Video Included: Seven Athletes, Three Teams, Three Coaches, Contributor Inducted Into Revived Edwardsville High School Athletics Hall Of Fame

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EDWARDSVILLE - Seven athletes, three teams, three coaches and a contributor were all inducted into the revival of the Edwardsville High School Athletics Hall of Fame in a banquet and ceremonies held Saturday evening at the Edwardsville American Legion post.

The athletes inducted were Joe Bevis in football, wrestling and track, Jimmie Dougherty in football, basketball and baseball, Sam Epenesa in girls volleyball, Emmonnie Henderson in girls basketball and track, Daren McDonough in the pole vault, Amy Nelson in girls volleyball and basketball and Stephen Pifer in boys cross country and track.

The coaches inducted were Tim Dougherty in football, Tom Pile in baseball and the late Joe Lucco in boys basketball. The three teams that were inducted were the 1955-56 boys basketball team that finished second in the state, the 1978 girls field hockey team that became the first-ever Tigers' team to win an IHSA state championship and the famed 1998 baseball team that went 40-0, won the IHSA Class AA title and were ranked number one in the nation by Collegiate Baseball magazine and number six by USA Today.

Bevis was a three-year All-Southwestern Conference running back for the Tigers' football team, also being named first-team All-State by the Chicago Tribune, Champaign News-Gazette and Chicago Sun-Times. He ran for 3.058 career yards with the Tigers' varsity, and also was a two-time state wrestling qualifier, going 115-21 on the mat and finished third in the 189-pound class in the 2000 Class AA state tournament. Bevis also finished sixth in the discus throw in the 2000 state Class AA track meet and played football at the University of Illinois football team that went 10-2 in 2002 and played in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Dougherty was the quarterback for the Tigers in 1994-96. Playing for his father, Tim, Jimmie went 27-3 in his career, going 10-1 his senior year defeating East St. Louis 41-0 and being named the Gatorade and Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. As a basketball player, he was named All-State as a point guard in his senior season and helped the Tigers to a 24-5 record in going to the state finals in 1995 as a sophomore, hitting a late three to help defeat Centralia 53-52 in the super-sectional. He also was a pitcher for the Tigers baseball team in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Epenesa was a standout volleyball player who still holds the career record for kills with 1,250 and helped take the Tigers to four Southwestern Conference, four IHSA regional, three sectional and a super-sectional title, finishing third in Class AA in 2010. Edwardsville won 121 matches total before she graduated in 2012. Epenesa went on to play at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., going to the Sweet 16 in 2012 and the Elite Eight in 2013 in the NCAA tournament.

Emmonnie Henderson was a standout basketball player, scoring a then-career record of 1,806 points, broken this season by Syd Harris, and in her senior year, helped the Tigers to the Southwestern Conference and IHSA regional titles that season. Henderson played a key role in the Tigers' runner-up finish at state in 2011. She also won seven individual track championships, include four straight in the shot put and three times in the discus throw, coming in third in her freshman year in the discus.

Daren McDonough won the pole vault for the Tigers track team in 1991 and 1992, going 15 feet, nine inches to win in his junior year and 17 feet. one-half inch in his senior year, breaking the state record. It would stand for 18 years before it was broken in 2010. In his senior year, McDonough was ranked the nation's top pole vaulter, competing collegiately at the University of Illinois and in the United States Olympic Trials. He finished second In the NCAA indoor championship and tied for fourth in the outdoor championships in 1995. McDonough was also a standout football player, setting a school record for 646 receiving yards in 1991.

SEE EDWARDSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME WEBSITE:

https://www.ehshalloffame.org/

Amy Nelson was a standout in the early days of the Edwardsville girls basketball team, scoring a then-record 1,378 career points. 432 assists and 298 steals before graduating in 1988. She helped the Tigers win four straight IHSA Class AA regionals and four straight 20-win seasons. Nelson also played on the girls' volleyball team, setting a season record with 80 aces in 1987. She went on to play at Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, helping the Bears to 31 wins and a trip to the NCAA Women's Final Four in 1992.

Stephen Pifer won a rare triple crown for the Tigers in his senior year of 2002-03, winning the IHSA Class 3A individual title with a time of 14:33, to this day the only runner to win an individual cross country championship for the Tigers. Later that spring, Pifer won the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:14.25 and the 3,200 meters at 9:06.93, becoming the sixth runner in IHSA history to pull the feat. He also won two NCAA cross country national championships with Colorado in 2004 and 2006.

Tim Dougherty remains the winningest coach in the history of the Tigers' football team, going 132-40 between 1992 and 2007, winning six Southwestern Conference championships and 12 IHSA playoff berths. Edwardsville went undefeated in the regular season in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2005, going through to the quarterfinals in 1995, the semifinals in 2005 and finished second twice in Class 7A in both 2001 and 2002. He was named the Collegiate and NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2002, and the Tigers were named Program of the Year in 1998.

Joe Lucco is considered one of the greatest coaches in Edwardsville history. In 31 seasons as Tigers head coach, he went 554-267, going through to the IHSA state tournament in 1951, 1954 and 1956. It was his 1955-56 team that was his most famous, going 28-6, losing the final to Rockford West 67-65. Lucco also coached the Tigers' baseball team for 1945-1959, going 216-80, with four IHSA district, two regional and three sectional titles, appearing in the state tournament three times. He also served two terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, and died April 7, 1998, aged 85.

Tom "Moto" Pile is perhaps one of the most popular and colorful coaches in Tigers' sporting history, coaching the baseball team from 1981-1998, going 509-147 with five trips to the Class AA finals, winning in 1990 and 1998 to go along with a second place finish in 1991, losing its only game in the state final. His 1998 team went 40-0 as part of a 64-game winning streak, earning the number one ranking from Collegiate Baseball magazine and the number six ranking from USA Today. One of the proudest moments of the program's history came in 1988, when he took the Tigers to the Soviet Union to help teach the fundamentals of the game to aspiring Russian players and coaches. The field that bears his name was dedicated in 1997 and remains the Tigers' home park to this day.

The 1955-56 boys basketball team went 28-6 in finishing second to Rockford West in the final at Huff Gym at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. The members of the team were Gordon Mallory, Bryan Madison, Jim Vaughn, Lee May, Rich Pulliam, Bobby White, Jimmy Chandler, Mannie Jackson, Ken "Buzz" Shaw, Governor Vaughn and Harold Patton. The team managers were Wade Buckles and Royce Dettmer. The Tigers started slowly, with an 8-5 record, and then went on a 20-game winning streak that led to the final, winning their first Southwestern Conference title in 30 years.

The 1978 field hockey team made history by being the first Edwardsville team to win an IHSA state championship, defeating Chicago University in the final 5-0 at New Trier East High in Winnetka in suburban Chicago. The members of the team were Gail Niebur, Debbie Lange, Carol Lexow, Becky Bertles, Tina Greer, Julie Fohehrkolb, Barb Smith, Melinda Bort, Sheree Hoskins, Peggy O'Laughlin, Becky Kolesa, Sandy Gerstenecker, Debbie Ludwig, Amy Armstrong, Deb Seybert, Karen Berry, Patty Ponce, Kate Henderson, Lisa Henderson, Linda Ludwig, Kyle Henderson, Jill Fohehrkolb and Pat O'Laughlin. Sharon Petty coached the team to 8-1 on the season, defeating McHenry 1-0 in the quarterfinal and Deerfield 1-0 in the semifinal before taking the final. Petty, who founded the program in 1974, retired in 2006 with a record of 282-220-4 and the Tigers' field hockey team is the only one in existence in the Metro-East area.

The 1998 baseball team is definitely one of the greatest in Tigers' history, with its undefeated season that led to the state Class AA title, taking the crown with a 10-2 win over Tinley Park Andrew. The members of the team were Chad Opel, Tim Hansel, Ben Hutton, Andrew Honneger, Matt Bogle, Ryan Peterson, Justin Hampson, Brad Grotefendt, Dave Crouthers, Mike Harris, Joe Fisher, Bill Flowers, Kory Kuba, James Hutton, Matt Turner, Matt Evers, Nick Siebert, Robert Hohn, Geoff Richey, Chris Johnson, Ben Hosto and Travis Riggs. Mike Waldo and Darrell Butler were the assistant coaches, while Ben Shashack was the team's manager. The Tigers won their quarterfinal over Oak Park-River Forest 14-4 and defeated Chicago Simeon 4-1 on their way to the title win over Andrew.

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