Elgin Sports Hall of Fame to induct five

The Elgin Sports Hall of Fame Foundation will induct five new members as the Class of 2014 when it holds its annual induction ceremony and recognition banquet at The Centre of Elgin on Sunday, Nov. 2.

Jennifer Kiefer Gumm, Doug Sanders, Frank Jemsek, Pat Sheehy and Sue Cochran Hannula will bring the number of people inducted into the Hall of Fame to 158 since the organization's inception in 1980.

A 1993 Elgin High graduate, Kiefer Gumm is being inducted for basketball. As an all-conference guard on two Upstate Eight championship teams, she set school records for assists (603) and steals (238). In her senior year she averaged 16.1 points per game and had 233 assists. Kiefer Gumm played three years at the University of Michigan where she served as team captain her senior year. During her career at Michigan, she averaged 6.6 ppg and shot 37 percent on 3-point field goal attempts.

Sanders graduated from St. Edward in 2004, where he was a standout athlete in baseball and football. An all-conference and team MVP selection twice, he was named Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year and an IHSA Baseball Coaches Association Class A All-State selection in 2004. As the second baseman at Elgin Community College (2005), the team had its best season in team history and finished third in the nation at the JUCO Division II World Series. The following year, he set ECC records for triples in a career, most runs scored and number of hits in a season. Sanders was named first-team Skyway All-Conference, first-team NJCAA all-American, and Region IV Finals MVP.

He played second base at Kent State for two years as a member of the two time Mid-America Conference regular season champions. As a senior, he led the team in most hits and batting average and made the All-Mac Tournament team.

In football, Sanders was a two time all-area player and was selected Suburban Catholic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2003. In addition, he was named to the Class 3A All-State team by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association.

Jemsek will be inducted as a friend of sports. Jemsek, taking over for his father, Joe, now serves as the president of the family corporations that operate four golf courses: St. Andrews in West Chicago; Cog Hill, site of the Western Open; Pine Meadow in Mundelein and Summer Grove in Newton, GA.

Jemsek, who attended St. Edward for two years, graduating in 1959, gave Cog Hill to the Western Golf Association rent free in 1991 for the Western Open. It meant adding $150,000 per year to the Evans Scholars Foundation for caddies because that was the amount Butler National Golf Club was charging the WGA for rent for the tournament previously.

Jemsek also donated land to the Chicago District Golf Association to build the Midwest Golf Complex and three-hole golf course for First Tee, a nationwide youth golf program. Twelve high schools use Jemsek courses as their home playing sites for matches and practices at no charge. Jemsek, who played golf and basketball at St. Edward, received the Distinguished Service Award of the Illinois Turfgrass Foundation, is an honorary member of the Illinois Section of the PGA and also received the Distinguished Service Award of CDGA.

A 1985 graduate of St. Edward, Sheehy was a four-time conference champion in wrestling. He won his regional three times and sectional championship twice. He took second place in the state at 126 pounds in 1984, then won the state championship at 132 in 1985. That same year Sheehy was a USA All-America honorable mention choice, posting a 36-0 record with 30 pins. His career record was 126-11, including 100 pins. He won a Gold Medal in the 1984 Illinois Prairie State Games in Greco-Roman wrestling. He attended Lehigh University on an athletic scholarship.

Cochran Hannula will be inducted for tennis and coaching. She was an undefeated three year No. 1 singles player at Elgin High (1971) before the IHSA recognized girls tennis. She then played on the Elgin Community College men's tennis team as the No. 3 singles player and No. 2 doubles player, finishing second in conference in doubles.

At Northern Illinois University, she competed in singles and doubles for three years, winning the doubles championship in 1975. Hannula played on the U. S. team against Great Britain for the Jr. Wightman Cup in 1973 and 1974. She is a six-time singles, six-time doubles and two-time mixed doubles champion in the City of Elgin Tennis Tournament. She has also played USTA, won regionals in Kalamazoo, Mich., and went to nationals representing Illinois.

She served as tennis coach at Streamwood and Bartlett high schools, during which time her teams won three sectional championships (Bartlett). She was nominated for coach of the year in 2012 by the IHSTCA.

The Nov. 2 induction ceremony and recognition banquet will include the foundation awarding a total of 26 athletes from Elgin High, Larkin, St. Edward, Westminster Christian, Harvest Christian and ECC each with a $1,300 scholarship. Social hour for the event is at 5 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. and the ceremony at 6:45 p.m.

Over 40 individuals and teams will be recognized with Outstanding Achievement Awards as well.

John O'Haire, a longtime Little League volunteer in Elgin, will receive the Vic Masi Award and Larry Nemmers, former Elgin High principal and longtime IHSA and NFL official, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

For further information on the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame Foundation as well as the Nov. 2 event, log on to www.eshof.org.