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Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame 2026: Coaches/Officials · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame twenty twenty six Coaches
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  Speaker 1: Officials Written by Kevin Hieronymus. This article is being read
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  Speaker 1: by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. This
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  Speaker 1: is the first installment of the twenty twenty six Bureau
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  Speaker 1: County Sports Hall of Fame class, featuring individual coaches and officials.
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  Speaker 1: The next segments will feature athletes and teams. The Bureau
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  Speaker 1: County Sports Hall of Fame was formed in nineteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: five as part of the bcr's Tribute to Sports program.
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  Speaker 1: While the Tribute to Sports was discontinued in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and five, the Hall of Fame was reinstituted in twenty sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: Forty individuals and twenty three teams have previously been inducted.
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  Speaker 1: Bron Beseovich Saint Bede, the legendary Saint Bede coach, was
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  Speaker 1: head football coach from nineteen thirty three to nineteen forty
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  Speaker 1: eight with a one hundred twenty eighteen to five r record,
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  Speaker 1: and led the nineteen forty four Bruins baseball team to State.
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  Speaker 1: He also coached at the University of Illinois in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: thirty two, Ottawa Marquette in nineteen forty nine, Quincy College
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty one, Peoria Manual in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, Kankake in nineteen fifty three, and Roger
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  Speaker 1: Bacon High School in Cincinnati from nineteen fifty four to
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  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three. The Bron Basevich Memorial Stadium in Cincinnati
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  Speaker 1: was named in his honor in nineteen ninety six. He
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  Speaker 1: is inducted in the Saint Bede Hall of Fame and
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  Speaker 1: was the twenty twenty three Legacy Award recipient of the
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  Speaker 1: Illinois Valley Hall of Fame. John Bellino Saint Bede, the
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  Speaker 1: Saint Bede alum, is the all time winningest coach in
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  Speaker 1: Bureau County, totally eight hundred and one career wins in
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  Speaker 1: baseball and football over a thirty five year tenure at
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  Speaker 1: his alma mater. He had a six hundred twenty five
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  Speaker 1: three hundred forty seven three record in baseball with two
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  Speaker 1: state appearances, crowned as the nineteen eighty eight state champions.
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  Speaker 1: He also won twelve regionals and two sectionals. In football,
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  Speaker 1: Bellino's Bruins were one hundred and seventy six one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and sixty one making sixteen playoff appearances, topped with a
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  Speaker 1: two AS semi final trip in two thousand one. He
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  Speaker 1: is a member of the Saint Bede and Shaw Media
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  Speaker 1: Halls of Fame. Chuck Blake Nepinzet. Blake guided his hometown
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  Speaker 1: Lady Zephyrs to three straight sectional championships and Sweet sixteen
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  Speaker 1: appearances from nineteen ninety one to ninety three. Neppin Set
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  Speaker 1: was small, but played big time girls basketball, defeating teams
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  Speaker 1: like Westchester Immaculate Heart of Mary that was ten times
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  Speaker 1: at size. The Lady Zephyrys compiled a seventy eight eight
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  Speaker 1: record along the way. He went two hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 1: one seventy nine with eight regional championships in thirteen years
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  Speaker 1: at nepin Set. All told, he coached for forty one years,
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  Speaker 1: including stops at Atkinson, Wethersfield, and Kewanee, retiring in twenty seventeen.
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  Speaker 1: Blake was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame with
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  Speaker 1: his three Sweet sixteen teams in twenty two twenty one.
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  Speaker 1: Gary Coates, Princeton. Coates guided five Tiger cross country teams
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  Speaker 1: to top seven state finishes in eight appearances, including back
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  Speaker 1: to back state runner up finishes in nineteen seventy nine
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  Speaker 1: and nineteen eighty. The nineteen seventy four Tigers placed seventh
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  Speaker 1: in the one class system and were the only school
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  Speaker 1: outside of Cook and du Page Counties to place in
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  Speaker 1: top ten. His harriers won five NCIC titles, eight regionals,
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  Speaker 1: and three sectionals. His Tiger track team placed third in
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  Speaker 1: Class A in nineteen eighty one. He was an educator
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  Speaker 1: and coach at Princeton for more than thirty five years
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  Speaker 1: before retiring in two thousand and two. A member of
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  Speaker 1: the track and field team at Illinois, Weswesleyan Coates was
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  Speaker 1: a member of the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches
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  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. He passed away in twenty sixteen. Dale
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  Speaker 1: Donner Western Bureau Valley. When he was hired at Buddha
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  Speaker 1: Western in the mid eighties, Donner was asked to coach track,
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  Speaker 1: even though he knew nothing about the sport. He retired
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  Speaker 1: after thirty five years as one of the best girls
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  Speaker 1: track and cross country coaches in the state. Twenty four
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  Speaker 1: years at BV and eleven at Western, Donner's track teams
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  Speaker 1: won eleven conference championships and five sectionals. He coached forty
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  Speaker 1: nine state track medalists at BV. In cross country, donner
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  Speaker 1: Bozian girls teams won eighteen regional titles and qualified for
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  Speaker 1: the state meet eleven times with six top ten finishes.
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  Speaker 1: His two thousand and one boys team placed second at
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  Speaker 1: state and his two thousand and four girls team place third.
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  Speaker 1: He coached nine all State boys and nine All State girls.
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  Speaker 1: Donner was inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country
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  Speaker 1: Coaches Hall of Fame in twenty fifteen, named as the
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  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen Track Coach of the Year and the two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and four cross Country Coach of the Year. Bureau
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  Speaker 1: Valley renamed its cross Country Invitational in Donner's honor in
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  Speaker 1: his last year, twenty eighteen. John Garvin, Tascilla, Princeton. Garvin
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  Speaker 1: started up the Tuscilla volleyball program in nineteen seventy eight
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  Speaker 1: and turned it into an area powerhouse. Garvin's volley dolls
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  Speaker 1: won four regionals from nineteen eighty four to nineteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: one and dominated the Indian Valley Conference, winning four conference
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  Speaker 1: championships and eleven IVC tournament titles, ending with a run
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  Speaker 1: of seven straight. He posted a three hundred three ninety
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  Speaker 1: six y five record low C seven hundred and seventy
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  Speaker 1: eight percent through nineteen ninety four until Tiskilwa annexed into
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  Speaker 1: neighbor Princeton. At Princeton, he started up the Tigers soccer
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  Speaker 1: program in nineteen ninety five, posting a record of one
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  Speaker 1: hundred thirty five eighty seven to four over ten seasons.
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  Speaker 1: He also coached girls basketball for three seasons at PHS
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  Speaker 1: from two thousand three zero six, going twenty one eight
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  Speaker 1: with a regional championship in his last season. Pat Hodge Princeton,
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  Speaker 1: a state qualifying and record holder track athlete for PHS,
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  Speaker 1: Hodge has returned to his alma mater, leaving a lasting
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  Speaker 1: mark as coach and cross country and girls track, both
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  Speaker 1: positions he still presently holds. He has five hundred thirty
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  Speaker 1: seven wins in small cross country meets between the boys
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  Speaker 1: and girls teams. His teams have made three state meat appearances,
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  Speaker 1: including a ninth place Class A finish with the boys
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety four and a thirteenth place Class A
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  Speaker 1: finish for the girls in two thousand and two. He
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  Speaker 1: ran at Eastern Illinois University Tom Keegan Hall Keegan has
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  Speaker 1: left his imprint on Hall athletics in three sports since
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  Speaker 1: arriving in nineteen ninety five. He took over the Hall
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  Speaker 1: varsity baseball program in two thousand and one and won
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  Speaker 1: a regional the next year. He put the Red Devils
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  Speaker 1: on the map with six regional titles, five over a
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  Speaker 1: seven year stretch from twenty seventeen to twenty four, as
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  Speaker 1: well as two sectional titles, capped by the twenty eighteen
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  Speaker 1: Class two A state championship, the first in school history.
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  Speaker 1: He has also been a longtime head coach in cross
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  Speaker 1: country and freshman boys basketball coach Dave Moore Bureau Valley Princeton.
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  Speaker 1: Moore is the only coach to be head coach in
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  Speaker 1: football and track at both Bureau Valley and Princes. He
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  Speaker 1: succeeded his future father in law, Ken Borkin as head
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  Speaker 1: track coach at BV in nineteen ninety seven and coached
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  Speaker 1: through the two thousand and eight season. The Storm won
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  Speaker 1: sectional track titles in two thousand and one and two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and five under Moore, with twenty six state medalists,
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  Speaker 1: including two state champions. After a long run as an assistant,
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  Speaker 1: Moore took over as the Storm's head football coach in
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and five and promptly won a state championship
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  Speaker 1: with an undefeated run. After a stint as head coach
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  Speaker 1: at Princeton, Moore went back to Bureau Valley as an assistant,
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  Speaker 1: only to return to Princeton as an assistant. He took
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  Speaker 1: over as the Tiger's head track coach in twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 1: Rollie Morris Hall Morris coached four different sports from nineteen
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  Speaker 1: sixty two to nineteen ninety three at Hull High School.
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  Speaker 1: He started the cross country program in nineteen seventy and
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  Speaker 1: coached at to fourth place finish in nineteen seventy nine.
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  Speaker 1: He had at least one athlete qualify for the state
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  Speaker 1: track finals every year he coached. He was a two
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  Speaker 1: two year starter in football at LPO and went on
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  Speaker 1: to play for University of New Mexico. The track at Hall,
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  Speaker 1: as well as its invitational track meet, have been named
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  Speaker 1: in his honor. Morris is a member of the Hall
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  Speaker 1: IVCC in the University of New Mexico Halls of Fame.
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  Speaker 1: At Andy Puck, Princeton. Puck took over the Princeton volleyball
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  Speaker 1: program after one year at Rival Hall and won a
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  Speaker 1: regional championship in his first season in two thousand and two.
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  Speaker 1: He also won another regional title in two zero zero
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  Speaker 1: two five, his last season. In between Puck became the
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  Speaker 1: winningest coach in program history, with five hundred and sixteen wins,
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  Speaker 1: including nine regional and two sectional championships, capped by a
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  Speaker 1: state tournament berth in two thousand and eight State in
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  Speaker 1: zero eight, as the Tigrises called it. He has been
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  Speaker 1: a special Olympics and assistant track coach at PHS and
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  Speaker 1: led the Logan Junior volleyball team to state in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty five. Charlie Waka Tiskilwa, Princeton a dedicated assistant coach
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  Speaker 1: with thirty eight years of service under nine different head coaches.
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  Speaker 1: Waka was inducted into the IHSFCA Hall of Fame earlier
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  Speaker 1: this year. He had two tenures in his hometown Tuscowa,
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  Speaker 1: before moving on to Princeton and finally to Kawani under
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  Speaker 1: his son Chris. He was also a long junior high
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  Speaker 1: track coach, including fifty five state qualifiers including thirty nine medalists,
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  Speaker 1: with two state champs at Princeton Logan Junior High. He
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  Speaker 1: was an advocate for ESA hosting sectional meets and working
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  Speaker 1: at State Ken Wilcoxon Walnutt. Will Coxon whistled his way
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  Speaker 1: to a distinguished career as an IOSA official and much
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  Speaker 1: beloved junior high coach. He retired in twenty seventeen after
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  Speaker 1: thirty seven years coaching teaching, including twenty two at Bureau
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  Speaker 1: Valley North. He coached one thousand and sixty eight games
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  Speaker 1: in thirty seven years, winning seven forty three. He had
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  Speaker 1: numerous state track medalists, sectional and BVE championship, with two
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  Speaker 1: state champions two thousand and four eight girls and twenty
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  Speaker 1: ten eight of boys. He also found time to officiate
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  Speaker 1: thousands of games, including five state basketball tournaments, three boys
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  Speaker 1: Tuba girls, and four state football finals.