Dundee-Crown Hall of Fame to induct five
Dundee-Crown High School announced five new inductees to the school’s athletic hall of fame Wednesday.
Included in the Class of 2011 are football player Donald McRae (Class of 1947), bowler Lorrie Koch Nichols (1970), basketball player Jerry Howell (1978), two-sport star Jason Russell (1989) and standout runner Amanda Domich (2003).
McRae, a football co-captain at Dundee Community High School in 1947, was an all-conference selection his senior year and went on to be named all-Big Ten at Northwestern University in 1950 and 1951. He was later drafted by the Los Angeles Rams.
Koch Nichols enjoyed a 28-year career as a professional bowler and has already been inducted into the Chicago Bowling Hall of Fame, the Illinois Bowling Hall of Fame, the WIBC Hall of Fame and the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame. She won 15 professional title and was named a Women’s International Bowling Congress All-American four times.
Howell is the second-leading scorer in Irving Crown boys basketball history. He scored all of his 1,168 points in just two seasons. He scored 25 points per game as a junior and averaged 21 points and 7 assists as a senior for a team that finished second in the North Suburban Conference, the school’s highest finish ever.
Russell was an all-conference pick in both baseball and basketball as a senior in 1988-89. He was named MVP of the basketball team after leading the Chargers in scoring and steals. On the diamond, he hit better than .400 in conference games and set the league record with 27 innings pitched without issuing a walk.
In college Russell again excelled at both sports for the Eagles. He played four years of baseball and was named all conference as a senior. He also scored over 1,000 points on the basketball court and became an NAIA honorable mention All-American.
Domich was one of the state’s best track and cross country runners and enjoyed successful collegiate career at Loyola University. In high school she was a four-time all-conference and all-sectional cross country runner, and she finished fifth at the state meet her senior year. On the track she won 19 county, conference or invitational meets and placed sixth in the state in the 3,200 meters as a senior.
Domich earned all-Horizon League honors at Loyola in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and won seven league championships. She owns Loyola’s second-fastest time in the 5000 meters and third-fastest time in the 10,000 meters.