Watch Out for Telephone Scammers Claiming to Represent Fallen Police Officers
Wainwright remembers WTC visit, on eve of Sept. 11
Five years later, Wainwright being mobbed by his Cardinal team mates after picking up the final out of the World Series. (Reuters news service)
A historic church near Benton survives despite decades of inactivity
Two-time Regional Baseball Champion Coach Rich Campbell entering RLC Sports Hall
RLC Sports Hall of fame class of 2017 inductee, former baseball coach Rich Campbell (Rend Lake College Media Services)
by Bob Kelley, retired Sports Information Director, Rend Lake College
INA, IL – Winning baseball and Rend Lake College have been synonymous for the better part of a 50-year relationship. Which should tell you, the Warrior program has been in pretty good hands during that stretch.
Consider some of the “managers” calling the shots from the dugout.
RLC Sports Hall of Fame Charter Member Mike McClure earned his status and established the program’s reputation with nine consecutive winning seasons, mostly in the 1970s, 312 victories and a .638 winning percentage.
He was succeeded by Head Coach Kirk Champion, whose fourth and final team was 40-19; “Champ” for many seasons was a AA and AAA Minor League Pitching Coach for the Chicago White Sox and today is Director of Instruction for Player Development, responsible for overseeing how the entire organization he has been a part of for 29 years teaches defense, hitting and pitching. He was the Pitching Coach for Team USA in 2001, 2009 and 2011 World Cup competitions.
In three seasons, Paul Evans guided Warrior squads to 201 wins, winning 67.9 percent of the time, and within one victory of an elusive berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series; he left to become Assistant Coach for Missouri State University, née Southwest Missouri. The Bears have made nine post-season NCAA D-I Tournament appearances, including eight in the last two decades and a 2003 World Series berth, in his 29 seasons there. He was named National Assistant “Coach of the Year” in 2015 by D1Baseball.com.
Jim McGuire continued the tradition at a .655 winning clip over four seasons before leaving to become an Assistant Coach at Middle Tennessee State. Today he is in his fifth season as the Blue Raiders Head Coach, recognized in 2015 with Conference USA Keith LeClair “Coach of the Year” laurels after a 32-win campaign.
There have been many other success stories.
But only one Head Coach of 10 total has guided the Warrior Nine to a pair of Region XXIV Championships. Only one individual has three Sectional titles to his RLC coaching credit.
And for those accomplishments and more, former Head Coach Rich Campbell will be joining McClure in the RLC Sports Hall of Fame. Induction Ceremonies for the 18th Class will be Saturday, April 22, at 5:30 p.m. in James “Hummer” Waugh Gymnasium on the Ina campus.
Campbell will share the spotlight with All-America Women’s Golfer Danielle Kaufman (2003-05) and the record-setting 1983-84 Men’s Basketball Team (25-7).
Had he stuck around for one more year before being lured away by the business world, “Soup” could have become the program’s biggest winner as well. His 302-225 record (.573) covering nine seasons – 1992-2001 – ranks second to the 10-year slate of McClure.
Campbell was named Louisville Slugger Region XXIV “Coach of the Year” following championship seasons in Spring 1997 and 1999 and an American Baseball Coaches Association / Diamond Sports Company NJCAA D-I Regional “Coach of the Year” in 1999.
During his stay, he recruited and coached at least 64 players who continued their careers at the four-year level, and signed 11 professional contracts. Among those standouts: Second Baseman Dan DeMent (1996-98) and First Sacker Mike Breyman (2000-02), both of whom preceded him into the Hall of Fame in Spring 2009 and Fall 2009, respectively.
Yet another inductee, this time from the Class of 2013, Pitcher Craig Sands (1987-89), served as Campbell’s Assistant Coach the first two seasons.
According to the profile of the 30-year-old mentor in the Spring 1997 Warrior Program, “His fifth season… brings with it high hopes, considering perhaps his deepest pitching staff yet, several key returnees off last spring’s 35-14 squad ranked 30th in the country at season’s end and a promising recruiting class.”
Campbell’s fifth Warrior club did not disappoint with a 39-19 record capped by his second Sectional crown and his first Region championship. RLC started the spring 7-0, then ran off eight straight wins to improve to 16-3 and climbed to 31-11 before dropping a couple of one-run decisions, another by two runs and five in a row altogether before ending the sudden skid with a 16-run outburst in its regular-season finale.
It seemed the late-season slump might have been a precursor of things to come when the Warriors dropped their Sectional Tournament opener, 8-6. But then the bats woke up and the hurlers rose to the occasion.
Home runs by sophomore first baseman Chris Hargett and freshman outfielder Jeff Houston powered a 10-hit attack and freshman Eric Asbury (10-1) tossed a two-hitter in a game reduced to six innings by the 10-run rule, 11-1 over host Wabash Valley College (WVC). It was more of the same in a rematch with first-game conqueror Southeastern Illinois – 13 RLC hits, including three-run homers by Hargett and freshman second baseman Jacob Wallace, who also had three runs batted in (RBIs) in the rout of WVC; sophomore southpaw Ryan Spille gave up four singles in his complete game cut to just five innings by the margin of victory.
In the winner-take-all game four showdown, after WVC inched to within 9-8, DeMent bashed a two-run home run in the eighth and Wallace and sophomore outfielder Chris Beggs turned it into a 16-8 celebration rout with a two-run single and three-run dinger in the ninth; sophomore Adam Biggs pick up the save with three innings of one-hit relief.
Soup’s team was Mmm Mmm Good in the Region Tournament, considering the 3-0 route it took to the title. Game one was anything but easy, however.
Homestanding John A. Logan scored four times and took a 6-4 lead in the eighth of the opener, before RLC tied it in the ninth and won thanks to Hargett’s leadoff round-tripper in the 11th. Beggs went 4-6 with three RBIs and Hargett was 3-5 with three runs scored in an 18-hit attack; Sophomore Greg Sprehn worked five innings in middle-relief for the win, his eighth, and Spille got the final out with a strikeout for the save in a 7-6 verdict.
Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) Champion Belleville Area College (BAC, now Southwestern Illinois College), 11-3 during the regular-season against league foes and 46-14 overall, was a 9-5 and 25-9 victim the next two days. Sophomore catcher Mike Thompson and freshman third baseman Corey Cinnamon divided six of the 11 Warrior hits and Biggs went the distance for the 9-5 win; the victors were up, 5-3 after six, before scoring four more times in the seventh. The third game was no contest as RLC clubbed a season-best 28 hits and scored in every inning but the ninth, including nine in the third and six in the sixth; Thompson was 5-8 with three extra-base hits and six RBI, while Wallace, DeMent and freshman shortstop Dan Firlit enjoyed four-hit games and both Cinnamon and freshman outfielder Beau Parton had three safeties.
The Warriors upped their post-season winning streak to seven by traveling to the Chicago suburbs of River Grove and defeating Triton, 8-2 in the second game of the Great Lake District Tournament to eliminate the hosts. The Region XXIV reps, who finished with 10 hits, led 2-0 before adding five runs in the sixth. Biggs threw a shutout until the seventh and ran his record to 8-3 with the complete-game.
Indian Hills (Iowa), a 10-2 winner earlier versus Triton, awaited in the final game of the day. Spille faced just five batters over the minimum over eight innings, whiffing eight and allowing just five hits and one earned run. But a team that had averaged better than 15 hits per game in eight post-season outings was stymied on four hits and struck out 13 times, in a 2-1 setback. RLC scored after two were out in the ninth but left the tying run on third and the potential winning run on first.
Revenge against the same Indian Hills foe the next day was not to be, despite holding the Iowans to one hit for five innings. Hargett supplied a two-run homer in the first, his 10th, Parton led off the fourth with another blast and DeMent made it 4-0 with a home run in the fifth, only to let Indian Hills break loose with six unearned runs in the sixth.
All-Region pick DeMent boasted a record 16 triples and batted .408 en route to career records of 29 and .415. Biggs posted a 1.73 earned run average, a forerunner to his career ERA (earned run average) record low of 1.99.
The team hit .329 that spring, .319 overall (team scores were not counted in the fall, but individual statistics were). Behind DeMent were Beggs, .368; Cinnamon, .361; Hargett (50 bases on balls), .336; Houston (12 HR), .321; Wallace, .320; Firlit, .310; and Parton, .291.
How good were the 1997 Region champions? Good enough for their 1997-98 successors to be ranked No. 4 in the country in the NJCAA Division I Pre-Season Baseball Rankings “on the strength of seven returning everyday players and two veteran starting pitchers.”
That team carried the weight of high expectations to a 33-17 mark in 1997-98, settling for second behind GRAC Champion BAC for the second time in three seasons, before failing to advance out of Section play. Leave it to the 1998-99 gang, loaded with first-year collegians, to win the Warriors’ fifth Sectional and third Regional.
That team likewise featured outstanding pitching behind Freshman Neal Frendling, a 16th-round draft pick the previous summer by the Devil Rays, and Zack Brinson. All-GRAC / All-Region Tourney honoree Frendling took care of business before signing with Tampa Bay with a record of 11-3, 3.35 ERA and 136 strikeouts (Ks) in 118 1/3 innings; Brinson was 7-2, including the Region Tournament ”Most Valuable Player.”
A robust offense could count on third baseman Tommy Pearce, lone Warrior on the regular-season All-Region squad, and All-GRAC with his .429 batting average (BA), 15 homeruns (HR), 66 RBIs, with 27 multiple-hit games, including three or more on 13 occasions, and .732 slugging percentage; pitcher and first baseman Luke Miller, .391, with 20 multiple-hit games to go along with three complete games on the mound; catcher Joe Flick, .323, 15 HR, 65 RBI, .617 slugging percentage; right fielder Dan Albers, .358; designated hitter Derrick Langfels, .351; left fielder Matt Eldridge, .331; outfielder Matt Davis, .289; and center fielder Dustin Vugteveen, .287 (.299 spring).
The first three batters to face Frendling in the post-season scored, but he settled down for a nine-inning, complete-game victory over Lincoln Trail College (LTC), 8-5, behind a 12-hit attack by his teammates. Host Logan smacked RLC, 14-3 in five innings, but the Warriors went up 4-2 in game three against LTC and held on for an 8-7 win to wrap up Sectional honors. Freshman Jimmy Linder, the lone lefty on the hill staff, got the save by retiring all five batters he faced, four on strikeouts. Defensive specialist Corey Alsop went 3-4 for the second time in a six-game span.
In similar fashion in the Region XXIV Tournament, RLC defeated GRAC Co-Champions Southeastern Illinois College (SIC), 9-3, and BAC, 2-1, before getting thumped by BAC, 14-4.
Frendling won the opener, per usual, backed by three hits each from Pearce, Miller and Eldridge, among 16 hits. In game two, the Warriors left the bases loaded in the first off an all-conference pitcher and immediately trailed 1-0 when BAC‘s leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. It stayed that way until the ninth, when Albers reached on a one-out walk and Davis crushed his second home run of the spring.
Unfortunately, the crush of the celebration at home plate following the game-winner damaged the knee of our hero. Davis was finished for the remainder of the festivities.
BAC took advantage the following day to force an extra game, scoring in six of eight innings against the unbeaten Warriors. No sweat. Campbell & Co. rolled into the NJCAA Interregional as MVP Brinson picked up his second Regional triumph, 6-3, thanks to a save from Frendling (1 2/3 innings, no hits) and 15 hits. Back-to-back home runs by Flick and Vugteveen in the second gave the champs a 2-0 lead, which they expanded to 6-1 four innings later when the first four batters hit safely and all scored. Flick and Miller joined the two hurlers on the all-tourney team.
A first-ever trip to the Juco (Junior College) World Series depended on a happy homestand for a Warrior team hosting the Northern District Tournament for the first time. It seemed even more probable after Frendling took care of business, striking out 13, scattering nine singles and winning, 3-2. Run-producing singles by Miller and Flick followed two bases on balls to start the third and gave their team a 2-1 lead; tied at 2, Vugteveen won it with a lead-off homer to left-center in the bottom of the sixth. Easy with the home plate celebration.
End of road, though, as the homebodies could not improve on win No. 37, falling to Muscatine (Iowa), 7-3, and Triton, 7-2, despite 11 hits, including three by Shortstop Simon Auter. Muscatine advanced with a 5-2 verdict over Triton.
About the only accomplishment to elude Campbell’s teams was a GRAC crown. Campbell & Friends boasted three runner-up finishes – 12-4 in 1993-94, one game behind John A. Logan; 8-4 in the rain-shortened 1995-96 season, behind BAC at 11-3, and 9-5 (tied with Olney Central) in 1997-98, trailing BAC by one.
McGuire was responsible for bringing Campbell to RLC as his Assistant Coach in 1991-92. He succeeded McGuire a couple of weeks before the start of the 1992 Fall campaign.
Prior to that, he was a Warrior nemesis. Campbell was a two-time All-GRAC pitcher for rival John A. Logan, highlighted by a 10-1 sophomore season. Surrounding his introduction to the league, he was an undefeated junior hurler for the Hamilton (Ohio) Class 3A State Champions and capped two seasons under Coach Itchy Jones for the Southern Illinois University Salukis with 8-3 credentials as a senior.
His coaching career got its start with two years at Eastern Illinois University as Pitching Coach for Dan Callahan.
Campbell met his match while at Rend Lake College. Mrs. Campbell is the former Karen Liggett, a former Lady Warrior softball player. They were married November 1, 1997. Daughter Hannah Nicole joined the family October 2, 1998; Madison, now 15, completed the family three years later.
He left coaching to become a Financial Representative for Country Mutual Insurance Co. in Monroe County. For the past 11 “seasons” he has been the award-winning Agency Manager in Carterville for Country Financial, with a team of 23 representatives in a six-county Southern Illinois radius.
Thompsonville teacher passes on love for performing
Several members of the Annie Junior cast. (Samantha Sullivan photo. Please give her a call at 499-6465 to have her photograph you event.)
“Team Chemistry” Warrior cagers of 1983-84 take 25-7 record into RLC HOF
by Bob Kelley -retired Sports Information Director, Rend Lake College
Members of the 1983-84 Rend Lake College Warriors Basketball team should all be decked out in white lab coats when assembled en masse for their induction into the RLC Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 22.
Chemistry was their “thing” back in the day.
Before we go on, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: these players did not lack for talent. In fact, all nine sophomores who grew close together for two years on the Ina campus, plus one late addition, accepted offers to continue their playing careers following their departure from the Juco (Junior College) ranks, the most from one class in 50 seasons of Warrior basketball.
And to be honest, we are not really sure how many, if any, of the guys ever wore a white lab coat… or even took a Chemistry class.
What we can tell you: all had to go to class often enough to graduate before moving on, even though they could be observed spending every minute of their free time, or so it seemed, in the gymnasium. They liked playing the game. And it appeared as if they liked each other as much as any athletic group could.
Maybe the closeness started with something as simple as the offer of a fried bologna sandwich to anyone who took Travis Helm up on his offer to visit his tiny hometown of Orchardville in the northeast sector of the district. Or maybe it was the opposites-attract bond that quickly grew between teammates Tim Wills, the homegrown local kid, and city-slicker Robby Jones, one of the many transplanted Hoosiers, and spread throughout.
Perhaps it could be attributed to one of the individuals, who shall remain anonymous, willing to be harassed by his classmates more than the rest, for the good of the team.
Truth be told, they liked each other. They spent a lot of time together. They devoted long hours mastering their trade, challenging one another to get better. They accepted coaching. They took care of business by doing their jobs and sharing the ball.
Team Chemistry. It worked like a charm.
Nine team records were theirs when they left town. A 10th belonged to nine of those same players as freshmen.
No individual records. Enough said?
Mitch Haskins coached a team-record 22 wins out of this close-knit group their first campaign and a 25-7 mark the next, his third at the helm. Eight of their 20 losses in two seasons were to teams which advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Finals in Hutchinson, Kan. Their three conference setbacks in 1983-84 were by a total of five points.
In addition to the standard for wins and winning percentage (.781), the 1983-84 Hall-of-Fame Gang established new marks for consecutive wins (nine); free throws made (587), attempted (790) and percentage (.743); greatest average point differential per game (16.0); greatest margin of victory (74 vs. Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center, 108-34), and greatest margin of victory over community college opponent (57 vs. Oakton, 97-40).
An equally impressive average defensive yield of 63.3 points per game was just 1.0 higher than the record set by their 1982-83 predecessors.
Perhaps the most amazing feats to the credit of Haskins & Co. were 83-81 and 84-82 losses, both in overtime, to a dominating Wabash Valley College (WVC) squad which boasted eventual NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I signees in 6-foot-9, 230-pound Dan Bingenheimer (Missouri), 6’ 9” Brian Helm (Cincinnati) and even seldom-used 6’ 7” Quinn Wirth (Wyoming), plus 6’ 2” Andre Jackson (Southern Indiana).
Warrior strongman Jim Price (Cloverdale, Ind.), a 6’ 4 ½” forward, was the lone player to average double-figures at 16.3 points per game (ppg) and also led with 6.5 rebounds per game (rpg). He was rewarded with his selection to the eight-man All-Region XXIX Team (second-leading vote-getter behind Bingenheimer), First-Team All-Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) and Warrior Most Valuable Player as voted by his playing partners. He was joined the next two seasons at D-II Indiana Central University by another RLC insider, 6’ 5” Jamie Raley (Leitchfield, Ky.), named “Most Improved” after posting 8.8 ppg and 4.8 rpg.
Heady 6-foot playmaker Wills started all 67 games during his Juco career, a feat made even more noteworthy by his ridiculous average of 32:30 per game. Think Coach Haskins wanted Wills on the floor directing his team?
Wills was rewarded with All-GRAC First Team status, a berth in the All-Region XXIV All-Star Game and “Most Dedicated” nod by his peers. He doled out 263 assists (8.2 per game), nearly five times more than his closest rivals, averaged 6.4 points and made 82.5 percent of his free throws (80-97), which ranked No. 2 to Jeff Cochren and his .849 accuracy (79-93). Wills scored at a 9.8 ppg clip (second) as a freshman but concentrated on making everyone around him better as a sophomore, when his turnover rate was just under three per game.
Helm was the outside sniper; no telling what his total might have been had the 3-point arc been introduced four years earlier. The 6’ 2 ½” Helm (Wayne City legend with 2,003 points playing as a senior for RLC Sports HOF Inductee Jerry Wilson) and the 6’ 3” Cochren (Huntingburg, Ind.) each produced 9.8 ppg. Little known fact: the Warriors were 30-5 in games in which the unflappable Helm was in the starting lineup (7-1 late as a freshman).
Orchardville’s own capped his Juco career as the second-leading scorer for the winning East quintet in the Region XXIV All-Star Game prior to the repeat Region Tournament championship title claimed by WVC. Helm had 12 while playing alongside Price and Wills one last time.
Cochren put up 22 in the second loss to WVC; in year one, he led the team in scoring eight times and had a six-game stretch in which he averaged 16.3 ppg and hit 50-77 field goals (9-10 vs. Kaskaskia). Both he and Wills were All-Tournament in the Lincoln Land Holiday Classic as freshmen.
“Frog” Jones (Evansville, Ind.), a gifted, 6’ 2” all-around threat who earned his moniker thanks to his leaping ability, was Second Team All-GRAC as a freshman, made the six-man All-Region Tournament Team and was voted MVP by his teammates. He averaged 9.8 ppg then, scoring one less point than Wills, a team-high 6.1 rebounds and second-best 2.1 assists; he was the RLC leader 18 games in rebounding, half that many in scoring. But he played only the final 19 games as a sophomore for academic reasons. His minutes and individual stats suffered after rejoining a team that adjusted to playing without him the first 11 games.
The late-season development of 6’ 8” center Barry Wright (Newburgh, Ind.) the previous season had a great deal to do with the Warriors setting the school record for most wins at 22, capturing a first Sectional crown and placing third in the Region XXIV Tournament. Wright had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the second WVC game as a first-year collegian and had 11 rebounds in both wins over Belleville Area, including the Sectional Championship triumph. He led the team both seasons in blocked shots, with a total of 47, and pulled down 14 rebounds in the record rout of Oakton.
Point guard Dean Merder (Jasper, Ind.), 6’ 3”, was a steadying influence off the bench for 63 games during his career, never more so than when he hit six three throws in the final 2:06 and had 10 points overall in a 60-51 win over Southern Baptist (Ark.) five games into his Juco career.
One of the four tallest players to play for RLC at 6’ 9”, Jeff Wilkinson (Princeton, Ind.), played sparingly but enjoyed one shining moment in a 14-rebound, 13-point effort in the record romp versus the Kentucky Job Corps Center.
Sophomore transfers Todd Stoermer (Rockport, Ind.) and Mark Kerley (Benton), both 6’ 5”, added much more than just depth. Stoermer was one of three players who started all 32 games, averaging 8.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 1.6 apg. Kerley led the team in scoring twice, with 18 and 16, and on the boards twice.
And the freshman class was headed by 6’ 5” swingman Kevin Riggan (Mt. Vernon) and 6’ 1” guard Fred Taylor (East St. Louis), as well as 6’ 4” Derrick Leonard (St. Louis, Mo.), 5’ 10” William Watts (Madison) and 6’ 4” redshirt Garrett Miller (NewBern, N.C.). Riggan led RLC with 14 against the Job Corps.
Price, with 20 points or more in seven games and 10 or more rebounds in seven, was the Warrior leader in 19 and 18 games, respectively. Helm, who hit .580 from the field with the majority coming from outside, was the top scorer in five contests; Cochren and Raley were No. 1 in three each, Kerley twice, Wills and Riggan once. Other rebound pacesetters were Raley (five games, including 13 vs. the St. Louis Boys Club), Wright and Stoermer (four each), Jones and Kerley (twice) and Cochren and Wilkinson (once).
How good were these Warriors offensively? As a team, they connected on 50 percent or more of their field-goal attempts in 21 games, with three others at 49 percent. The Warriors topped the century mark five times and had 90 or more in four other games.
From the charity stripe, they were even better. Cochren and Wills ranked 1-2 in Region XXIV, and Helm was not far behind at 81.0 percent. Price, battling inside, had far more chances than anyone else and made 75.9 percent, with 26 in succession over a five-game stretch, seven shy of the team record.
Defensively, the HOF-bound crew held 11 opponents under 60 points. Only four times did teams score as many as 80 points against RLC, and the two overtime setbacks to Wabash Valley accounted for half of those; Haskins & Friends won the other two such games. The Warriors held 17 foes to 45 percent shooting or under from the field, four others under 50 percent
Included in the record-nine-game winning streak was an unprecedented third Land of Lincoln Holiday Classic Championship in Springfield, at which Price shared “Most Valuable Big Man” honors following his career-high 31-point effort in the finale and Cochren was a member of the seven-member All-Tourney Team for the second year in a row.
A 102-60 rout of Concordia Seminary at home to end the month of January also produced Haskins’ 400th career coaching win in the high school and college ranks.
RLC was runner-up to undefeated WVC in the second year of the GRAC thanks to two-game sweeps of John A. Logan, 80-57 and 73-57, and Southeastern Illinois, 82-69 and 79-70, and a split with Kaskaskia.
In addition to being a valued part of this season of accomplishments, Assistant Coach Chuck Doty could boast of his distinction for helping Warrior quintets claim two conference championships. He was a freshman reserve when the 1976-77 quintet shared the Southern Illinois College Conference title under HOF Coach Jim Waugh. (He was 18-for-19 as a sophomore from the charity stripe.) In 1981-82, the first season with Haskins in charge and Doty at his side, the Warriors tied the school record with 21 wins and captured a share of the final SICC championship before it gave way to the GRAC.
There were very few “downers” during the record-setting campaign. Even though the veteran cast, coming off a 22-13 freshman showing, was not expecting to get off to a 2-3 start, it is not difficult to explain. Two losses were to perennial powerhouse Three Rivers (Mo.), the 1979 NJCAA National Champion at 37-3; the Raiders also finished third in 1978, fifth in 1980 and seventh in 1981 despite a 39-2 slate. The two-time conquerors would go on to finish 38-3 (seventh) in 1983-84.
The record was a less-than-impressive 6-4 after the Warriors went on the road and lost at Kaskaskia, 65-64, but even then it took an incredible performance to beat them. The Blue Devils literally shot the lights out the first half, sinking 18 of 24 attempts (75 percent), for a 41-27 advantage. A real power outage extended halftime to one hour and 40 minutes, before the hosts escaped with the win thanks to 70 percent sniping overall (28-40).
Wabash Valley would be the only other regular-season foe to defeat Rend Lake College. And this was half of a two-year WVC dynamo which would advance both seasons to the NJCAA Finals in Hutchinson, Kan., run roughshod over the fledgling GRAC and finish 32-6 and 31-7; five wins over RLC stretched a winning streak to 13 games in head-to-head competition.
Unfortunately, the Hall of Fame inductees may have been looking forward too much to a third encounter with their nemesis. A 25-6 season ended in a thud: a shocking 59-51 loss to Southeastern Illinois in the Section IV Tournament opener, with the losers finding the range at a paltry 40 percent clip. The upset victims went 6:30 without scoring midway through the second half, then made just one field goal in the final 2:49.
No individual records, granted. Individual recognition, yes. All nine two-year contributors, along with Stoermer, were signed or played at the four-year level, a single-class record for Warrior cagers before and since.
Price and Raley put their Hoosier-Kentucky rivalry backgrounds behind them for two more seasons as teammates at Indiana Central University. Merder and Cochren returned to their Southern Indiana roots to play for Haskins’ alma mater, Oakland City (Ind.) College. Wright accepted an athletic grant-in-aid to play for University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Wilkinson did likewise at Union College (Ky.). Jones originally stuck with Cochren and Merder at Olney Central before finishing his career at Indiana State-Evansville. Wills and Helm both accepted offers from Freed-Hardeman College but their stay in Tennessee was very brief, with Wills finishing his career as a two-year starter and Academic All-America for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Stoermer used his unique Juco career as a combo WVC/RLC Warrior as a springboard to University of Indiana Southeast. The next season after their graduation from RLC, Riggan was a starter at guard for defending NCAA Division II National Champion Jacksonville (Ala.) State University and Taylor was one of the leading 3-point shooters in the country as a junior for NAIA contender McKendree College and an All-America candidate as a senior.
West Frankfort Man Granted Patent for New Gate Design
Swofford, with his new patented gate design. (William McPherson – West Frankfort Gazette)
RLC Sports Hall of Fame inductee: golfer Ace Kaufman, Third-Team All-America/Region Medalist, headed to RLC Hall
by Bob Kelley, retired Sports Information Director, Rend Lake College
INA, IL – Danielle Kaufman would have every right, it would seem, to wonder just how good she might have been while competing on two healthy legs during her time as a member of the Rend Lake College Women’s Golf Team from 2003-05.
But there really is no need for that.
The Nashville product, despite dealing with severe leg issues, was one of the best to ever play for the Lady Warriors; witness her inclusion in a small Class of 2017 to be inducted April 22 into the RLC Sports Hall of Fame.
A “Goose” (Kaufman), “Soup” (the obvious, Campbell) and Team Chemistry all packaged into one neat bundle and Hall-of-Fame-bound. Game time on Saturday, April 22 for the 18th Induction Ceremonies will be 5:30 p.m. in James “Hummer” Waugh Gymnasium.
Results from Kaufman’s freshman season would not reflect a player who had to overcome the course she was playing, her opponents and Compartment Syndrome.
She helped set Lady Warrior 18- and 36-hole records with a 320-316–636 as her team placed ninth against 22 four-year opponents in the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational at Ironwood Golf Club in Normal, placed 30 spots ahead of her nearest teammate in 16th at the 17-team Ball State University Classic and finished 18th individually with her 86 in the nine-team Western Illinois University Classic leading up to the 2003 Region XXIV Tournament.
All she did in the main event each fall to determine spring NJCAA finalists was lead the Region XXIV Tournament field. Kaufman’s 163 (81-82) was five better than the runner-up, South African teammate Mia van Rooyen at 168 (87-81), and eight ahead of the 171 (87-84) by third-place teammate Carrie Paul, who was All-Tournament as a freshman in the NJCAA Finals.
The Region XXIV Medalist, Third-Team All-America honoree and only the second player (at the time) to record a hole-in-one in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Championships will be saluted along with former Warrior Baseball Coach Rich Campbell (1992-2001), who did something no other diamond mentor has done in 50 years by guiding his charges to two Region titles; and the record-setting 1983-84 Men’s Basketball Team, which left behind nine new standards following a 25-7 campaign. (RLC Media Services)
The 1-2-3 sweep enabled Coach Cindy Corn’s squad to claim its first crown in three years by 36 strokes over defending champ John A. Logan with rounds of 683 (339-344) at Franklin County Country Club.
In the spring, Kaufman was medalist and classmate Casey Biddinger was runner-up as the RLC gals warmed up for Nationals by winning the McKendree College Invitational. Biddinger heated up even more in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, as part of one of the most unique threesomes in the history of golf; after her two partners aced the same hole, Biddinger joined the crowd with a hole-in-one of her own later in the round.
Just for good measure during the season, Kaufman played from the Gold Tees (5,922 yards) and set the Rend Lake Golf Course Women’s Record at 68.
Halifax Plantation Golf Club in Ormond Beach, FL, welcomed the 2004 NJCAA Championships, and Rend Lake College welcomed the stiff competition.
Least of those intimidated was the freshman “Goose,” whose 328 (84-79-84-81) scorecard was tied for 12th-best tied and included the ace on day two at the 131-yard No. 13 hole. Third-Team All-America honors also went to van Rooyen, who was one back at 329 (85-79-85-80), and all five Lady Warriors crashed the Top 25 – Ashley Hemann, 19th, at 333 (85-83-80-85); Paul, 21st, at 335 (87-86-78-84), and Biddinger, 24th, at 336 (80-87-85-84).
Rend Lake College claimed fifth overall – the first of six such finishes during an eight-year stretch – and was never behind winner Daytona Beach (Fla.) by more than 10 strokes any round with its four-player totals of 1,317 (334-327-327-329). Also ahead of the Illinois reps were Tyler (Tex.) Jr. College, 1,296; Redlands C.C. (Okla.), 1,302; and 2002 Champ McLennan C.C. (Tex.), 1,307.
Off-season surgery followed. Kaufman did not have to ride in a cart her sophomore season, but Corn will tell you the former three-sport standout still suffered somewhat by the condition and is still bothered by it to this day.
Compartment Syndrome (C.S.) occurs when excessive pressure builds up inside an enclosed muscle space in the body. It can impede the flow of blood to and from affected tissues. Acute C.S. usually is the result of a major event, such as a broken leg, whereas Chronic C.S. may be caused by regular, vigorous exercise.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons refers to it as “a painful condition that occurs when pressure within the muscle builds to dangerous levels” as well as “very rare.” It reports fewer than 20,000 cases per year in the U.S. Compartments consist of a group of muscles, nerves and blood vessels in the arms and legs covered by a tough membrane which does not stretch or expand easily.
“It is most often caused by athletic exertion,” according to the AAOS OrthoInfo, and “usually relieved by discontinuation of the exercise.”
Corn appealed to the NJCAA for an exception to be made which would allow Kaufman to compete while using a golf cart. Corn cited the case of Casey Martin, who was successful in his suit a couple of years earlier against the Professional Golfers Association; Martin, a former teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford University, had lived with a congenital circulatory disorder since birth, Klippel-Trénaunay-Webber Syndrome, and received permission to utilize a cart under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
(Martin helped his Stanford team win a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I National Championship in 1994 and in 2016 was Head Coach of the NCAA D-I National Champion Oregon Ducks.)
Kaufman, Hemann, Biddinger and Nicole Adams were joined for their sophomore season by another South African, Freshman Surita Risseeuw, and Freshman Meredith Mosel.
Kaufman set the pace for her RLC mates with a 156 (75-81) at the Ball State University Classic. The 2004-05 contingent then tied the previous team’s 36-hole mark at Illinois Wesleyan before establishing new lows for both 18- and 36-holes by repeating at the Spring McKendree Invite; their 632 (319-313) was 30 shots better than the nearest opponent.
More records fell in the Region XXIV showdown. Risseeuw was two better than defending champion Kaufman and her 159 (80-79) – two under her winning score from the year before – and the team bettered the Region record by 17 shots and won by 46 with its 645 (324-321).
The “Goose” could not duplicate her All-America status this go-around, but a tie for 20th is not too shabby. Her scorecard: 335 (81-84-87-83).
Teammates were not too shabby, either. Risseeuw was Second-Team All-America in name only. Her 312 (77-74-80-81) tied for fifth, yet she was awarded sixth-place by a scorecard playoff. Hemann was All-Tournament in 18th following a quick recovery at 333 (91-81-81-80); Adams tied her more heralded teammate for 20th at 335 (87-76-86-86); and Biddinger was 30th with 349 (95-86-86-82).
The four low rounds each day count toward a team’s total; i.e., all five players contributed a minimum of two of their rounds to a No. 4 showing – the program’s best ever – at 1,310 (336-315-333-326). Two-time defending champ Daytona Beach was No. 1 at 1,249; ahead of McLennan at 1,282; and Redlands at 1,289.
Corn, Kaufman & Co., also known as the 2004-05 Women’s Golf Team, was voted into the RLC Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 as the program’s first to be so recognized. Kaufman is the third individual female golfer in the Hall, following Second-Team All-American Elizabeth Kasey (1999-2001) in 2008 and two-time Region XXIV Medalist Bobbie Jo Bivens (1999-2001) in 2014.
Kaufman, Hemann and Biddinger formed a recruiting coup for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for the 2005-06 campaign; however, Kaufman broke up the trio by finishing her career at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
She is enrolled in the Professional Golf Association’s Apprentice and Teaching Professional program. She was a Golf/Teaching Pro for Indian Ridge Golf Club in Oxford, Ohio, when she was hired in March 2014 as the Women’s Coach at Indiana University East.
In between, she returned to familiar territory as a Lady Warrior Assistant Coach in Golf for three seasons from 2009-12 and in Softball under Coach Dave Ellingsworth the last two (2015-17).
50 Infulencers of Rend Lake College: Wayne Arnold The Mainstay
Reece Rutland- RLC Media Services
INA, IL – Mainstay might be a bit of an understatement for the next of the 50 influencers. There aren’t many who could tell you their first-hand account of the Rend Lake College groundbreaking or transferring classes from Mt. Vernon to the new campus, but come to a home basketball game, and I’m sure Wayne Arnold would be happy to oblige.
Arnold, a Bonnie native, graduated from Goode-Barren Township High School (now Sesser-Valier High School) in 1950 and is a longtime resident of Mt. Vernon.
Wayne Arnold (RLC Media Services)
After serving in the U.S. Air Force for four years he returned to the area. He earned an associate’s degree from Centralia Junior College — now Kaskaskia College — and went to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education. He later earned a master’s degree in recreation and outdoor education from SIU-C.
Following college, Arnold got his start by coaching and teaching at Dahlgren High School — now Hamilton County Senior High School — for three years before accepting a health and driver’s education teaching position at Mt. Vernon Township High School.
The long time Mt. Vernon resident stayed there for a year when in 1963 he went to Mt. Vernon Community College where he helped develop the school’s P.E. program and taught hygiene in its science program. He has never left.
Like several of his colleagues at MVCC, Arnold made the transition from MVCC to RLC when that change occurred on July 1, 1967, and served professionally with the college for 22 years. For the past 26 years (and still counting) following his retirement he has remained active on campus, volunteering with several athletic, service and wellness projects.
In addition to being a decorated member of the Rend Lake College faculty and a seasoned coach for a bevy of Warrior programs, Arnold might be best known as the father of the Fitness Center and the RLC Sports Hall of Fame.
For those contributions, he was granted a place in campus immortality by being inducted into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2008. During the fall of 1995, the fitness center attached to the newly-christened James E. “Hummer” Waugh was officially named the Wayne Arnold Aerobics Super-Circuit Fitness Center.
He headed the Sports Hall of Fame Steering Committee of seven individuals in the summer of 1999 to establish the constitution and by-laws of the group, which were approved by the Board of Trustees in the fall of 1999. The first class was selected and inducted in the spring of 2000.
RLC File photo
Arnold also had his share of successes in the classroom. During his tenure, he served as Health, Physical Education and Recreation Instructor; as well as Department Chair. Speaking of tenure, he was in the first group of faculty members to receive that honor in 1968. The 1980 Student Senate also gave him the “Teacher of the Year” award. He was also the keynote speaker at the 23rd Annual Commencement Ceremony on May 11, 1990.
But, the accolades didn’t stop there. He was recognized May 1982 with the Faculty Service Award. And, during the 1988-89 school year, the Rend Lake College Foundation presented him with the Faculty Excellence Award. At the state level, he was honored by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association in June of 1989 for his contributions and commitment to quality education.
On the diamond and hardwood, Arnold served as head coach of the men’s basketball team at Mt. Vernon Community College from 1963 to 65, and then served as assistant coach under Hummer from 1969 to 71.
He is credited with establishing the MVCC Baseball Program in 1963, serving as head coach for two seasons. He also had a one-season stint and the RLC assistant baseball coach during the 1970-71 season.
Saying goodbye to an old blue suitcase
By Jim Muir
As I walked down the sidewalk at WQRL on Saturday morning, carrying an old blue suitcase and a small satchel, I realized this was the last few steps of a 25-year journey.
You see, the suitcase and satchel contained my radio equipment and I was turning it in, leaving it behind. And while the equipment belongs to WQRL, for the past quarter century it has been ‘my equipment.’ I babied it, took care of it, and took great pains to keep it working properly. Not one time in 25 years did I ever leave it in my truck overnight, not once. Even if I arrived home at midnight from a Friday night game and I was heading out at 6:30 a.m. to do my Saturday show, I carried my equipment in the house and carried it right back outside a few hours later.
And those that have worked with me through the years know that I was more than a little particular about the way the equipment was packed and unpacked. My theory was simple: ‘if I put everything back in the exact (and I mean exact) same place then the next ballgame I will know exactly where it’s at.’ During the past 25 years I have packed and unpacked that suitcase and satchel for more than 3,000 ballgames and 1,200 Saturday morning shows. In short, there’s more than a little mileage on the suitcase, satchel and me!
As I took a quick picture and one last look at the old, worn out suitcase and satchel I thought of how many miles we had traveled together. At venues from Peoria to Cairo and Quincy to Mt. Carmel, I’ve dragged that suitcase and satchel behind me. And without exception every one of those miles was traveled with excitement, anticipation and enthusiasm.
When I turned to walk away, I thought to myself, ‘if I had a dollar for every mile I traveled with that old blue suitcase I would be a rich man.’ But, then I quickly realized I am a far richer man because of the friendships I’ve made and the relationships I’ve forged while dragging that old blue suitcase around. It’s been a wonderful journey where I had the privilege to tell the story about thousands of athletes that gave all they had, every ounce of effort and talent that was in them for nothing more than pride in their school and community. What a blessed man I have been to witness that!
It’s an interesting and unique feeling of ‘knowing that you know’ when it’s time to walk away … because I am completely at peace with my decision. Through the years I watched people in many different professions stay too long, and then leave on bad terms. I think there is much to be said about walking away from something that has been a huge part of your life on your terms and with no regrets.
As I turned and parted company with my old suitcase and satchel I said a prayer for those that follow me. A prayer for God’s blessings, safe travels, exciting ballgames and that same joy and enthusiasm that I found in doing something that I absolutely loved.
Oh … one last thing – I prayed they take care of the equipment! That old suitcase has a lot more miles left in it!
