Big schools and small. Public and private. Boys and girls. From football, basketball and wrestling, to soccer, tennis and golf, local teams and athletes put together an impressive display of championship-winning achievements. Here is our collection of the top storylines from 2015.
1. Nazareth captures second consecutive state football championship.
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2. St. Joseph wins Class 3A boys basketball championship.
It seemed hard to believe that legendary coach Gene Pingatore had only one state championship, in 1999, during a 46-year career with a state-record 960 wins at St. Joseph. But on March 21 in Peoria, Pingatore and the Chargers captured title No. 2 with a 67-63 win over Belleville Althoff in the Class 3A final. The Chargers were led by seniors Glynn Watson, Jordan Ash and Joffery Brown. The Nebraska-bound Watson scored a team-high 19 points in the championship, while 6-foot-11 junior Nick Rakocevic had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
What made the experience even sweeter was that a few members of the 1999 team, including Damien McIntosh, made the trip to Peoria to cheer on the next generation of St. Joseph state champions.
3. Oak Park-River Forest wrestling wins back-to-back Class 3A titles.
When coach Mike Powell stepped down to become an assistant coach after winning the 2014 state dual-team championship, the Huskies didn’t miss a beat with new coach Paul Collins, Powell’s former assistant. Collins and OPRF went undefeated (28-0) to clinch its second consecutive championship Feb. 28 in Bloomington.
Behind Kamal Bey, Max Metzgar, Allen Stallings and Adam Lemke-Bell, OPRF won four of the first five matches to beat Sandburg 39-16 in the final. The Huskies won their third state championship, including the 2009 title. OPRF will be looking to make history in 2016: No Class 3A school has won three in a row.
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4. Timothy Christian wins second Class 1A boys soccer title.
Stephen Fernandes had yet to graduate from Wheaton College when he took over as coach for the Trojans over the summer. Timothy finished second in Class 1A in 2014, but Fernandes inherited a team that had graduated its leading scorer and saw its starting goalkeeper transfer. But Fernandes made an instant connection with his team, which won 19 games.
The Trojans earned their second state championship to go along with their 2009 title. In the 4-1 win over Anna-Jonesboro on Oct. 31 in Normal, four different players scored for Timothy and junior Noah Marrera capped his first full season as goalkeeper.
5. Hinsdale Central sweeps boys, girls tennis titles.
Honoring either the Red Devils’ double state championships in tennis or golf with the higher ranking is a toss-up, but the accomplishments of the girls tennis team deserves extra consideration. Former assistant coach Scott Radecki, in his first year as coach, steered Hinsdale Central to a record-tying 50 points in the fall as the Devils swept titles at singles with Isabella Lorenzini and at doubles with Sandra Keta and Stephanie Dolehide. The girls won their 16th state title while the boys, behind singles champion Martin Joyce, collected their 24th in the spring.
6. Hinsdale Central’s boys, girls golf teams repeat.
The beat keeps rolling for the Red Devils golf teams. The boys and girls earned championships for the second straight season Oct. 17, with the boys winning Class 3A in Bloomington and the girls taking Class AA in Decatur. Junior Jessica Lee placed second and was one stroke short of forcing a playoff for the individual championship. Junior Brendan O’Reilly took seventh at the boys meet. For the girls, it was their second championship, while the boys won state for the seventh time.
7. Hinsdale South football reaches Class 6A semifinals.
Led by seniors Josh King, Sean McCormack, Robert Hall, Marcus Curry and Ravon Johnson, the Hornets enjoyed the dream 2015 season they had hoped with a West Suburban Gold championship. Hinsdale South returned to the semifinals for the first time since beating Rockford West 18-6 in the 1980 Class 5A semifinal.
Crete-Monee’s offense dominated in the fourth quarter of a 40-37 6A semifinal loss for the Hornets Nov. 21 in Darien. Crete-Monee took a 33-31 advantage on a 19-play, 80-yard scoring drive, then regained the lead with a touchdown with 1 minute, 44 seconds remaining. Hinsdale South ran just seven plays in the fourth quarter.
8. IC Catholic reaches Class 3A football semifinals.
Only one team was able to beat the Knights, but unfortunately IC Catholic faced a rematch with Bishop McNamara in the state semifinals Nov. 21 in Elmhurst. The Fightin’ Irish beat IC in the season opener 49-32, then won again 42-14 to snap the Knights’ 11-game win streak. IC, which won the 2008 Class 2A state championship, enjoyed its best season since then behind the running of junior Jordan Rowell and the passing of sophomore Luke Ricobene.
9. Lyons gymnast Alex Janicki wins three state events.
When seven-time state medalist Chris Rediehs decided not to return for the 2015 season, little was expected of Lyons’ boys gymnastics team. But sophomore Alex Janicki had a state meet to remember Feb. 21 at Hinsdale Central with three state championships in floor exercise (9.4), parallel bars (9.25) and high bar (8.8). Janicki placed eighth in the all-around one day earlier. He matched former Lyons standout Jason Enke’s three titles in 2004 and was one win away of Enke’s school-record four titles in 2003.
10. Hinsdale Central’s boys swimming wins 18th state championship.
The once-dominant Red Devils won 17 state championships during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, but settled for nine second or third place trophies since its last championship in 1989. After taking over a team that finished second in 2013 and third in 2014, first-year coach Bob Barber took the Devils to the top of the podium Feb. 28 at New Trier. It was an appropriate trip for the longtime assistant and 1992 Hinsdale Central grad, who won three state championships during his own swimming career.
The Devils scored 126 points behind a balanced effort that finished second in three relays. Sophomore Franco Reyes won the 100-yard buttterfly in 47.72.
Twitter: @geomwilcox