Dist. 116 creates athletic hall of fame

What started as a simple discussion among coaches will turn into a reality Saturday night.

Round Lake Unit District 116 officials will honor 22 former athletes, teams, coaches, custodians, mascots and athletic directors from the school as the inaugural class for the Round Lake High School athletic hall of fame Saturday night.

The event will take place May 3 at the Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center on Hook Drive. It will start at 6 p.m., with the ceremony taking place at 7 p.m.

Howard Conkling, who dreamed up the hall of fame idea with other coaches at Round Lake, said coaches have been looking to do something like this for the past couple of years.

"We thought it was time and something that should have been created years earlier," he said. "It's a big-time positive for our school. We celebrate the past, the present will see what we are celebrating then help shape our future."

The class of 2008 is being led by former graduate Tim Unroe, a former Round Lake High School baseball player who played professionally for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Atlanta Braves between 1995 and 2000.

Unroe is being joined by Tom Wittum, a five-year punter with the San Francisco 49ers. He was named to the NFL all-pro team twice during his career, which ended in 1977.

Round Lake's class of 2008 also includes Karen Favia, who won a sixth-place state medal in the 400-meter dash; Bill Swieton, who's the Panthers' all-time leading scorer in basketball and later played at Augustana College; and Cindy Donner, who's the girls basketball team's all-time leading scorer and earned a Division I ride to Northeastern Illinois University.

Also in are former all-conference football and baseball player Clint Rodriguez; Mike Pratt, who placed third in the state wrestling meet; and Don Reinhofer, a 1962 graduate who was the first Round Lake athlete to receive an athletic scholarship. Former tennis player Scott Hayes rounds out the list of athletes.

Coaches include Howard Schroeder, Ralph Lonergan and Jim Rogers, while former athletic directors Jerry Kaires, and Ken Ricci are also getting in with R.J. Forehand, the school's first principal.

The most surprising name on the list might be Fred Priemer, a former school custodian.

"Freddie was a man who, after his graduation was not only a custodian here, but never missed a sporting event, either home or away," Conkling said. "Everyone thought he should go in."

The co-ed cheerleading teams that won back-to-back state titles in 1997 and 1998 also made the cut. So, too, did Shirley Tripp, who was a pioneer of girls sports at the school.

Conkling said 225 guests are expected to attend the event.

"It should be a great night for the school," he said.