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St. Charles North celebrates first Hall of Fame class

St. Charles North held a celebration 25 years in the making last Saturday.

A group of 7 – two former coaches and five student-athletes – were inducted into the school’s inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame prior to the North Stars’ varsity basketball game against Streamwood.

On the court, the North Stars got business done with an 81-52 victory behind a career-high 31 points, including nine 3-pointers, from Jake Love, as well as double-figure scoring from Camden Vine (17 points), Cooper Mellican (11), and Colin Hopp (10).

Off the court, the North Stars had reason to celebrate with the induction of the school’s first football coach, Mark Gould; first girls soccer coach, Ruth (Poulin) Vostal; former NFL player Patrick Brown (2005); the first swimmer to score multiple points at the state swimming meet, Laura (Fehrman) Hoye (2004); all-state baseball standout and basketball player Zach Hirsch (2009); the school’s first state champion, swimmer Chris Peterson (2007); and all-state softball player Sabrina Rabin (2013).

“You set the bar high,” North Stars athletic director Joe Benoit said to the seven inductees. “We’re honoring excellence.”

Brown, presented by his dad, Kevin, will forever be remembered as the school’s first Hall of Fame inductee.

“It wasn’t a blazing start to my career,” said Brown, who played on the ‘B’ team as an offensive lineman for part of his freshman year. “I remember the long bus rides to watch the ‘A’ team.”

The lanky 6-foot-4, 160-pounder gained nearly 100 pounds and became a mainstay on the North Stars’ offensive line for the next 3 seasons.

“It’s humbling knowing how much this school shaped my career and life,” said Brown, who went on to play offensive tackle at Central Florida before playing 4 years in the NFL with Carolina, New England, Minnesota, New York Jets, and Minnesota.

“I learned that persistence meant more than natural talent. I’m most proud of the journey. Success isn’t about how you start; it’s about how you finish.”

Brown went on to start 51 games at left tackle for Central Florida – a school record that still stands.

Gould, whose teams finished 63-56 from 2001-2013, thanked the Hall of Fame committee for his induction.

“You did something the college football playoff committee should have done – you looked at more than the record,” said Gould, who guided the North Stars to 8 consecutive playoff berths from 2002-2009, including a Class 7A state quarterfinal appearance in 2009.

“The record could have been better.”

Gould, who is also in St. Charles East’s Hall of Fame, also thanked North’s first principal, Frank Kesman, and first athletic director, Tom Schweer, for their vision.

“They both came to St. Charles from successful suburban high schools – Frank from Naperville North, and Tom from Hinsdale Central,” said Gould. “They hired good teachers who were good coaches.”

Gould, whose mentor was legendary St. Charles football coach Buck Drach, admitted the early days were challenging.

“The school district gave us free lumps of clay and said, ‘now, mold it,’” he said. “I didn’t say it was a big lump of clay.

“I remember going out to our first practice, and we couldn’t practice there because it was just dirt – no grass. We finally found nice grass, but it was as Primrose (Park), so we bused there every day.”

Hirsch, a 6-foot-4 left-handed pitcher, compiled a 17-5 record and 0.99 ERA in his 3 years on the varsity baseball team.

“Nobody wanted to see him when we got off the bus,” said North baseball coach Todd Genke, who presented Hirsch.

“Zach was a coach’s dream, and everybody wanted to play on a team with Zach.”

Hirsch went on to play at Nebraska, earning third team All-Big Ten honors in 2014, before being selected in the 19th round of the MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers later that year. He played 3 years in the Brewers’ minor league system.

He also possessed a lethal outside shooting touch on the basketball court.

“There were so many people involved – my parents, my teachers, my coaches, my teammates,” said Hirsch. “I think 98 percent of my open shots were because I played with two of the better guards to ever come through this program – Jon DeMoss and Nick Neari. As a pitcher, you’re only as good as the guys behind you, and we had Jeff Holm, Jake Thornton, Ryan Richardson – just to name a few.”

Vostal, who compiled a record of 252-67-34 in 15 seasons at the helm, helped put the North Stars’ girls soccer program on the map after playing on a pair of state championship teams at St. Charles in the ‘90s.

“I embraced the opportunity to become the first girls soccer coach at St. Charles North,” said Vostal, who guided the team to a pair of second-place state showings (2004, 2012) and a third-place finish (2010).

“That first group of seniors (2003) left their mark on the program, and the next year’s group (2004) raised the bar.

“My high school experiences shaped me, and I was determined to bring that same courage, tradition, and selfishness to the other side of the river.”

Rabin, a 4-year varsity softball player, earned all-state honors as a centerfielder for the North Stars before becoming a 4-year starter at Northwestern, where she earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2015.

“I’ve never worked with a more impressive student-athlete,” said North softball coach and presenter, Tom Poulin. “Sabrina made me a better person and coach.”

“As a shy and timid 14-year-old, I was eager to make a name for myself academically and athletically,” said Rabin. “Softball has given me a lot of opportunities.”

Rabin, a 3-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree who played professionally in Europe, is currently in her final year as a chief resident (emergency medicine) at Rush University Medical College.

As a freshman, Hoye landed a pair of top-3 state swim finishes – 2nd in the 100 free and 3rd in the 50 free.

“Laura was a pioneer from the athletic side,” said North Stars swim coach Rob Rooney, who has guided the girls team to four 3rd-place state showings.

“She was never one who wanted to be in the forefront,” said Rooney. “She just wanted to work and get things done. She was our first student-athlete to achieve all-state recognition.”

Hoye, who went on to swim at Tennessee, thanked ‘Roon-dog’ for his direction.

“You taught me what it is to push hard – to push past limits I didn’t know I could push past,” she said. “You saw potential in me more than I ever thought possible.”

As a junior, Peterson became North’s first state champion when he won the 500 free. The next season, Peterson captured the 200 and 500 free state titles.

“Chris helped lay the foundation for what has come,” said Rooney, who guided the North Stars to back-to-back team state titles in 2019 and 2020. “He paced the way for many in my program to succeed.”

Peterson thanked Rooney for teaching him “the importance of mental toughness.”

“It was not something I could have imagined 20 years ago when I stepped onto the pool deck,” he said. “I was encouraged to keep challenging myself, and I strove to be exhausted after every workout.”

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