WW South to open door to history
It's been 88 years since No. 77 carried what probably was a real pigskin in a high school football game in Wheaton.
The Tigers have since played in two stadiums named for Harold "Red" Grange. Coaches have dubbed their squads the "Red Grange Tigers." The late "Wheaton Ice Man" is in pro and college football halls of fame.
Never, though, has he been inducted into his own high school hall of fame.
One never existed. Until now.
On Oct. 10 the inaugural 10-person class of the new Wheaton Warrenville South Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted at a ceremony in Warrenville. The Hall itself, - representing Wheaton Community, Wheaton Central, Wheaton Warrenville and Wheaton Warrenville South high schools - will be located in the hallway leading to the main gym at WW South.
"It was something that obviously was long overdue," said Bob Quinn, taking time from his job as first-year athletic director at his alma mater, Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.
As selection committee member and WW South girls basketball coach Rob Kroehnke said, "This was the brainchild of Bobby's."
This summer Quinn surprisingly left his secure 10-year post atop one of the best athletic departments anywhere; when his alma mater called he couldn't refuse. The Hall of Fame process had begun when renovations at WW South unearthed a trove of athletic artifacts.
"The ability to honor those that have made such an impact on the school with regards to their athletic impact is something that we need to deal with," said Quinn, a former Wheaton Warrenville Wolverine. "And tradition and history is so important to what we do. Tradition's a part of the school seal at Wheaton Warrenville South."
Let this tradition begin.
Kroehnke said: "We went through and tried to select a first 10 - we actually had about 23 nominated. What we would like to do is take up to 10 for about the first three years and then maybe cap it at five after that. We've got a lot of years to catch up on."
And now ... the envelopes please.
The first 10 inductees are, in alphabetical order, Charlie Fajkus, Grange, Derrick Jackson, Kurt Kaull, Katie Meier, Jon Schweighardt, John Thorne, Chris Tomek, Lenore Wilcox and John Wright. All but the late Grange will be on hand for the Oct. 10 ceremony.
One could go on and on with exploits of inductees like Tomek, who in 1981 became the first female to score a goal in an IHSA boys soccer game; Jackson, a one-time draft pick of the Golden State Warriors who is a pastor at Wheaton Christian Church; or Meier, who in 2002 joined the inaugural class of the Duke Blue Devils Hall of Honor and now is the women's basketball coach at the University of Miami.
It's better to review their careers in person. The Wheaton Warrenville South Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony happens at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at Courtyard Banquets, 3S200 Route 59, Warrenville. It is open to the public, at a cost of $25.
For those Tigers and Wolverines who wonder why Ed Ewoldt, Howard Barnes, Kevin Streelman and Bob Horsley aren't in the hall, respectfully add your voice. Nominating forms are available at athletics2000.com/wws, or through e-mail at halloffame@cusd200.org.
"In the future," Kroehnke said, "we'd like to have a selection committee including former coaches and community members with some ties to the past and just make it something to go on, as Bobby said when he started it, 'long after I'm gone.' We want to keep this going."
Rams on parade
Glenbard East is in the midst of its 50th anniversary, and this Friday's homecoming game should be a big to-do.
"We've got all the things that normally happen for homecoming, then we've got these additional things," said Glenbard East principal Josh Chambers.
Normal things such as fireworks, the homecoming court and alumni tent.
And bonuses of a yearbook sale, tours of the school for alumni on Saturday, an offer for former Rams band members to play with this year's outfit, and a parade of athletes past.
At halftime of Glenbard East's football game Oct. 2 against undefeated Glenbard North, any Rams athlete who would like can march onto the field at halftime. They'll be separated by decade.
Same thing with the band, which will perform in its expanded glory at halftime.
"Any alumnus, either an athlete or a participant in the music program - and has an instrument - can come on out," Chambers said.
No throwaway round
Wheaton Academy golfer Blake Biddle said he'd once shot a 63 during "a casual round."
His 63 on Sept. 14 at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club in West Chicago came during competition and was not just your average, run-of-the-mill round of 63. At the time, though, he didn't know it.
"No one told me it was the course record, so I didn't keep my score card," said Biddle, a senior who will play college golf at UNLV.
That's a shame. Biddle's 9-under-par round at the 17-team West Chicago Invitational broke the prior record of 64 shared by Ky Lafoom and Johnny Revolta. It also established a new Wheaton Academy record, 1 stroke lower than the 64 Biddle carded Aug. 20 at Weibring Golf Club in Normal, host course for the 2A state championship.
Biddle, who shot a personal-best 6-under 29 in a nine-hole Suburban Christian Conference match at Pheasant Run on Sept. 9, placed ninth in last year's 2A boys competition. Warriors teammate David Flynn is the defending champ.
Despite throwing away his score card from St. Andrews, Biddle, a former Wheaton Christian Grammar School student who lives in St. Charles, did call it "a pretty memorable round."
Good thing. The St. Andrews folks want details.
"I've got to go in and make like a replica score card and remember what I did on each hole," Biddle said.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com