Shaw Media Illinois Valley Hall of Fame Class of 2022 full of champions

Winners. Legends. Champions.

Each word describes the lineup for the Class of 2022 inducted into the Shaw Media third annual Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame at the Auditorium Ballroom in downtown La Salle on Thursday evening.

Master of Ceremonies Lanny Slevin, and his sidekick, Rick Sipovic, teamed up as if they were a comedy act, welcoming each recipient to the stage with a few roasts along the way. They even convinced one honoree to show off scars from an old battle wound and another to display a tattoo.

Slevin, himself, came dressed with his “big game” Star Wars socks for the special event.

The 2022 Hall of Fame lineup was full of legendary coaches, individual and team champions.

Inductees included:

ince McMahon, who built the former Illinois Valley Community College football program into a junior college powerhouse, said on one recruiting trip to Hall he overheard a kid say it “would be the last place he would play.” Coming off a 2-7 season in 1975, McMahon and his squad of 32 members, went 6-3 in 1976 and 7-2 the next with a Midwest Bowl appearance, the start of 15 consecutive seasons.

“I was the luckiest person in the world,” McMahon said. “I had great kids play for me and I’ve remained friends with many of them and it’s been a great experience.”

The legendary IVCC coach, who recently lost his beloved wife Pat of 58 years, was accompanied on stage by his grandson. He said his grandfather, “Calls me his little buddy.”

Carol Pratt took up running her senior year at Putnam County High School when a classmate suggested the volleyball standout wouldn’t be able to keep up with the cross country team. That push launched a long, successful running and coaching career at PC and Fieldcrest.

“I’ve been running for 43 years, which clearly means I’m not too smart,” joked Pratt, who has also qualified for the Boston Marathon seven times.

She said coaching for more than 30 years is what she’s most proud of and the “kids are what my legacy is.”

Jim Mini was a 5-foot, 7-inch dynamo on the basketball court for St. Bede Academy, where he graduated in 1957 as its leading scorer. He went on to star for the then LPO Junior College, leading the nation in scoring at 31 points per game, and continued his success playing for Division I Loyola University in Chicago, averaging 16.9 points per game as a senior co-captain.

He joked Chicago sportswriters wrote he was the only player in major college basketball “small enough to take a shower in a urinal.”

Mini thanked his brother, Ron, for being his greatest fan, and God, adding “I’ve been very, very blessed.”

As John Skibinski, a 1973 La Salle-Peru graduate and standout at Purdue University who went on to play for the Chicago Bears, walked to the podium, Slevin said he looked like he could still play. A knee injury while playing for the Bears, which Skibinski proudly displayed the scars of to Slevin, took him out of the game.

Skibinski said he was “beyond belief” he received this honor and was very blessed.

Gary Vicini won two state football championships at Hall and played for another. He was thankful Hall stuck with him after a tough 3-6, 1-8 and 0-9 start in his first three years. He thanked the 1987 Hall team for probably saving his job when they went 7-2 and won Hall’s first playoff game.

“From there on, football just took off (at Hall),” said Vicini, who led Hall to state titles in 1996 and 2001. “I was very fortunate with a great run of athletes. We just had great athletes, who really dedicated themselves to football and a lot of sports at Hall.”

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Inductees pose for a group photo before the Shaw Media Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame awards on Thursday, June 2, 2022 at the Auditorium Ballroom downtown La Salle. (Scott Anderson)

Rusty Wells soared to great heights for Ottawa High School, winning the 1971 IHSA State Pole Vault championship. He joked “It takes no brains (to pole vault). You just jump and do your thing.”

Wells also took great joy in coaching Ottawa’s Maddy Smith to the 2019 IHSA State pole vault championship.

Willie Hanson was a three-sport star at Mendota High School, earning all-state honors in football and basketball. He went on to earn six varsity letters at Northern Illinois University as the Huskies leading scorer in basketball and leading hitter in baseball.

When taking the stage with Slevin, he joked he was getting nervous, “because the last time I had a (microphone) in my hand, I was singing Johnny Cash, ‘I hear the train a comin.’ ”

Robert “Bo” Windy of Ottawa received the Lanny Slevin Lifetime Achievement Award. The 1957 L-P alum, coached summer baseball for 25 years, helping start Little League District 20 and serving as its longtime administrator.

The 1983 Streator softball team rode the strong arm of pitching ace Zami (Mogill) Hay and a whole lot of defense behind her to the IHSA state championship. The Bulldogs finished 30-2, defeating Olympia Fields Rich Central 6-2 in the state finals game.

“We had phenomenal defense behind a phenomenal pitcher and we were an offensive powerhouse,” said Streator softballer Amy Ferko, who wore her uniform to the banquet. “Everybody had a role on our team. Our coach and leader (Art Mogill) reinforced the importance of understanding your role and first and foremost, team above all else.”

Ferko said the Bulldogs beat their opponents before the game even started, “because we had the crispest and most accurate pregame warmup you would ever see.”

The 1988 state champion St. Bede baseball was built with a similar foundation, with a group of players all committed to the same purpose.

“They were best of friends and still are,” former Bruins coach John Bellino said. “I’ve never had a team fit so closely as they were.”

Team member Jim Perona said when the Bruins blasted Mahomet-Seymour 10-0 they knew they could all the way. They beat Waterloo 8-6 before taking down Alton Marquette 6-3 for the title.

“When you go from thinking it’s going to be a huge challenge (beating Mahomet) to beating them 10-0, the confidence just flips,” Perona said. “We were focused on winning and there was no selfishness.”

Four honorees were honored posthumously including Lew Flinn, Chips Giovanine, Richard Nesti and Leo Cahill.

Flinn, who died May 5, 2021, is arguably the greatest all-around athlete to come out of Princeton High School, an all-state basketball and football player and state pole vault champion. He went on to earn nine varsity letters in three sports at NIU and played football professionally.

Scott Howard, a 2005 PHS graduate, who flourished under Flinn’s tutelage, and went on to compete in the pole vault collegiately, accepted the honor in Flinn’s behalf. He said Flinn was a humble man and never shared information about his glory days. Howard found later about Flinn’s successes from his dad, Jim, who played football for Flinn at PHS.

“My dad told me Lew was a great athlete and every boy in Princeton wanted to be like Lew Flinn,” Howard said.

Giovanine coached Bureau Township basketball straight out of college and moved on to Buda Western, turning the Rams into a Class A powerhouse. He retired at Western and two weeks later, La Salle-Peru High School, came calling. Giovanine then guided the Cavaliers to many successes more than 16 years.

Grey Giovanine, one of the coach’s many proteges, accepted on his dad’s behalf. He said the personable dad would have loved the event and would have shook everybody’s hand.

Giovanine said his dad, who won more than 700 games, was a lifelong learner, taking notes at clinics like he was a novice.

When asked about playing for his dad, Giovanine joked he didn’t think he did a very good job “until my senior year, because I didn’t play more and my mom, I think, would agree with me.”

He said his dad was the perfect example “Good coaches win games. Great coaches change lives.”

Leo Cahill, a 1946 La Salle-Peru alum, made his claim as a well known coach and general manager in the Canadian Football League from the late 1990s to mid-1990s. He was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

His niece, Cathy Rose, of Utica, of accepted in Cahill’s behalf. She said her uncle was a great showman and promoter and sportswriters loved him.

Nesti, who is the namesake of the football field at Hall, his alma mater, received the Legacy Award. Although he coached all sports at Hall, he is best known for football, where he fashioned a 172-79-13 record; a .702 winning percentage.

Retired Hall athletic director Frank Colmone accepted the award on behalf of the Nesti family. He said Nesti “was the most respected person I’ve ever met and always had kind words for everyone.”