Elgin Sports Hall of Fame names 5 inductees

It didn't take Lisa Pawlak long to recall her favorite high school bowling memory. Nor should it have.

Pawlak, then Lisa Stack, was the 1995 IHSA state bowling champion, the first and only Larkin bowler to ever achieve that feat.

For her state title, and then a stellar college career at Central Missouri University -- one that landed her a spot on Team USA for two years -- Pawlak has been inducted into the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame in this, her first year on the ballot.

"I was a little surprised," Pawlak said Tuesday night from her South Elgin home. "Being on the ballot for the first time I didn't really expect it. But it made me really happy."

Four others will join Pawlak as this year's inductees on Sunday, Nov. 4, when the Hall holds its annual induction banquet and ceremonies at Villa Olivia Country Club in Bartlett.

In addition to Pawlak, the Hall will induct longtime Elgin High swimming coach Rick Andresen, former Elgin High basketball star Tom Aley, former Larkin football great Curt Whipple, and former Elgin Community College athletic director and coach Dick Durrant. Durrant will be honored posthumously.

Pawlak, who graduated from Larkin in 1995 and now works in human resources for Dundee Community School District 300, relished all of her bowling experiences and still loves the game that not only earned her a high school state title but a college scholarship as well.

"In high school, winning the state title just really sticks out," said Pawlak, who with husband Erick has a 2½ year-old son, Ian.

"College was such a different experience. I met some of my best friends there and I got to travel a lot. My senior year was my first year with Team USA and I got to go to places like Argentina and Denmark."

At the state meet in 1995, Pawlak rolled a 254 as her high game, a 689 as her high series and a 2,615 for her 12-game weekend, a 217.9 average. Her 2,615 still ranks No. 8 on the all-time IHSA list and she is the only bowler in IHSA history to medal at state all four years.

At Central Missouri, she was honorable mention all-America in 1997, second team in 1998 and first team in 1999.

• Andresen was nominated as a swimming coach but as an athlete he was as successful as he's been coaching. An Elgin High graduate, he qualified for the IHSA state meet three straight years, taking fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in 1968. He also medaled in 1969 as a member of a fourth-place relay team. After graduating from Southern Illinois University, where he was a swimmer for the Salukis, Andresen, who for many years shared office space at Elgin High with 2006 HOF inductee Lee Turek, has spent over 30 years coaching the sport, both as a mentor for the Elgin/Larkin girls program and the Jacobs/Dundee-Crown boys program. He has had over 60 swimmers qualify for the IHSA state meet during his coaching tenure.

"I was thrilled," Andresen said of being notified he'd been selected for induction. "It's a real honor. Having grown up in Elgin and gone through the system, then to come back and coach and have enough people thing highly enough of me to get this honor, it's very special."

Andresen said he has "a couple more years" to teach at Elgin High but that he hopes to continue coaching beyond that.

"It's what I love to do," he said.

• Aley, a 1955 Elgin graduate, played on the Maroons' state runner-up team of 1955 and was named an all-stater that year. In two varsity seasons at Elgin he averaged 16.6 points per game. His 849 points over those two seasons were, at the time, an EHS record. Aley went on to play at Dartmouth College, leading it to an Ivy League championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight in 1958.

• Whipple is a 1969 Larkin graduate and played football for the Royals, including being a starter on the 1967 Larkin team that finished undefeated.

An offensive and defensive halfback, Whipple also ran track for the Royals and was a member of two state medal-winning mile relay teams.

He went on to play football at Carthage College where, in 1992, he was inducted into the Carthage Hall of Fame.

• Durrant will be inducted as a friend of sports. He served as ECC's athletic director for 24 years and also coached basketball and baseball at the school. He was at the forefront of bringing more exposure and activities to the ECC athletic and physical education programs.

In recognition of his contributions, the Skyway Conference named the Dick Durrant Award in his honor.