bringing you future classes of the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

Thank you,

Jeanette Smith

Regional Advertising Director Shaw Media

A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 3

Contents NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame 426 Second Street La Salle, Illinois 61301 (815) 223-3200 (800) 892-6452 www.newstrib.com Publisher Dan Goetz Regional Advertising Director Jeanette Smith jmsmith@shawmedia.com

Account Executives Jared Bell Kelly Campbell Shelly Carey Ashley Oliver Pam Pratt

Lanny Slevin ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 6 Event Program �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 Dean Riley �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8 Jerry Zielinski ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 Joe Ruklick �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������14 Ken Gorgal ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17 Alexandra “Zami” (Mogill) Hay ������������������������������������������������������������ 21 Mike Goff ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23 Ray Jauch �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27 Ron Zagar ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32 D.J. Glynn ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34

Writers Brandon LaChance Bobby Narang Andy Tavegia

1985-86 Ohio Boys Basketball Team ���������������������������������������������������� 38 Gary Novak �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 41

Designer Liz Klein

Mary Dagraedt ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������44

Cover Design Larry Kelsey

Art Kimball ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 46

Published by:

Lowell “Pops” Dale ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48 est. 1851

1945 Walnut Football Team ������������������������������������������������������������������� 50

Thank you to the 2020-21 Hall of Fame Committee Jared Bell, Kurt Bruno, Kevin Chlum, Bea Coats, Tom Dobrich, Dan Eilts, Kevin Hieronymous, Larry Johnson, Carol Pratt, Rick Sipovic, Lanny Slevin, Jeanette Smith, Ed Swingle, Gene Vogelgesang and Ken Wilcoxen.

They took on the task of choosing these inductees from hundreds of nominations. We currently have an extensive list of deserving athletes that will be used to select

future classes, but we are always looking for more.

IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE FOR THE NEWSTRIBUNE’S ILLINOIS VALLEY SPORTS HALL OF FAME: To be considered, the nominee must have lived locally during their sports accomplishment and/ or graduated from IVCC or one of the following high schools: L-P,

4 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

St. Bede, Hall, Putnam County, DePue, Mendota, Ottawa, Marquette, Streator, Princeton, Bureau Valley, LaMoille, Ohio, Earlville, Henry or Fieldcrest. The athlete must be out of high school for at least 5 years.

Email the name and statistics to jmsmith@shawmedia.com. Please include HOF Nomination in the subject line.

Congrats to the Hall of Fame Class of 2020-21!

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Lanny Slevin MASTER OF CEREMONIES Lifetime Achievement Award The Voice of the Valley for four decades, Slevin broadcasted numerous sporting events in the Illinois Valley and positively impacted the lives of many during his broadcast career. The true definition of dedication, Slevin has given so much of his time and passion to area athletics and has brought joy to many. For all he has given to our area — both on air and behind the scenes — the Lifetime Achievement Award is named in his honor.

2019 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE CEREMONY - FILE PHOTO

Accomplishments

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6 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

• A legendary broadcaster, Slevin enjoyed a 40-year career at WLPO where he broadcast games, provided sports updates and more • Estimated he broadcast somewhere between 3,5004,000 events in his career • Hosted the state-wide IHSA Sports Report for nearly six years and broadcast the IHSA boys basketball state tournaments for nearly 30 years starting in 1972 • Hosted Chalk Talk on WLPO every Saturday morning during the school year for nearly three decades • Member of the IBCA Hall of Fame, St. Bede Hall of Fame, IVCC Hall of Fame and National Junior College Association Hall of Fame; Inaugural recipient of the IHSA Distinguished Media Service Award

NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame

Event Program Thursday, September 23, 2021 Illinois Valley Super Bowl, Peru Emcee: Lanny Slevin Meal ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 5:30 - 6:15 p.m.

Introductions ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 6 p.m.

Presentation ������������������������������������������������������������������� 6:15 p.m.

Order of Inductees • Dean Riley, Ottawa/IVCC • Jerry Zielinski, Putnam County • Joe Ruklick, Princeton • Ken Gorgal, St. Bede • Zami (Mogill) Hay, Streator • Mike Goff, L-P • Ray Jauch, Mendota • Ron Zagar, DePue • D.J. Glynn, Hall • 1985-86 Ohio Boys Basketball Team • Gary Novak, L-P • Mary Dagraedt, Lifetime Achievement Award • Art Kimball, Distinguished Media Award • Lowell “Pops” Dale, Legacy Award - Individual • 1945 Walnut Football Team, Legacy Award - Team

Conclusion & Thank You

A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 7

Dean Riley OTTAWA / IVCC Accomplishments • Legendary basketball coach at Ottawa, compiled a 332-146 career record with 17 winning seasons • Won eight regionals, two sectionals & led the 1977-78 team to the Elite 8 in Class AA • At IVCC, program went 234-118 in 12 seasons • His 1987-88 team finished third in the nation and 198889 team went 30-2 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season • Member of the Ottawa High School HOF, ICA Hall of HOF, National Junior College HOF and annual Ottawa Thanksgiving tournament named in his honor

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By Andy Tavegia

I

f you go to Ottawa Township High School’s season-opening boys basketball Thanksgiving tournament or even just a practice anytime throughout the season, it’s no coincidence you may walk away thinking of Dean Riley.

Even in the years since his passing, his fingerprints, his terminology and his name are all over a program that — very much like Riley’s Pirates teams of the 1960s and 1970s — have been as successful as any program around.

That’s by design and a major tribute from current OTHS coach Mark Cooper. He’s known Riley since Cooper was a little boy attending his basketball camp and was a major part to two wonderful Riley-coached teams at Illinois Valley Community College.

“He obviously had a great impact on my life, and anything I can do to carry on his name … I owe that to him,” Cooper said. “The things he stood for while he was at Ottawa and the coach at IVCC and the coach of me, I want to carry on those traditions and what our program tries to represent is what he was all about.”

But it’s more than just a bunch of winning seasons, words, and a Thanksgiving tournament that carries the Riley name and was established not long after Cooper took the reins at Ottawa. It’s a matter of respect and the ethics of a man that played a major role in basketball across the Illinois Valley.

“A lot of my sayings and phrases and how I carry myself is a compliment

WHERE are they NOW

8 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

to him,” Cooper said. “He always did things in a first-class manor. He was extremely competitive and organized. He treated kids the right way.

“He had as big an influence on my life, not only coaching and otherwise, that I could ask for.”

Dean Riley’s son, Brad, himself a product of Dean Riley’s coaching at OTHS, could not think of a better tribute to his father.

“It means a lot because, as I grew up, I knew everything he did and how much he loved coaching and what he put into it, the passion he had for it,” Brad Riley said.

“To him, it was all about the people. It’s something he liked not so much for himself, but the chance to be with other people and other people in the profession. It’s something he loved, and we remember that about him.”

Much like Cooper, Brad Riley had the opportunity to learn from Dean Riley as a player in his playing days.

Brad graduated from Ottawa in 1971 and played both

“To him, it was all about the people.

It’s something he liked not so much for himself, but the chance to be with other people and other people in the profession. It’s something he loved, and we remember that about him.”

Brad Riley, son of Dean Riley

basketball and football with his father as coach. It’s an experience he cherishes to this day.

“He was very worried about that because there are challenges to having your dad as a coach,” Brad said. “He was very set on not showing favoritism to anyone. In a lot of ways, he said there are a lot of advantages until you’re the coach of the team, and then that’s a disadvantage.

He bent over backwards to

not show favoritism. But while he was worried about that, I was never worried about it because that’s all I knew. It was him as a coach.

To me, it was nice to have that role and see what he did first-hand. I saw how he went about his business.”

And how he went about his business was as a very competitive, organized and charismatic figure who managed to get the best out of his players, no matter the

strengths or weaknesses. It didn’t matter if it was loaded with talented players who knew each other well like the 1977-78 Ottawa Pirates or a group like the 1987-88 and 1988-89 IVCC squads that featured a mixture of the best from the Illinois Valley and the Peoria areas.

“Wherever we went he would run into people we knew, because he liked to talk, and he liked to tell stories,” Brad Riley said. “He liked to interact with people and help them get along with people. He knew each person was different and put that into coaching and knew how to get the best out of people.

“Each group is different, and I think the one thing he was able to do was blend the styles to put people in the best position to do well. He was able to get the most out of people because he wasn’t stuck on any one way of doing things. It was more of how you build a team to get the most out of everybody.”

In addition to Brad, Dean also has three daughters in Robin, Reggi and Christa.

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 9

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Jerry Zielinski PUTNAM COUNTY Accomplishments • A 1968 PC graduate, he averaged 29.1 points per game his senior year on a 24-1 team; selected as an AllStater and HM All-American • Played at NIU, where he averaged 18 points and 6.8 rebounds per game; at one time he was No. 1 on the NIU career scoring list (1,402 points in 1969-72) • Scored double-digit points 64 times at NIU, 20s 30 times and 30s 10 times in 73 games; holds Chick Evans Fieldhouse scoring record with 46 points in a game • Drafted by ABA Dallas Chapparals (10th round in April 1972), played pro in Mexico • Member of the PC and NIU (player and team) Hall of Fames; Named to NIU AllCentury (2000-01) and All-Time Evans Field House (1998) teams

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

By Bobby Narang

WHERE are they NOW

F

rom the outset, Jerry Zielinski resisted the move to the center position.

Zielinski was a standout on the basketball court in his early years at Putnam County, showcasing next-level moves at a young age. But the 6-foot-5 Zielinski preferred to play the forward spots, handling the ball and showcasing his athletic ability.

Before the start of the 1967-68 season, Putnam County basketball

12 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

coach Joe Massino spoke with Zielinski about moving him to center. Zielinski had other ideas.

“I didn’t want to play with my back to the basket most of the time,” Zielinski said.

“In my junior year, I was a forward. I didn’t agree with Coach Massino’s at first. He thought it would be beneficial for me and the team. It was very difficult for me. I had always played an outside role and handled the ball a lot.

“We would work 30 45 minutes before every practice on turnaround shots and moves, jump shots, moves to the rim and all sort of different drills. As we progressed to our first game, I could see that was the right move. It worked out well.”

It certainly did.

Zielinski, a 1968 Putnam County graduate, averaged 29.1 points in his senior season, leading his team to a 29-1 record. He was selected to the all-state team and earned honorable mention

All-American. Zielinski’s vast athletic career included starring at Northern Illinois, where he averaged 18 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his career. Zielinski, a 1972 NIU graduate, scored 1,402 career points, the most in school history at the time. Zielinski, a member of the NIU Hall of Fame, was drafted by the ABA Dallas Chaparrals in 1972.

Zielinski, who resides in Naples, Fla., credited his move to center to jumpstarting his basketball career.

“The Illinois Valley has had some very good athletes, so I’m honored to be included,” he said.

Before his junior season, Zielinski said his sports career was aided when three high schools — Hennepin, Magnolia-Swaney and Granville — all consolidated to become Putnam County.

Zielinski, who also played baseball and ran track in high school, said he benefitted from the

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He instilled in me the importance of hard work.”

Zielinski said sports paved the way for an enriched life full of memories, meeting countless people and visiting numerous places throughout the world. His met his wife, Barbara, at Northern Illinois.

The couple have been married for 48 years and have three daughters.

“Sports has meant so much to me, from meeting so many great people, starting with Putnam County and at NIU,” he said. “Growing up in a small town and having family support and community support me through high school and even through college was special to me. I got great support from my parents and number of people from the community who used to drive up to Northern Illinois and watch me play. I’ll always cherish the support from the community, and how important Putnam County athletics was to a small town and community.”

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“We had some great teams, especially my last two years playing basketball,” he said. “It can be a tough thing when you have three different great athletes from three schools combining. It was very difficult that first year. We had a lot of success in my senior year.

“That really gave us the opportunity to have more people on your team, play better teams and for us to play in a bigger and better conference.”

Zielinski, nicknamed “Zee” by his high school teammates, said he owes a debt of gratitude to Massino for helping him reach his potential in high school.

Massino also was the baseball coach from 19661975 at Putnam County.

“I’ve always had the greatest respect for Coach Massino,” he said. “My senior year he did what was best for the team.

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Joe Ruklick PRINCETON Accomplishments • Helped to lead PHS to the 1954 and 1955 IHSA Boys Basketball State Tournaments in a one-class system; All State and All-American player • Played college basketball at Northwestern, where he set 16 school records; Named AP and NABC Third-Team All-American in 1959; charter member of Northwestern’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 • Drafted by Philadelphia Warriors in the second round of the 1959 NBA Draft, he played three seasons and 114 games • Credited with the last assist to teammate Walt Chamberlain in Chamberlain’s iconic 100-point game in 1962

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By Brandon LaChance

W

e are all searching for a claim to fame, a reason to be proud or a way to be remembered.

Joe Ruklick didn’t have to try too hard as he has many, many sports and life highlights warranting an induction into the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

The Princeton graduate led the Tigers’ boys basketball team to the state tournament when it was a one-class system in 1954 and 1955 (32-3, finished fourth) for his first taste of success.

“He was extremely proud of the Princeton team and his teammates,” said Grant Ruklick, Joe’s oldest son who is 59 and has lived in Chicago for 35 years. “I remember when I was in junior high and high school, we would make road trips to see his old teammates. He loved those guys. I also remember he spoke real highly of the coach, Don Sheffer (PHS boys basketball coach 1950-65). He said he was the most honorable human being he ever met. My dad had a tremendous amount of respect for Sheffer and his teammates. He was old school like that.”

He went on to Northwestern University where he averaged 19.9

WHERE are they NOW

14 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

points and 13.2 rebounds in 66 games. Ruklick was named to the All-Big Ten Conference First Team his senior year (1958-59) after averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds a game. He is one of 18 players from Northwestern to enter the NBA or WNBA. This was also the time he met someone who would become an extremely close friend, Wilt Chamberlain.

“Wilt and my dad became friends when they played against each other in college,” Grant Ruklick said.

“Wilt was at Kansas and Joe was at Northwestern. They played against each other in Wilt’s first game with Kansas.

Wilt was a phenom. At this time, Northwestern was a top 20 team in the nation. A great line my dad always said was, ‘Wilt and I became friends because Wilt wanted me to teach him my hook shot.’ He would follow it up with, ‘We lost to Kansas that day, but I held Wilt to 52 points.’”

The story of the two friends didn’t end there as Wilt was

“He was extremely proud of the Princeton team and his teammates.

I remember when I was in junior high and high school, we would make road trips to see his old teammates. He loved those guys.”

Grant Ruklick, son of Joe Ruklick

drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors but instead played for the Harlem Globetrotters his first year out of college.

When he was ready to suit up for the Warriors, it was after the Warriors drafted Joe Ruklick in the second round of the 1959 draft. The friends were rookies the same year.

Joe Ruklick’s professional ball player claim to fame is dishing Chamberlain assists for his 99th and 100th points

in the iconic, still-standing record of Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a single game on March 2, 1962 in Hershey, Penn.

“He road that for a long time. He was in the game in Hershey, Penn. and gave Wilt the assist for the 100th point,” Grant Ruklick said.

“My dad was in the game because a lot of players on the team were resentful of Wilt because he was this

freak show, an unstoppable machine. The game was a blow out and he was in the game because the coach knew he would pass Wilt the ball and the other guys wouldn’t. In 1962, it was pure racism.”

Shortly after the game we still talk about today, Joe Ruklick decided it was time for the next chapter of his life — family.

“He got drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959. I was born in Philadelphia. He played three years with the Warriors,” Grant Ruklick said. “In 1962 when I was born, the Philadelphia Warriors were going to move to San Francisco to become what is now the Golden State Warriors.

“I believe the NBA had 10 teams at the time. It was mostly east coast and a couple teams on the west coast. My father decided he didn’t want to move to San Francisco. I was due See Ruklick Page 16

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 15

Ruklick

10 minutes a game and I’m not moving to San Francisco.’

So, he retired in 1962; the FROM PAGE 15 year I was born.”

Grant Ruklick was the first child for Joe and to be born that year and he demanded a trade. The owner Betsy Ruklick (83, lives in Springfield) with two more refused to trade him because sons to follow in Charlie Wilt at the time was the star.

Ruklick (58) and John Ruklick According to what my father (passed away at 50 in 2018). told me, the owner said ‘No, Before Joe Rucklick I’m not trading you because passed away in Sept. 17, we need a white guy to back 2020 at age 82, he had made up Wilt. We can’t have too many memories and life many black guys on this accomplishments as a great team.’ My dad said, ‘My wife father, a public relations is pregnant, I play less than

specialist, a journalist and a fundraiser for Evangelical Hospital Association.

During a six-year stretch, Joe Ruklick wrote for the Chicago Defender, an African-American owned newspaper founded in 1905.

“He was the antithesis of the hardcore parent pushing their kid. He didn’t do that at all. He never pushed us.

He was encouraging,” said Grant Ruklick. “He loved journalism. I think he loved writing more than playing basketball. I remember

reading the editorials and thinking, ‘This is a black newspaper in Chicago with 90 percent African American readership. I wonder if the readers know the guy writing the editorials is a white guy?’

He was very proud of his journalism career.”

Joe Ruklick, always thinking and always motivated to inspire and teach, passed away while working on a book about playing in the NBA during a time where racism was prevalent.

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Ken Gorgal ST. BEDE ACADEMY Accomplishments • A three-sport athlete at SBA, Gorgal played college football at Purdue, where he was a QB, DB and punter; also played CF on the Purdue baseball team • In 1948, he set a Purdue football record that stood for more than 50 years by amassing 138 return yards in a game • Selected by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round of the 1950 NFL Draft as a DB; Played in the NFL for the Browns, Bears and Packers but took a two-year stint in the U.S. Army during the Korean War • Two-time NFL Champion (1950 and 1954 with the Browns) and First Team All-Pro selection in 1953

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By Brandon LaChance

S

WHERE are they NOW

pecializing in a single sport or activities with the same movements was not the norm in the 1940s.

St. Bede graduate Ken Gorgal excelled in every athletic aspect offered to him including football, basketball and baseball.

This was just the beginning of Gorgal (1929-2016) creating a resume undeniable for the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

“It means a lot to us. His roots being in Peru and from St. Bede – he loved St. Bede – coming out of the small town and what it did and provided to him means a lot,” said Mark Gorgal, who was Ken Gorgal’s third child after twins Diane and Denise, and before Renee. “To get this kind of recognition and this honor locally in your hometown area is really something special for him and for us.

“We took him to St. Bede before he passed in 2016 and Diane and I went back in 2019. The love, commitment and endearment the community brought to

See Gorgal Page 19

A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 17

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Gorgal FROM PAGE 17

him as a young man helped develop him into the man he was. It meant a lot to him. In all honesty, I think it meant more to him than the Purdue University and NFL accomplishments.”

After leaving Peru, he played football at Purdue as a quarterback, defensive back and punter while also playing center field for the Boilermakers’ baseball team.

In 1948, Gorgal racked up 138-interception return yards in a game, which stood as the school record for 50 years.

“He would always joke with people and make the All-American stance,” Mark Gorgal said. “He was very proud of the record.”

Playing both sports in college was fun, but he was forced to make a choice upon graduation.

Was he going to move on to the MLB or NFL? “His first love was baseball.

He was actually better in baseball than football and

was signed out of Purdue to a Double-A contract in Texas,” Mark Gorgal said. “But back in the day, baseball was the game in the 1950s with Joe DiMaggio and all those guys.

Football, the pros, was still a part-time job back then. It was tougher to get into pro baseball, but he was really good and he liked it.

“He had a chance to play Double-A in Dallas or play football because he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. He would make less money with the Browns, but it was a solid gig and he would get some work. He took the job with the Browns, but he was that good in baseball.”

The Browns drafted the St. Bede and Purdue graduate in the sixth round of the 1950 draft as a defensive back.

His rookie season didn’t disappoint as Cleveland won the NFL Championship in 1950.

After a two-year stint in the Korean War, Ken Gorgal came back to the Browns in 1953 to play well enough for a First-Team All-Pro selection

and helped win another championship in 1954.

“Back in the day, they worked regular jobs also because they didn’t make enough money,” Mark Gorgal said. “The highest paid athlete at the time was Otto Graham (the Browns quarterback) and he made $6 thousand a year. My dad sold insurance. Guys were selling cars. It’s not like today where they sign for $200 million.

The league was still in it’s infancy and were not filling stadiums back in the 1950s.

“My dad would tell me stories about how him and other players would go out, party and then come and play a game the next day. Those guys were tough and just loved playing the game. In 2014, the Browns celebrated the anniversary of the championships in 1954 and 1964. Jim Brown was there and the camaraderie between all of the players was amazing – a real treat to witness.”

Gorgal played for two more teams before retiring as he was with the Chicago Bears (1955-56) and the Green Bay

Packers (1956).

The funny thing is, Ken Gorgal didn’t really talk about his playing days once he retired.

“We used to hear stories about our grandfather, our dad’s dad, being the athlete.

He played in the pre-pro NFL against George Halas and Bronko Nagurski in the 1920s,” Mark Gorgal said.

“My dad would talk about his dad more than himself because of the guys he played against.

“There was a lot of football in the family. I got the gene too and played at Purdue also.

My dad was an only child and he would say he was his parents’ favorite child.”

Although Gorgal befriended many athletes during his years with St. Bede, Purdue and in the NFL, a few of his dearest friends were reporters as he appreciated the interaction between sports and the written word telling the story.

Whether he was playing sports, reading or choosing friends, there were no specializations.

Congratulations from

St. Bede Academy We congratulate all inductees on their amazing accomplishments!

Kenneth Gorgal ‘46

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL INDUCTEES! Downtown Peru 800-352-7018 1622 Fourth Street Just West of the Post Office

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 19

Congratulations to the Hall of Fame Recipients

T A E S R U O Y F EDGE O P O D C A S T Host Brandon LaChance discusses, jokes, reflects on everything sports and life with a local guest every single episode!

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20 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Alexandra “Zami” (Mogill) Hay STREATOR Accomplishments • Playing for her father at SHS, Mogill was the star pitcher on Streator’s 1983 Class A state championship team, which remains the school’s only state title • Attended Eastern Illinois University, where she was All-Gateway Conference MVP in 1988, a three-time all-conference selection and held 11 school records • An American Softball Association Second Team All-American, she was invited to try out for the Pan American Games • Member of the EIU Hall of Fame, named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team and her likeness is featured in a mural tribute to female athletes at Lantz Arena on the EIU campus

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

By Andy Tavegia

W

hen Alexandra “Zami” (Mogill) Hay walked down the street as a youngster to give Joy Ozretich $5 to join Streator Girls Softball, she thought she was just following the lead of her best friend, Amy Pedelty.

She had no idea the Pandora’s box she was about to open.

“I didn’t know anything about it; I didn’t even know how to spell,” Hay joked. “Our coach said, ‘Write down three positions you want to play.’ I was afraid I would spell ‘Field’ wrong. I thought catcher was safe, so I wrote that down and started as a catcher. It wasn’t really a conscious decision. I think it’s a matter of where you find success you tend to find the love for it.”

If that’s the case, she found plenty of love because success has followed her throughout her softball and her professional lives, including a spot in the Class of 2020-21 in the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

WHERE are they NOW

See Hay Page 22

A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 21

Hay

FROM PAGE 21

That $5 was the beginning of a wonderful career that stretched from SGS to Streator Township High School to a record-holder at Eastern Illinois University.

Ask Hay and she quickly will attribute much of what she learned from her plentiful opportunities – be it in Streator’s youth program or playing in a women’s travel league – to some pretty noteworthy teachers.

While it began with Ozretich’s youth program, it only grew, most notably under the tutelage of her father, the late A. Timothy Mogill, but also Ed Serdar, who discovered her abilities after a pair of pitching camps prior to her freshman year at Streator.

That began a stretch where Hay got a chance to work with some of the biggest names around Illinois softball, including Mark Cantor and then Lyle Day of the Bloomington Hearts.

Through those names, Hay said she learned the most important ingredient to being a successful pitcher in a sport where the workload can get heavy.

“Trust in me,” she said. “I would pitch four, five, six, seven games in a weekend. If I felt like I could do it, they would put me out there. I never wanted to come out. I would say, ‘Put the ball in my hand,’ and they would put the ball in my hand.”

They helped create the face of Streator softball in the early 1980s, a program with a very clear championship pedigree.

That all culminated in 1983 when Streator returned 10 letterwinners, including ace Hay, from a team that went 22-3 and won NCIC and regional championships the previous season.

That experience – plus a huge late-season win over powerful Limestone in the Streator Invitational – told this group there’s nothing wrong with reaching for the stars.

“I think everyone from my generation probably says this, but it was such a simpler time; we didn’t know what

we didn’t know,” she said of that team. “We were just a bunch of girls playing ball and having fun together.

There was a core group of us that were absolutely the best of friends since before kindergarten. It was really organic and natural. “(With the invitational win), my dad noted at the time that, ‘Hey, we might actually have something special here.’”

The Bulldogs lost that invitational championship game to Quincy Notre Dame. But that was alright because revenge can be sweet, as that team found out. Streator defeated the defending state champs 2-1 in the state semifinals right before beating Rich Central 6-2 for the only state title in school history. It remains one of only two female team state championships in area history.

Streator nearly did it again the next year, falling in the state quarterfinals to conclude a 26-2-1 season.

In her four years, Streator amassed an amazing 9917-1 record with four NCIC and regional titles. And that was just the warm up. She moved on to EIU, where she became one of the best in school history and still holds school records for lowest career earned-run average (0.75), wins (78) and innings pitched, to name a few.

Those experiences not only shaped Hay as a hall of fame pitcher, but also as an advocate for equality in women’s sports. She was the driving force behind a Title IX lawsuit against the Indiana school where her children attended. The goal of the lawsuit was to provide equal opportunities for the girls of the school, which did not have equal numbers of levels for all boys and girls sports, including softball (three levels for baseball and only two for softball).

She also has become a success professionally, rising to the position of dean at Thornwood High School in South Holland.

Hay currently calls Kankakee home with her husband, Mel, and has three children – Sofia, Gabriella and Mel.

Photo from June 201 9 Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame Inaugural Banquet

Emcee Lanny Slevin presents the Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction plaque to Nicole (Coates) Schaefbauer at the June 2019 inaugural honoree banquet.

FILE PHOTO

Louis Rios, escorted by his son Mark, accepting the NewsTribune’s first-ever Lanny Slevin Lifetime Achievement Award for his 5 1/2 decades of training and coaching boxing in the Illinois Valley FILE PHOTO

Congratulations to all Class of 20/21 Inductees!

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22 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Mike Goff LA SALLE-PERU Accomplishments • A 1994 L-P alumnus, Goff had 34 tackles, 24 assists and two sacks and received AllAmerican honors from Blue Chip Illustrated his senior year; Was a state qualifier in wrestling his senior year and he finished sixth at Class AA 275 pounds • Played college football at Iowa (1994-1997) where he played in 47 games (24 starts) as an offensive lineman • Drafted in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, he played 12 seasons with the Bengals, Chargers and Chiefs; played in 171 games and started 154 games; First Team Sports Illustrated All-Pro in 2005 • Currently coaches college football at San Diego State; also coached at Western Kentucky University and USC

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

By Brandon LaChance

I

n the 1990s and the 2000s there were only a handful of athletes from the Illinois Valley to make it to the professional sports ranks and stay there for a long period of time.

After Mike Goff graduated from La Salle-Peru in 1994, he played football at the University of Iowa (1994-97) and was then selected in the third round of the 1998 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Through prep football, college gridiron Saturdays, 12 seasons in the pros and currently an assistant coach for San Diego State University, Goff developed a resume worth an induction in the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

“I think anytime you get recognized for doing something it makes you feel good inside,” Goff said. “Just with the people I know in the community to think of me in a way that is Hall of Fame worthy really is a blessing and I’m beyond thrilled to accept the honor of being inducted.

“I think there are a lot of people who have helped me get to this point and without them I wouldn’t have got anything done. I am very blessed, thankful, humbled and it is definitely an honor.”

During his senior year with the Cavaliers, Goff made 34 tackles, 24 assisted tackles and two sacks which earned him All-American honors

WHERE are they NOW

See Goff Page 25 A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 23

CONGRATULATIONS Hall of Fame

IN D UCTEES

From Mayor Ken Kolowski & Peru Ci t y C ounci l M ember s Ci ty Clerk: Dave Bartley Treasurer: Jackson Powe ll 1ST WARD ALDERMEN: Jeff Ballard • Bob Tieman 2ND WARD ALDERMEN: Tom Payton • Jason Edgcomb 3RD WARD ALDERMEN: Dave Waldorf • Mi ke Sapienza 4TH WARD ALDERMEN: Aaron Buffo • Jim Lukosus

www.peru.i l.us 24 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Goff

FROM PAGE 23

from Blue Chip Illustrated.

If you ask Goff, L-P football is what paved the way for the rest of his career.

“One of the great things about La Salle-Peru is Howard Fellows Stadium was and still is one of the premier high school venues in the state, if not the Midwest,” said Goff, who was also a state-qualifying wrestler as a senior placing sixth in Class AA. “When you look back at your high school career and where you got a chance to play – even though our wins and losses didn’t reflect the best – that’s where you cut your teeth.

“I remember practicing with coach Joe Skibinski when I was a freshman. All of the coaches that helped me along the way, they were the ones that got me started and kept encouraging me to always compete and do my best. Now, I get the honor and privilege to try to

encourage young men to give their absolute best if their goal is to be the best football player they can be or if they want to try to get to the NFL. However I can help them, it’s from what I learned from the coaches at L-P. I can’t thank them enough.”

Goff suited up for the Hawkeyes from 1994-97 and played in 47 games with 24 starts as an offensive lineman.

His college play put him on the Bengals’ draft big board and he also played for the San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs during his 12-year career. He played in 171 NFL games with 154 starts. He was a First Team Sports Illustrated All-Pro in 2005.

“It was one of those things that you kind of pinch yourself every now and again to realize it really is a blessed life to get paid to play a kid’s game,” said Goff. “I’m not allergic to money, so I loved the money, but if I was playing for free that would have been fine too because I just loved the game.

“When I got into it I just

Start Unknown.

Finish Unforgettable.

LaSalle-Peru Township

thought, ‘Let’s see where this goes.’ One year turned into two, two turned into three and so on and so forth to where you think you’re going to play for a long time. Unfortunately, my shoulder gave out when I was 33. I had surgery on it, I rebounded but at that point no one was really looking for a 34-year old. It was time to move on and try to get something else going and that led me to coaching.”

Goff and his family – wife Jessica of 12 years and his 11-year old daughter Harper – are currently all under the same roof full time as Goff is back with SDSU, but there was a six-year stretch where he didn’t see his family much.

After volunteer coaching at SDSU under Brady Hoke in 2010 (earned his degree) and 2011, Goff interned with the Carolina Panthers, coached at a San Diego high school for a year and was going to be a tight end coach with Colorado State University Pueblo when a grad assistant position opened at USC.

The Trojans housed Goff’s love for football and coaching for four years until he accepted an offer at Western Kentucky University.

SDSU and Hoke came calling two years later and now Goff is back with his family and the Aztecs, where he is a lineman coach.

“It takes me 20 minutes door to door and it’s fantastic,” Goff said. “I get to see the new stadium that is coming for the 2022 season.

It’s coming along nicely.

Ever since the Chargers left San Diego, we’re really going to get a chance to showcase the university. We’ll be the hot football ticket in town because we’re the only football ticket in town.

When fans get a chance to really see the stadium and what the experience will be like, I think it’ll be one of the hottest tickets around.”

The only way Goff would leave SDSU and the California lifestyle and weather is if the Chicago Bears called him to be the offensive line coach.

Saluting those that surpassed the finish line Congratulations to all inductees!

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Gold

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Thank You to Our Sponsors

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NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2019 Joe Rutgens, La Salle-Peru Eric Siebert, La Salle-Peru J.A. Happ, St. Bede Shawn Jeppson, Hall Kailey Klein, Hall Steve Safranski, Putnam County Bill Brown, Mendota Nicole (Coates) Schaefbauer, Princeton Gil Love, Ottawa

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26 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Ray Jauch MENDOTA Accomplishments • After graduating from Mendota, he played college football at Iowa, where he was a RB and member of Iowa’s 1958 national championship team; Led the nation in yards per carry in 1958 season • Drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1960 AFL Draft, went to Winnipeg to launch his pro career in the CFL, career came to an abrupt halt after an injury in the 49th Grey Cup • Coached in the Canadian Football League, the United States Football League, and the Arena Football League as well as high school and college • In the CFL, he won three CFL Grey Cups, named two-time CFL Coach of the Year and is the sixth winningest coach in CFL history

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Brandon LaChance

F

ootball was not Ray Jauch’s first love when it came to sports.

Actually, competing with baseball and basketball, the pigskin may have been the third option for the 1956 Mendota graduate.

When offered a scholarship to play football with the University of Iowa, the ranks changed.

“I played everything. I kind of liked baseball and basketball better than football,” Jauch said. “When I went out to Iowa, things worked out pretty well for me. I was on scholarship to play football, so I didn’t play the others. I went out for freshman basketball, but I didn’t make the team.

“I had a chance to go to Kansas to play basketball.

The coach out there wrote me a letter and asked me to walk on. If I would have done that, I would have played with Wilt Chamberlain on the freshman team.”

Iowa blossomed the running back’s love and skill for the game as he helped the Hawkeyes win the 1958 National Championship while leading the nation in yards per carry.

When it was time to graduate in 1960, the Buffalo Bills of the newly founded AFL (created to compete with the NFL) drafted Jauch in the inaugural draft.

Instead of playing for a new league, Jauch wanted a solid foundation with longevity.

“I was drafted by Buffalo and I guess I could have gone, but people don’t remember the few years before when the AFL was the new league to compete with the NFL. It ended up going under. Here I had a chance to go to Canada and play in a

WHERE are they NOW

See Jauch Page 28 A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 27

Jauch

“I played everything. I kind of liked baseball and basketball better than football. When I went out to Iowa, things worked out pretty well for me. I was on scholarship to play football, so I didn’t play the others.”

FROM PAGE 27

league that had been around for 80 years. It wasn’t going to fold. I had to decide if I wanted to take a chance on the new AFL. “I didn’t feel there was much choice there. I went up to Canada to play and I’m glad I did. It gave me the background I needed to go on to coaching. It was a great experience for me. It’s a great country. The people were wonderful.”

Jauch was with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL and helped them reach the 49th Grey Cup in 1960. During the Cup, Jauch suffered a career-ending torn Achilles and didn’t play again.

Hold the sorrow, Jauch furthered his NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame credentials by coaching in the CFL (1970-82), the United States Football League, Arena Football League, high schools and the college ranks.

“I thought it was an honor

Ray Jauch to even be thought of for the Hall of Fame,” Jauch said. “I know some of the guys who went in the last time and I know some of the guys who are in this Hall of Fame class very well. It’s an honor to be inducted with them.”

Jauch coached the Edminton Eskimos (1970-76) and led the team to three Grey Cup appearances and one Grey Cup win in 1975.

He won the Coach of the Year in 1970 and again in 1980 when he was coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

His 127 wins makes him the sixth winningest coach in CFL history.

Locally, Jauch is known as a founding father of the Mendota Quarterback Club.

“It came up in a conversation with Phil Bodine (former MHS football and baseball coach) and I,” Jauch said. “Phil had seen a club started in the suburbs of Chicago and we decided, ‘We can do the same thing here in Mendota.’

The kids in town needed something to generate some finances so we could get them the best equipment.

“Football has gotten a bad name and parents don’t want their kids playing because of injuries and concussions.

We wanted to supply Mendota players with the best equipment and not offer faulty equipment. We raised money so they could have the protection they needed. It would also help the parents have confidence their kid wasn’t going to get hurt.”

The Mendota native had moved across the country for quite some time including spending the last 20 years in North Carolina.

Traffic, rapid expansion and how long it took him to get a loaf of bread, made Jauch decide to move back to Mendota in July 2021.

The chances of him traveling are still high as his son Jeff is in Wisconsin, John and Jim are in North Carolina and Joey lives in Virginia.

“I’ve lived an interesting life. I don’t regret it,” Jauch said. “There are some parts I wish I had to do over again, but you don’t get a second chance in life. It comes by once and that’s it. If you don’t do it right, it’s not going to get right the second because there isn’t going to be a second time.”

YOU HAVE MADE US PROUD!

Congrats to Mendota Alumni

Ray Jauch On Being a Member of the Class of 2020-21!

Mendota is Proud of You! From Your Time at Mendota HS to college and the pros, you’ve made Mendota proud!

Congratulations Ray Jay! Mendota High School and Mendota Quarterback Club

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1103 Main Street • Mendota • 815-539-3878

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 29

Hall alumnus Shawn Jeppson (right) shares a story with the crowd and host Lanny Slevin during the 2019 NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

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30 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

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You Made us Proud MAYOR: David W. Boelk • CITY CLERK: Emily J. McConville mendota.il.us • emcconville@mendotacity.com A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 31

Ron Zagar DEPUE Accomplishments • A 1957 DePue alumnus, Zagar scored 1,014 points his senior season and averaged 37.6 points and 15 rebounds per game • Scored 2,514 career points, which remains the most career points ever scored by an area boys or girls basketball player • Played college basketball at Iowa from 1957-61 • Played in the American Basketball League in 1961 and averaged 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in his 79-game career

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Bobby Narang

A

t the time, Ron Zagar wasn’t very happy about his position change in basketball.

But now, the 1957 DePue High School chuckled at the thought of how a 5-foot-10 center became one of the most decorated athletes in Illinois Valley sports history.

Zagar, 82, is one of the inductees into the Class of 2020-21 NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame. He played two sports in his illustrious high school career, starring in basketball and baseball — the only two sports offered at the time.

Zagar, a Spring Valley resident, is also a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Bureau County Hall of Fame.

“Sports has been everything in my life,” Zagar said.

“The is my third hall of fame now. All three have been wonderful feeling. I feel honored to be included with some of these great athletes, but a lot of people contributed to me being inducted. It’s funny to me because I was a 5-10 center. I jumped the ball at the start of the game.

“It’s been 64 years since I graduated from high school, so not too many people can remember me. I think I’ve got two teammates left in the area. This is a last hurrah, so I feel honored. Each one was a great honor, but this one being Illinois Valley ranks up with rest of them. I’m honored and surprised, and humbled in a way, too.”

Zagar said sports opened up many doors for a kid from a small school with a current enrollment of 109 students. Zagar said, “I loved basketball and our community, still to this day.”

He scored 1,014 points in his senior season, averaging a robust

WHERE are they NOW

32 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

37.6 points and 15 rebounds for DePue. He finished with 2,514 points, which is the most in school and area history. Zagar played three years at Iowa, and had a oneyear stint in the American Basketball League, where he averaged 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his 79-game professional career.

But Zagar prefers not to dwell on his personal accomplishments or wide number of honors. He praised his teammates for helping him become a well-rounded player.

Zagar admitted one of his biggest athletic achievements was earning one of the allstate honors in his senior year at DePue. “I can’t stress the fact that my teammates were so great and my family and the community were so wonderful,” he said. “I never dreamed I would experience all of this from basketball.”

His prodigious athletic talents allowed him to seek

“I just always took a liking to basketball, and DePue had a history of being a fine basketball community and I followed it and just stuck with it. Little did I know it would take me this far.”

Ron Zagar

bigger pastures, away from his small-town roots. Zagar’s basketball career included playing against Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Connie Hawkins and Oscar Robertson. Zagar said one of his biggest thrills in his athletic career was competing against Robertson in college. In a Sports Illustrated article from Jan. 4,

1990 on the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, Zagar was called a “pintsized guard” by the writer.

Robertson scored 50 points in Cincinnati’s win over Iowa, while Zagar scored a career-high 21 points.

“I never dreamed that I would play one day at Chicago Stadium and Madison Square Garden,”

Zagar said. “Oscar Robertson was the greatest player I’ve ever seen, still to this day.”

Zagar said he always dreamed of playing basketball at a high level.

His passion for the game started when he was a young child, playing in a 20-foot hallway in his house with a make-shift basket on each end. Zagar, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Braves baseball organization, nearly played football at Iowa.

But he elected to stick with basketball, despite the urging of then-Iowa football coach and eventual Minnesota Vikings coach Jerry Burns.

“I just always took a liking to basketball, and DePue had a history of being a fine basketball community and I followed it and just stuck with it,” he said. “Little did I know it would take me this far.”

Zagar said his two sons, sister, nephew and brotherin-law are his remaining family members.

We Are Proud of You! Congratulations to DePue alumnus RON ZAGAR On Being a Member of the Class of 2020–21 Village of DePue

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 33

D.J. Glynn HALL Accomplishments • A 1999 Hall High School graduate, Glynn won seven IHSA State Track and Field medals during his prep career • Won four Class A state titles (100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter and the high jump) in 1999 and helped Hall to a Class A second-place team finish • Holds three NewsTribune all-time area records (100, 200 and 400), which is the most by a male athlete • A three-year starter on the Red Devil football team, he was a member of the 1996 state runner-up team • Ran for 1,709 carries and 8.5 yards per carry his senior season SUBMITTED PHOTOS

By Brandon LaChance

W

hen you think of the name D.J. Glynn, track and field is the first connection.

However, it isn’t if you ask the Hall Class of 1999 graduate because football is his first love.

“Ever since I was a little kid and I saw the captain pictures – all the guys who played before us – in the grade school and I said, ‘I want to be on that poster one day,’” said Glynn. “I wanted to be a Red Devil football captain and I wanted to be a starting running back. Football in that era, football was everything in Spring Valley. It’s the brotherhood. You go through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the blood, sweat and tears together as a family. It’s discipline, hard work and it’s not easy. Life is not easy.

“If you can make it through football, you can excel in life. There are way more life lessons in football than people realize. You go in as a young kid wanting to play ball, but you come out as young men.

You learn how to work together and to have your brother’s back. It’s an incredible atmosphere.”

Glynn was a three-year starter for the Red Devil football team, was a sophomore on the 1996 state-runner up team and led the 1997

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34 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

team to the semifinals.

As a senior, he ran for 1,709 yards on 200 carries for 8.5 yards per carry.

Glynn will tell you to this day he had the best linemen ever. They helped him realize how fast he was just like track opponents.

“To be fast is one thing, but it takes fast people to make you even faster. It takes people to push you.

It’s guys even from other schools that you run next to on the track that make you better,” Glynn said. “I knew I was fast as a freshman and I was on the varsity relay team. Going into my junior year, I was returning kicks and if I had an opening – I was gone. By Week 3 of my senior year, I really learned how to be a running back and read the blocks and the linemen. If I got to the second level, I was gone and dared people to catch me. I was like, ‘Wow, all the weight lifting really paid off.”

Although football is

Glynn’s first love, track is where the championships came.

Track is also where Glynn became an obvious inductee for the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

In his four years, Glynn won seven IHSA State Meet medals. However, if you were at Eastern Illinois University in 1999, you saw the senior do something special as he won four Class A state titles (100-meter, 200, 400 and high jump) while helping Hall finish second as a team.

Glynn had 40 of the Red Devils 45 points.

“The Hall of Fame is a milestone of the hard work, effort, determination and the willingness to not give up,” Glynn said. “It’s proof of what shows from hard work. All those hours from 3:30-8 p.m. training, lifting and practice after everyone else went home.

I guess I made up my mind after junior year. I told

myself, ‘I’m coming back to state and I’m winning everything.’”

The Red Devil alum is the only male athlete to hold three NewsTribune all-time records as his name still sits next to the fastest 100, 200 and 400.

After high school, Glynn became a truck driver who also partakes in demolition and large equipment side jobs. He is currently working on 2.4 million miles on a truck during 22 years on the road.

When he is not on the road, he is enjoying life with his wife of 16 years, Elizabeth, and their three children Landon (15), Dylan (13) and Eli Mae (9).

“I’m happy with my life,” Glynn said. “You can have all of the fame and fortune in the world and all the money, but what I have with my wife, my kids, my family, my friend family, money can’t buy that. Fame can’t take the place of that.

I’m completely happy with

the way my life has turned out.

“The struggles a young, married couple goes through with finances, it’s all come around where life and finances are easy. My wife is a nurse. We work great together. My kids have a good life. I’m content.”

It has all come full circle as those very lessons he learned on the football field carried over to his family and to his profession.

“I’ve been kicked down so many times in life. It would have been easy to give up and walk away. I could have quit and thrown in the towel,” Glynn said.

“I was too stubborn to give up and too determined to quit. I jumped back up. It’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about how quick you get back up.

“That’s the same thing on the football field. You get knocked down, jump back up and say, ‘Give me some more.’”

Congratulations Hall Alumnus

DJ Glynn On Your Hall of Fame Induction!

You have made our community proud.

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 37

1985-86 Ohio Boys Basketball BASKETBALL TEAM

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Andy Tavegia

T

o tell the story of the 1985-86 Ohio Bulldogs, you have to go back a few years to 1979-80.

That’s when a fellow by the name of Brad Bickett moved into town. Known as a diverse and multi-talented athlete, he joined a group of Bulldogs that already had been playing together for a few years.

Bickett provided the final piece to a difficult yet tiny puzzle that few teams across the state could solve in the mid 1980s.

For three seasons, Ohio High School – with an enrollment less than 70 -- won 79 of 88 games and climbed all the way to the state championship game.

This wasn’t a team of head toppers; the tallest player only was 6-foot-2 in. But it was a group of players where everybody knew his role to provide a suffocating defense with a strong full-court press and an offense so fundamental it wound up with two players scoring more than 2,000 points.

And ask the players of that team, that’s what made it so difficult to stop.

“It was probably the most unselfish team I have ever played on,” said Lance Harris, an all-stater and one of those two 2,000-point scorers along with Bickett. “From Tim (Farraher), to the Doran boys (Dan, Dave and Doug), to Darren (Schultz), everybody played a role at a different time.

Where Brad and I got a lot of the press and all-state honors and everything, none of that would have been reachable or obtainable for us or the team if it wasn’t for all the unselfish dirty work that the other players were willing to put in. It was on the press, in the offense setting screens for Brad and I,

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38 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Accomplishments • Coached by legendary coach Lloyd Johnson, the Bulldogs went 29-3 and finished second in the 1986 IHSA Class A State Tournament • The school remains the smallest school enrollment (69 students) to ever play for a state title in any sport • At the state tournament, the Bulldogs beat Decatur St. Teresa (73-50) and Frankfurt (45-43) before falling to Teutopolis (82-45) in the state title game • Seniors Brad Bickett and Lance Harris were named to the five-person AllTournament Team

or guarding the best players sometimes.

It was just a group, team effort, which it had to be. Everybody had to box out, everybody had to play defense.

Everybody had to do their thing to perfection for us to be successful against the good teams.”

The best example may have been the sectional championship game in that 1985-86 season.

In front of another overflow house, this one at Princeton, Ohio trailed an undefeated Newark team – a team with far superior height and a future Division I player in Larry Hilt -- that many considered to be the clear favorite for the state crown by two in the closing minute. In the midst of a timeout prior to a clutch freethrow attempt, coach Lloyd Johnson remembers the mood fondly.

“Just before we broke that huddle, little Dave Doran, a little left-hander, says to me, ‘Coach, they’ve gone into a zone and they’re leaving me open 15 feet out. They don’t even come out and guard me. What do you want me to do if I get the ball?’” Johnson said. “I said, ‘Shoot it, Dave. You’re the best shot on the team.’ Lance was standing there and heard it and said, ‘Yeah, Dave, shoot it.’

So what happens? Hilt missed the front end of that one-and-one, which See Ohio Page 40

CONGRATULATIONS! 1985/1986 OHIO BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM

On Being Inducted Into The Hall of Fame

We We Are Are So So Proud Proud of of You You all! all!

— OHIO COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT —

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Ohio

FROM PAGE 39

was grabbed by Farraher, the undersized muscle man and accomplished rebounder. He gets the ball to Harris, who finds Dave Doran 15 feet away for a jump shot that ties the game.

“That’s the kind of kids that we had,” Johnson said.

Farraher grabbed another clutch rebound the next trip down, setting up Bickett for the game-winner and Ohio’s second consecutive sectional title.

“I can still see that ball going up and up and up and then down through the basket,” Johnson said. “The roof went off the gym. It was just a fairytale type of book, something like ‘Hoosiers.’”

It may have sounded like a Hollywood script, but the story was quite real. It continued with blowout wins over Marengo in the supers and Decatur St. Teresa in the state quarterfinals before a narrow 45-43 win over

Frankfort in the semifinals.

The amazing Cinderellalike run had a bittersweet conclusion with a tough 82-45 loss in the state championship game to Teutopolis, the only team other than Annawan to beat Ohio in 85-86. But that didn’t at all dampen what remains one of the greatest high school basketball stories not only in the Illinois Valley, but also the state of Illinois. No school that small ever has played in a state championship game.

“I think this group always kind of played for our community,” Bickett said.

“It’s small school basketball.

It’s what everyone attached themselves to. This group really wanted to do it for our community because we knew that we made our people in Ohio pretty proud and around Bureau County. That meant a lot to this group, not only playing for ourselves and our coaches, but playing for everyone. That was kind of neat.”

CONGRATS TO BUREAU VALLEYS’ BRAD BICKETT! 1985/1986 Ohio Boys Basketball Team Illinois Valley Hall of Fame Team Inductee

1985/86 Ohio Basketball Team

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Photo from June 201 9 Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame Inaugural Banquet

Brad “Thunder” Bickett

Congratulations From Your Bureau Valley Storm Family. Thank you for all that you have done for us.

We are so Proud of you!

Nick Guerrini and other members of the 1995 Hall High School Football Team accept their 2019 IV Sports Hall of Fame induction plaque from emcee Lanny Slevin.

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FILE PHOTO

Gary Novak LA SALLE-PERU Accomplishments • A 1970 La Salle-Peru graduate, Novak was a twotime AP All-State selection who averaged 24.0 points and 14.7 rebounds per game at L-P • Named First Team All-State by the Chicago Daily News, Chicago Today, Rockford Morning Star, Champaign News-Gazette and was an Honorary Captain of Prep Sports Special • Three-year starter at Notre Dame, Novak played in 85 straight games and was a member of the 1974 team that ended UCLA’s 88-game winning streak • Drafted in the fifth round of the 1974 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Bobby Narang

R

ight before the start of his junior season at La Salle-Peru High School, Dr. Gary Novak’s life underwent a dramatic change.

Novak, a 1970 L-P graduate, remains a well-known name around the state. He set many records in an illustrious basketball career at L-P and the University of Notre Dame.

But Novak showed little signs of becoming a breakout player early in his high school career.

“At that time, I was not that good of a basketball player for the first couple of years (of high school),” Novak said. “I was on the sophomore ‘B’ team. But then, I grew almost six or seven inches in a short timespan. Late in my sophomore year is when I hit that growth spurt. Suddenly, everything took off.”

At 6-foot-7, Novak had the height to become a game-changing player. He could score inside or outside, and dominated smaller opponents in the post. Novak, who’s among the inductees into the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame, went on to a storied career in basketball. Novak, a two-time Associated Press

WHERE are they NOW

See Novak Page 42 A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 41

Novak FROM PAGE 41

All-State selection, averaged 24 points and 14.7 rebounds per game at L-P. In his senior season, he guided the Cavaliers to a 29-3 record and an Elite Eight appearance in the state tournament.

Novak, 67, said his basketball career played a big part in helping him reach his ultimate goal of being a doctor. Novak said he plans to retire this fall after 40 years in practice in Chicagoland.

“When I grew, it showed me I could learn how to play different positions on the team and be successful,” he said. “At L-P, I played mostly center my senior year, but in college, I played forward and some center as well.

“I really had a desire to strengthen my game, play the best that I could. I think I really had an advantage in particular in high school with being that tall. There were not a lot of players taller than that in high school at

“I always wanted to be a doctor. I never thought of basketball becoming a profession. ... I’m really proud to be a Cavalier. Sports was a great experience for me, especially to be a member of some great teams. I have some really fond memories playing for L-P.” Gary Novak

the time. I worked pretty hard to try and improve my skills in basketball. We had some tremendous teams at L-P, both in my junior and senior years.”

A three-year starter at Notre Dame, Novak set a school record by starting in 85 straight games in his Irish career. Just over 50 years ago, Novak played in one of the most historic games in NCAA history when his Irish team ended UCLA’s 88game winning streak. Novak,

called “Goose” by his Notre Dame teammates, takes pride in getting drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fifth round of the 1974 NBA Draft. He admitted to not having any ambition to seek out a professional career. In 1972, Novak was among a group of American players that traveled to Russia and played several games against teams from Russia and Finland.

“I always wanted to be a doctor,” he said. “I

Hard Work - Perseverance Learning - Studying - Sacrifice We Salute this year’s Inductees!

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never thought of basketball becoming a profession. I was fortunate to be on some pretty amazing teams over the years, in high school and college. I’m really proud to be a Cavalier. Sports was a great experience for me, especially to be a member of some great teams. I have some really fond memories playing for L-P.” Novak, an inductee into the La Salle-Peru Hall of Honor, credited his wife of 43 years and three kids for supporting him throughout his career.

“My mom and dad were avid basketball fans,” Novak said. “My mom was particularly interested in seeing me play basketball in high school and college. She would cut out the articles from locals newspapers and made scrapbooks of my career in high school and college. I’ve had a lot of people influence through the years. I’m so thankful for the opportunities that I’ve received due to sports and my time at L-P and Notre Dame.”

Congratulations to all of the Inductees!

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Mary Dagraedt LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Accomplishments

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Bobby Narang

T

o say Mary Dagraedt was a star athlete is an understatement.

Simply classifying Dagraedt is a difficult task considering her amazing playing and coaching career.

Born in La Salle in 1931, Dagraedt was a trendsetter on many levels in sports, but mainly she inspired young women through her coaching and dedication to sports.

Dagraedt passed away on July 1, 2019, due to complications from a stroke on Nov. 2, 2018. She was 88. Dagraedt is among a group of inductees into the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

The Illinois State graduate became a local golf legend through her teaching and writing career. At Illinois State, she played badminton, field hockey, volleyball, basketball and tennis.

She was the co-founder of the Illinois Valley Women’s Golf Invitational in 1958, and coauthored a book with Bruce Fossum, “Golf,” on the rules of golf in 1974.

But Dagraedt was a pioneer in the Illinois Valley area, and later in South Florida. She also made countless contributions to various charities and always helped out an athlete in need.

“She was such a humanitarian and loved people and

• Former head professional at Spring Creek Golf Course where she still holds the course record; taught golf lessons at six courses in the Illinois Valley • Coached at Miami-Dade North Community College and Florida International University simultaneously, sending over 70 students to the LPGA to pursue careers either on the tour or as teaching/coaching Professionals • Only person to receive all three of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professional top honors: National Teacher of the Year in 1974, National Coach of the Year in 1981 and National Professional of the Year in 1984 • Co-authored a book “Golf” in 1974 on the rules of golf; she was appointed as the first certified official in the history of golf by the PGA • Member of the Illinois State University Athletics Hall of Fame, LPGA Teaching & Coaching Hall of Fame, National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame, Florida Community College Activities Hall of Fame & the Sports Society Hall of Fame

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animals,” her niece, Kathy Rossi said. “I still get her mail and she’s been gone for two years. She donated to save the donkeys. She gave to everything. She shared her money with the world. She inspired me to be a giving person. She was a wonderful person who inspired you to be the best person you could be. She never broke a rule in golf, and was the same way in life. She led a good clean life and followed the rules.”

In 1951, Dagraedt turned to golf to fill her time.

Despite limited knowledge of the complex game, the sport turned into a lifelong passion that inspired hundreds of athletes in a 38-year run as the head professional at Spring Creek Golf Course in Spring Valley. She still holds the course record at Spring Creek.

She taught golf lessons at six courses in Illinois Valley and was the head golf professional at Hollywood Lakes Country Club in Florida.

“She loved golf so much, for that came first, but she also loved her family very dearly. She followed her love of golf and that became her life. My nephew, David, tried out for the PGA and just missed it by a couple strokes. That was wonderful for her to see one of her family members follow in her footsteps.”

Kathy Rossi, niece of Mary Dagraedt

“She loved golf so much, for that came first, but she also loved her family very dearly,” Rossi added. “She followed her love of golf and that became her life. My nephew, David, tried out for the PGA and just missed it by a couple strokes. That was wonderful for her to see one of her family members follow in her footsteps.”

A member of five Hall

CONGRATULATIONS! To All the Inductees in the Class of 2020-21

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of Fames — Illinois State, the LPGA Teaching and Coaching Hall of Fame, the National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame, the Florida Community College Activities Hall of Fame and the Sports Society Hall of Fame — Dagraedt is the only person to receive all three of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional top honors. She was named the National

Teacher of the Year in 1974, the National Coach of the Year in 1981 and the National Professional of the Year in 1984.

Always known for her love for clothing, Dagraedt was voted in the Top 10 Best Dressed Women by Golf Digest at one time. She became a staple in the South Florida golf scene, leading the Miami-Dade North Community College women’s golf team to 18 straight state championships along with national titles in 1980 and 1981.

Rossi said her aunt was an influential person in countless ways for athletes.

“Mary’s passion for life didn’t end on the golf course,” Rossi said. “She was the most compassionate, generous person you could ever know, giving to over 50 charities every year and never turning her back on a friend.

Mary was often more like a mother than a coach to the members of her golf team, often providing housing, meals and clothing.”

Climbing the steps of success isn’t always easy.

We salute the inductees who reached the top in excellence!

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Art Kimball DISTINGUISHED MEDIA AWARD Accomplishments • His 56-year broadcasting career in radio and TV included a stop as the Sports Director at WLPO and WCMY in Ottawa as well as Carmi, Ill., and Frankfort, Ind.; also the sports director at what is now WHOI-TV in Peoria • Original host of The IHSA Sports Report, handled playby-play duties for Illinois State football and men’s basketball teams in the early 1980s and in later years was the voice for Illinois Wesleyan athletics • Longtime emcee for the annual IBCA Hall of Fame Banquet • Received the first Broadcast Pioneer Award from the Illinois Broadcasters Association in 2008

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

By Andy Tavegia

A

rt Kimball called games everywhere from Madison Square Garden to Assembly Hall to Redbird Arena.

But ask his son, Steve Kimball, and you might just hear he’d much prefer the likes of Kingman Gym, Bader Gym, or Mendota gym.

That’s because he felt Art had a deep connection to those in the Illinois Valley.

“It makes me feel good that he’s getting recognized because that was his favorite place to work,” Steve Kimball said. “I just remember that he was really well-respected and really well-liked. And he liked the people, too, because generally speaking they were (straight shooters). And that’s how my dad spent his entire life.”

In an area filled with notable media personalities, Kimball was one of the first. He spent plenty of time throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s becoming the voice of many great sports moments in either Ottawa, La Salle-Peru or Mendota.

But the very first may have been his favorite.

After a stint in Indiana, Kimball brought his booming

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46 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

baritone voice to Ottawa in 1959-60 to work for WCMY-AM –- just in time to see an Ottawa High School basketball team that was ranked No. 1 in the state for a time and wound up finishing 31-2 with a trip to the state quarterfinals.

A daytime station only back in those days, Art would bring a wollensak recorder to those games and record them to have them air the following day on WCMY before the sun would go down.

Kev Varney, native of Ottawa and a sports historian who worked with Art in the 1980s at WJBC in Bloomington, said Art couldn’t believe how welcoming legendary OHS coach and Class of 2019 NewsTribune’s Illinois Sports Hall of Famer Gil Love was that first year.

“He welcomed him to town, gave him the time

of day, gave as much of the information that he needed to prepare for the broadcast,” Varney said. “(He told me that) after talking to Gil, he said if people are like this in Ottawa, things are going to be alright.”

The relationships just kept developing, which was not at all difficult for Art in the Illinois Valley.

It didn’t matter if it was at WCMY, Ottawa’s WOLI, La Salle’s WLPO, or Mendota’s WGLC, all of which featured Art’s talents at various stints between 1959 and 1989.

And by all accounts, those in the Illinois Valley loved him just as much as he loved the Valley. Take for instance La Salle-Peru’s outstanding 1967-68 team, led by Gary Novak, which went 27-5 and reached the state quarterfinals. Those Cavaliers developed quite a

NOMINATIONS:

Do you have someone you feel should be included in the future classes of the Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame?

rapport with the red-headed broadcaster with a bald spot.

“The L-P kids would see Art basically setting up in the gym at A.J. Sellett Gymnasium,” Varney said, “and they would yell up, ‘Hey, Art!’ All of a sudden, they would salute him by pulling out their combs.

And Art would pull his out and would comb over, and the kids loved it.”

Even since he passed on in 2010, the relationships endure. Visit any school around the Illinois Valley and mention Art Kimball and chances are you will find someone with a story or a warm smile.

“He loved the Illinois Valley, he loved the sports and the kind of kids they had up here,” Steve Kimball said. “In my opinion, and I went to school with a lot of these kids, there are tougher kids up there.

He just enjoyed working people. He enjoyed being able to go into a tavern and be able to say hi to two or three people. The way he remembered names was incredible. Even when he got sick at the end he would fake like he remembered names.”

It was more than just his personality they liked though. It also was his dedication and professionalism.

“Number one, his preparation was second to none,” Varney said.

“Number two, another reason he really stood out was he really cared about the small communities and the schools in those communities. He figured they were the only game in town, let’s play them up.

And I think that’s one of the selling points on why so many people liked Art Kimball.”

Your Home for L-P Cavalier & Hall Red Devil Football

e-mail your nominations (with statistics and the reason you feel they should be considered) to:

Jeanette Smith: jmsmith@shawmedia.com *we have accumulated a list of hundreds of names but we are always looking to add to it.

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 47

Lowell “Pops” Dale LEGACY AWARD - INDIVIDUAL Accomplishments • Coached the Bulldogs for 28 years, during which he compiled a record of 500-247 (67% winning percentage) • Led nine different Streator teams to the state finals in a one-class system, won 13 of 15 district titles from 19201935, and five Big 12 Conference titles • Best season was in 1941-42 when the team went a 31-2 record and qualified for the state tournament • Served as president of Illinois Valley and Big 12 Coaches Associations; inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame in 1974 • The Streator High School gymnasium is named in his honor

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

By Brandon LaChance

D

id you ever wonder why the Streator High School gymnasium is named the Pops Dale Gym? If you were around in the mid-1900s there would be no reason to be curious or even have to investigate. What Lowell “Pops” Dale was able to do as the coach of the Bulldogs boys basketball team rang loudly across Illinois.

Pops held the reins of the Streator program for 28 years from his inaugural season in 1918-19 until his last in 1945-46. Through his basketball empire he amassed a record of 500-247 (67%), led nine different Bulldog teams to the state finals in a one-class system, won 13 of 15 district titles from 1920-35, placed five Big 12 Conference titles in the Streator trophy case and won 20 or more games in 11 seasons.

As a high school hoops coach he had 12 20-win seasons and 10 state tournament appearances as he coached DuQuoin in 1917-18 to a 21-7 mark and the state finals.

At this point, Pops had already built a tradition and legacy worth being inducted into the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame, but he didn’t stop there.

The iconic coach had his best season in 1941-42 as the Bulldogs finished 31-2 and qualified for the state tournament.

From 1946-2021 and as the class system expanded, Streator has won 20 games or more in eight seasons, earned eight regional titles, one sectional championship and has not been to the state tournament.

After his coaching days were done, Pops served as president of the Illinois

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48 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

Valley Coaches Association and the Big 12 Coaches Association. The basketball man was involved for many decades in any aspect he could.

His dedication and success led him to an induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1974. Pops passed away in March 1974, but he already knew about his induction and was thrilled to be part of the Illinois basketball family.

Streator alumnus Doug Dieken (right) is congratulated by host Lanny Slevin during the 2019 NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

FILE PHOTO

CONGRATS TO ALL INDUCTEES!

Congrats to All the Inductees!

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A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 49

1945 Walnut Football Team LEGACY AWARD - TEAM Accomplishments

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Brandon LaChance

T

he walk past a certain residential lot in Walnut might be stimulating to some.

Before the land gave structure to living rooms, kitchens and bed rooms, stood Walnut High School. Through the hallways many students and athletes from 1890-1995 – before it’s demolition in the late 1990s – wore the royal blue and white colors of some of the best high school football teams around, the Walnut Blue Raiders.

The 1945 Walnut team was one of the best gridiron shows available in the state as it was the only squad in 1945 to be undefeated at 7-0 and the only team to not be scored on as it outscored the competition 126-0.

Blue Raider nation saw victories over Princeton, Wyoming, Bradford, Toulon, Wethersfield, Galva and Sterling as Walnut went onto win the Blackhawk Conference Championship. Walnut had entered the BCC in 1942 and won the conference championship in 1943. The championship in 1945 was the second of 14 Blackhawk championships before Walnut left the conference in 1977 for the Indian Valley Conference.

Walking past what is now known as Raider Park, which hosts the youth soccer program, you may still envision the crowd chanting the Walnut fight song that echoed through the football field in 1945.

In the tune of the Ferris State University fight song, the words howled: “Cheer on those Raiders, watch them fight Boost those Raiders, they’re alright We’ll stand by the blue and white Fight! Fight! Fight!

Raiders of Walnut High Steer the Raider varsity Cheer the team to victory Fight you mighty Raiders and Gain another victory!!!

R-R-R-A-I...D-D-D-E-R-S R-A-I...D-E-R-S RAIDERS!!!”

The students and athletes of today who would have joined the ranks as Walnut alums now align with Manlius, Wyanet and Buda Western to form Bureau Valley High School in Manlius.

But in 1945, the Blue Raiders were in Walnut and running through the competition led them to an induction in the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

• Finished the season an unbeaten 7-0 and did not allow a single point all season as the Blue Raiders outscored opponents by a 126-0 margin • Blackhawk Conference champion • Only unbeaten and unscored upon team in the state during the 1945 season • Defeated Princeton, Wyoming, Bradford, Toulon, Wethersfield, Galva and Sterling

WHERE are they NOW

50 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication

NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame

Looking Ahead To Next Year & Beyond

W

elcome to the second annual induction banquet for the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame!

The past 18 months has been full of twists and turns, waiting and rescheduling. It’s been a whirlwind adjusting to the unexpected curveball that is the COVID-19 virus. However, after a lot work and planning for this night, and we are proud to bring it to you and hope you have a great time.

While we put the finishing touches on our eventful second year, we wanted to take a moment to look ahead. We intend to make this is one of many induction banquets to take place, but we always want to improve and make it better, so we have some questions for you: • How did we do? Do you think we got the Class of 2020-21 inductees correct or is there someone else deserving that we missed?

• Who should be considered in our third class? We have a list of nominees who were seriously considered but were not selected this year or in 2019. However, we’re always open to suggestions, so who did we miss? The more names we have the better and more representative this will be.

• In your opinion, what went well and what did not? How can we improve and what can we keep the same?

Please send your feedback to NewsTribune Regional Advertising Director Jeanette Smith (jmsmith@shawmedia.com or 815-220-6948) or NewsTribune Account Executive Jared Bell (jbell@shawmedia.com or 815-220-6953). Thanks for any and all feedback whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. We want to improve and make this event even better!

Thanks again and we hope to see you next year to honor our third class of the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame in June 2022!

A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 51

Bill Bernardoni Seneca

Mike Morris Princeton

Mike Organ Mendota

Alec Schwab Ottawa

Kevin Berryman Ottawa

Ben Schmidt Princeton

Crane Schafer Spring Valley

Joe Starkey Streator

Ron Behrends Tiskilwa

Brian Carnes Ottawa

James Scruggs Princeton

Perry May La Salle

Ryan Skinner Leland

Tyler Hansen Walnut

Rick Passow Sheridan

Louis Lukacsy La Salle

Dan Kniss Agency Manager

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52 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication