Dale Yingst, Libertyville teacher, coach and tennis pioneer

Posted April 25, 2018 11:00 pm

By Dale Eggert on behalf of Libertyville High School

Two pictures from 1966, Dale Yingst's first year at LHS. At right, with his first tennis team, his future coaching colleague Craig Hunter is second row, middle. Courtesy of Dale Eggert

• The following is part of an ongoing series of articles in celebration of Libertyville High School's 100th anniversary.

Dale Yingst was a longtime Libertyville High School math teacher, and boys head tennis coach throughout his LHS teaching career, taking the tennis program to State Elite status.

Yingst was a 1946 graduate of East St. Louis High School where he played on the basketball team, no tennis team in his high school. He went into the Navy for two years after high school, stationed at Pearl Harbor. After leaving the Navy, Yingst used his G.I. Bill to attend Culver-Stockton College in Missouri, earning his degree in math and education. He played tennis and was the top singles player for Culver-Stockton.

Before beginning his LHS teaching career, Yingst taught at Warsaw High School in Warsaw, Illinois, for five years; Grant High School for five years; then in Phoenix, Arizona, for a year before coming to Libertyville. While teaching, Yingst earned masters' degrees from Northwestern and Arizona State in mathematics and industrial arts, respectively.

Yingst began his LHS teaching career in the fall of 1965. He would have a 21-year LHS teaching career, retiring after the 1986 school year. He would stay in the head tennis coaching position for a year after his teaching retirement, finishing in 1987, 22 years in all.

Yingst's head coaching record was 173-44. His teams won five sectional titles and five conference titles. His 1969 team took sixth in the state, led by freshman Grey King's singles state championship. Behind King's second straight state singles title, and his brother Bruce's third place in the singles, LHS took second in the state in 1970, LHS's highest state finish in any sport at that point. The King family moved to Peoria at the end of Grey's sophomore year, which ended LHS's high state finishes for a few years. Yingst's 1972 and 1976 teams did win conference titles.

Yingst had his second player win a state title when his son Kreg was the 1978 singles state champ (after taking seventh as a sophomore and fifth as a junior). The LHS team placed fifth in the state in 1978. With several state successes on his resume, the Illinois Tennis Coaches Association named Yingst as the 1984 Coach of the Year and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1988.

For the first 10 years of Yingst's head boys tennis coaching, he was the only coach in the program. When he was finally able to hire an assistant coach, he chose Craig Hunter; a player Yingst coached in his first year at LHS during the 1966 season.

Yingst began coaching J.V. girls tennis for the 1982 season, a position he would hold for the next 15 years, 10 of those years following his teaching retirement.

Yingst was very physically active throughout his life, playing tennis and riding bikes up to a week before his 2015 death at the age of 87.

Dale Yingst coached two players to three State Championships: Grey King, left, who won two titles (1969, 1970) and his son Kreg (1978). Courtesy of Dale Eggert

Dale Yingst, assisting Pam Dircks, far left, in helping Sarah Anderson and Marilee Boullear win the Fall 1993 Doubles State Title. Yingst was a 15-year assistant coach for the girls tennis program. Courtesy of Dale Eggert

Dale Yingst in 2011 at age 83. Yingst played tennis throughout his life. Courtesy of Dale Eggert

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