2022 Springfield Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2020 Inductees)

2022 Springfield Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2020 Inductees)

WHEN: March 7, 2022

WHERE: Crowne Plaza

TICKETS: $50. Call Lesa Schaive at (217) 529-0008 for tickets.

GUEST SPEAKER: Former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher and current broadcaster Al Hrabosky

SHELLY LEHMAN BURKE

PETE STOLL

(2020) INDUCTEES

ELLEN ANTONACCI BARTLETTI — 1994 Sacred Heart-Griffin graduate who was a four-year starter in softball as a center fielder and pitcher. She was all-city/all-conference four times, was a member of the Chicago Tribune’s 1994 softball all-state team and the 1994 Central State Eight Conference Player of the Year. She’s first in SHG softball history in RBIs, doubles, triples and extra-base hits, second in hits and runs scored and third in batting average and home runs. She got a scholarship to Loyola University in Chicago and was the Midwest Collegiate Conference Newcomer of the Year in 1995, was a two-time all-conference pick and was inducted into the Loyola Hall of Fame in 2010. She ranks first in school history in career hits, batting average, triples and stolen bases and second in runs scored.

CATHERINE GAFFIGAN — Sacred Heart-Griffin High School graduate (1991) who competed in cross country, track, swimming and soccer during her high school career and also was class Valedictorian. She was a four-year starter in soccer, and as a freshman she was the starting middle halfback for Sacred Heart Academy, the first high school girls soccer team in Springfield. She was an all-city selection in soccer as a sophomore, junior and senior and co-Player of the Year as a senior. As a senior she was the first SHG soccer player, male or female, to be named to the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association All-State team. She was an all-city swimmer as a sophomore, but after taking up cross country in the fall of her sophomore year, she elected to give up swimming. She was a three-time all-city pick in cross country, and she placed fourth at the Illinois High School Association Girls Cross Country Meet as a sophomore, fifth as a junior and fourth as a senior. She also earned multiple city, regional and sectional titles. She was Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year as a senior. She ran track sporadically in high school between soccer games but she made the all-city team multiple times in track and complete in city, regional and sectional meets. Gaffigan attended West Point, where she earned 12 varsity letters — four in cross country, four in indoor track and four in outdoor track. She was Army’s No. 1 runner in cross country all four years, and she was cross country team captain as a junior and senior and captained the indoor and outdoor track teams as a senior. She set multiple Army records in track, including the record in the indoor mile against Navy in 1995 that stood for 23 years. She won the Army-Navy cross country meet twice, earned seven gold stars for beating Navy in dual track meets and two silver stars for beating Air Force. She won numerous Patriot League titles in track and cross country, and at graduation Gaffigan was presented with the prestigious Army Athletic Association Award, which goes annually to the male and female cadet who displays the “most valuable service to intercollegiate athletics during a career as a cadet.” She graduated as an honor student, 13th in her class. After graduating she served as a U.S. Army officer, and while on active duty she was selected for the first All Army women’s soccer team in 1999. She was the starting left fullback for the All Army team for the next three years, and was captain of the 2000 and 2001 teams. Gaffigan graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and lives in Portland, Oregon, serving as vice president for provider partnership innovation at Cambia Health Solutions, and she participates in half-Ironman distance triathlons. 

LESTER HAMPTON — 1979 Lanphier graduate who ran track and cross country and played basketball for the Lions. He captured seventh place in the Class AA 880-yard run in the 1979 state track meet as a Lanphier senior. He concluded his career at Lanphier with seven school records in track while being named most consistent performer as a senior and most valuable distance runner as a junior. Hampton helped the Lions take eighth place at the Class AA state cross country meet in 1978, the Lions’ top finish in school history at the time, as the No. 3 finisher on the team in his second state appearance in cross country. He received a track scholarship to Illinois State University and was a three-time Missouri Valley Conference champion in the 800-meter run, winning two indoor titles and one outdoor crown. He ranks as one of only eight competitors to become a two-time champion in the MVC 800, and he held school records at ISU in the indoor 800 for eight years (still ranks fourth after setting the mark in 1982) and the outdoor 800 for five years (still ranks eighth after establishing the record in 1981). Hampton was a three-time qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. But his greatest success may have come as a coach. He was inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2017. He has won three state championships in 31 years of coaching at Normal University High School, including two in boys cross country and one in boys track and field. Has led the Pioneers to 15 top-three finishes at state, including three runner-up finishes in boys cross country, one second-place performance in girls cross country, six third-place finishes in boys cross country, one third-place effort in boys track and field and one third-place performance in girls track and field. Hampton has coached his athletes to a combined eight individual state championships and three relay state titles among 87 all-state performances in cross country and track, and he has directed his boys cross country teams to 26 state berths and the girls to 10 state appearances. He has won a combined 34 regional titles and 20 sectional crowns in boys and girls cross country and boys track and field. He also has become a fixture in the Bloomington-Normal Two-Man Best-Position golf tournament each summer, winning the senior division in 2017. 

SHELLY LEHMAN BURKE — Ursuline Academy graduate (1987) who was a three-year standout in basketball and softball, played on the tennis team and graduated with a 3.81 grade-point average to rank fourth in her graduating class. She’s the school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball with 1,780 career points, led her team in scoring three years in a row and was an All-City selection in 1987 as a 5-foot-6 forward. She scored 21 points in her final game, a 43-39 loss to Brown County in the 1987 sectional title game. During her senior year she scored 33 points in a 75-67 win over Springfield High and 29 in a 64-58 win over Southeast. She averaged 22.8 points as a senior and 21.0 for her career. In softball, she played shortstop and batted .406 for her career, including .438 with 33 RBIs as a senior when the Sonics qualified for the state tournament and she was named to the All-City team. In 1986 against Lutheran, she hit two home runs in one inning, a feat accomplished by 29 players in state history. After graduation she enrolled at Lincoln Land Community College to play both basketball and softball. As a freshman she averaged 23 points a game and was named team MVP, and as a sophomore she averaged 25 points a game. After Lincoln Land, she attended Illinois State University and got a degree in physical education and then a masters in educational administration from the University of South Carolina and an educational leadership specialist degree from Georgia Southern. She is a physical education teacher for Gaston County Schools in North Carolina. 

DAVE URISH — Green Valley High School graduate who compiled a 448-253 record coaching girls basketball at Springfield High and Williamsville for 27 seasons from 1983-2009. His SHS girls teams won 13 regional titles, appeared in nine sectional title games and two super sectionals during the two-class system. At Springfield High, his teams won 20 or more games 10 different times, won 11 City Tournament titles — including nine in a row between 1993-2001 — and three conference titles. During his tenure, SHS had a 118-22 record, the best of any conference team. He then spent seven seasons at Williamsville, four as the head coach and three as an assistant, and his teams were 94-29. Each of the four season he was head coach, his team won 20 games. Williamsville reached the sectional title game during his first two seasons as head coach.. Urish was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008. He also served as an assistant baseball coach at SHS from 1981-94, and he still is a teacher at SHS.

FRIENDS OF SPORT

JIM JUMPER — Long-time Springfield resident who began his teaching and coaching career in 1972 at Mount Sterling Brown County and later taught and coached at Augusta Southeastern and Mount Pulaski. In 1984 he moved his family to Springfield, where he became involved in coaching youth baseball and basketball. He coached in the Dale Teubner Little League, then in the Fairview Youth Athletic Association, where his teams won several championships. He coached basketball at the YMCA, and later helped at the YMCA summer basketball camp. Jumper also coached in Gus Macker Tournaments during the summer, and from 1993-95 he coached the Lanphier High School summer team in tournaments across the state. 

PETE STOLL — Longtime athletic trainer who has assisted countless area high school athletes over the years. He’s been the on-site trainer for hundreds of high school and college sports events.  The Denver native first came here as a trainer for the Class A Springfield Cardinals baseball team, then joined Memorial Medical Center’s new Sportscare program in 1985. Stoll has been involved in the creation of three Springfield-area sports medicine programs: SportsCare of Illinois (through Memorial Medical Center), AthletiCare (HSHS St. John’s Hospital) and Springfield Clinic Sports Medicine. He’s a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, was honored as “Friend of the County” at the 2019 Sangamon County Basketball Tournament and served as trainer for teams that were inducted into the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Illinois Springfield Hall of Fame and the Lincoln Land Community College Hall of Fame. Stoll is a 1982 graduate of Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.

TEAM

1995 SPRINGFIELD THUNDER BASEBALL — Won Continental Amateur Baseball Association 16-under World Series, beating the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Power 2-1 in the championship game. There were 24 teams from across the United States and from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada entered. The team play approximately 40 games in the regular season, and the roster included 14 players, most of them who went on to play collegiately and/or professionally. The team was coached by Dennis Werth, and his assistants were Elston Mitchell and John Schneller. Team members were Jay Crawford, Chad Duncheon, Adam Feld, Bryce Hager, Todd Mitchell, Kevin Montgomery, Craig Moreland, Todd Schneller, Tyler Shelton, Brad Svoboda, Jeff Hurie, Seth Von Behren, Jayson Werth and Matt Whalen.