Pat Hodge to be inducted into EIU Hall of Fame

Pat Hodge has had a long, distinguished coaching career at Princeton High School, directing the Tigers cross country and girls track teams for decades.

Before he became Coach Hodge, he was practicing what he now preaches.

Hodge was a standout distance runner at PHS, running cross country and track.

He qualified for the state cross country meet three times, twice on the team and then individually as a senior, finishing 75th after leading the field for the first half mile.

In track, he was a state qualifier in the mile relay as a sophomore and junior and ran on the 3,200-meter relay in 1976 that set an NCIC record and qualified for state. He remains as the Ferris Invite co-record-holder in the 800-meters, placing eighth at state.

He went on to Eastern Illinois University in the fall of 1976 to run for the Panthers cross country team. A year later, he took part in school history as a member of the Panthers’ 1977 Division 2 National champion cross country team.

That national champion Panthers team is one of six teams to be inducted into the EIU Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday in Charleston, the first time in more than 40-years of having a team inducted in the Hall of Fame.

“I was very fortunate to run on the best team in the history of EIU Cross Country (I think that still holds true) and it was an honor to be a part of it. I was basically in the middle of the pack of the 30-plus guys on the team, but did help to win a couple of JV meets along the way,” Hodge said.

“Aside from being a part of such a talented team, it was the day-to-day camaraderie that really made it a great experience. It’s always nice to gather with these guys when we get the opportunity. There have been several reunions over the years and some get together at the State high school cross country meet in Peoria annually.

The Panthers, who had returned most of their top runners from their third-place finish in 1976, didn’t just win the championship, they blew away the field, winning the title by one of the largest margins in NCAA history.

EIU scored 32 points as four runners placed in the Top 14 led by Joe Sheeran in second place and Casey Reinking in fifth. The Panthers nearest challenger was South Dakota State with 151 points, a 119-point difference.

A total of six EIU runners earned All-America honors as EIU posted the second lowest point total in a 20-year NCAA span.

Hodge said the point where the Panthers began to realize “that we were really good” was when they won the Notre Dame Invitational, defeating Michigan, the defending Big 10 champs, that day.

He said they also finished a close second in the Illinois Intercollegiates behind Illinois, which qualified for the Division I Nationals, and lost a dual meet to the University of Wisconsin, which finished sixth in Div. 1, by just one point in Madison.

* 40-year reunion: Every book has a first chapter. Mine started with a two-year stop in Morton as sports editor for Tazewell Publishing, covering Morton, Washington and East Peoria sports.

I arrived in the spring of 1984 and found a Morton baseball team that was playing just a little better than .500 ball. The Potters were no average team, though. They quickly went on a tear, winning eight straight postseason games to capture the Class 2A State championship.

The Potters were a hitting machine, setting at the time 99 IHSA State records, many of which remain today. Fellow Atlanta, Ill. sports writer Randy Kindred of the Bloomington Pantagraph wrote at the time that the Potters had more hits than Elvis Presley.

They are the best baseball team I’ve had the pleasure to cover in 40 years with the 2018 Hall Red Devils right behind them.

The team was coached by one of the best baseball minds I’ve ever come across in Mike McDonald. Bill Booker and Tom Keegan remind me a lot of McDonald. I joked with Mac that the Potters were just a .500 team before I came to town and then they started playing like gang busters. I certainly didn’t have anything to do with it except to write their stories.

I had the fortune to recently attend a 40th reunion of their state championship, hosted by Doug Sluser, the winning pitcher of the state championship. Slu had all sorts of memorabilia from that season, including the state championship trophy and banner. He even had a cool Wiffle ball diamond built on his property.

It was good to see the boys like Doug, Ron Yoder, Tim Taylor and others and reminiscence. It was real cool to see the old clippings I wrote and photos I took in scrapbooks that I haven’t seen in 40 years.

I may have been long gone from Morton, but it was nice to see the articles live on.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at kheronymus@bcrnews.com