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2009 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES |
![Clark Barnes](barnesclark.jpg)
CLARK BARNES
Highland native
who coached basketball at all levels in
Springfield, from grade school to Junior
high, from freshman to junior varsity
to varsity. In 18 seasons as the
head coach at Springfield High, he was 287-188
and won a record eight City Tournament titles,
six regionals, two sectionals, four conference
championships, three Central State Eight titles
and three CS8 runner-up finishes in six seasons.
He had five 20-win seasons, 12 'winning seasons
out of 18 and won three Central State Eight Conference title and one
Big 12 Conference title. He finished his career in 2003 at Decatur
MacArthur and was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches
Association Hall of Fame in 2006. His career coaching record was
346-235.
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![Bob Clifford](cliffordbob.jpg)
BOB CLIFFORD
Feitshans High
School graduate (1963) with these accomplishments who also was a member of the 1962 Standard
Concrete Connie Mack baseball team
that is being honored, and he pitched a two-hit
shutout against Copiague, N.Y., in the 1962
Connie Mack World Series. He played on the
1960 Feitshans baseball team that began the
season 23-0, and in 1962 he pitched a no-hitter
against Lanphier and was a first-team all-city
pick. He also was a second-team all-city in football
in 1962. He attended Eastern Illinois University and competed
in both track and baseball. He pitched a no-hitter against Quincy
College for Eastern Illinois in 1964 and was part of a combined no hitter
against Indiana State in 1964, the same year he played in the
NAIA national championship World Series. He was a Teacher and
coach at Lanphier High School, and he coached the only undefeated
freshman football team in Lanphier history in 1968. He coached the
1978 Lanphier baseball team to a state tournament berth and was
selected to coach the East-West All-Star Baseball Game in 1978.
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![Jeff Fassero](fasseroplayerpic.jpg)
JEFF FASSERO
Griffin High School
graduate (1981) spent two seasons at
Lincoln Land Community College and
then the University of Mississippi
before he was drafted by the St. Louis
Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 1984 amateur
draft. He bounced around in the minors for
several years until he caught on with the
Montreal Expos in 1991. He recorded a 2.29
ERA for the Expos in 1993. In addition to the
Expos, he also played for Seattle (in 1997 he
had his best big league season with the Mariners, going 16-9 with a
3.61 ERA in 35 starts), Texas, Boston, the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis,
Colorado, Arizona and San Francisco. He finished 121-124 with a
4.11 ERA and 25 saves in 242 starts and 478 relief appearances.
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![Dave Figueira](figueiradave.jpg)
DAVE FIGUEIRA
Griffin High School
graduate (1973) who played football, 1 basketball, baseball and golf, receiving
10 varsity letters along the way. As a
senior, he was an all-city and all-conference
quarterback who passed for 988 yards.
He was a first-team all-city basketball player
who led Griffin to its first City Tournament title
in a long time. He also was a pitcher on the
baseball team and a top golfer and earned
Athlete of the Year. He accepted a scholarship
to Southern Illinois to play football. He is a highly regarded football
and basketball official - he has officiated the state finals in football
- and remains a top golfer on the local amateur scene.
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![Mike Healey](healeymike.jpg)
MIKE HEALEY
Griffin High
School graduate (1982) who was a
high school standout in both football
and baseball. He was a two time
all-city selection in baseball
and captain of the 1982 state championship
team. He was an all-city football player in 1981
when he led the city in receiving. But he seemed
to get better in college at Valparaiso. As a college
senior he led the nation in NCAA Division
II with 101 receptions and was a Kodak College
Division All-American as selected by the American Football Coaches
Association. He was a four-year starter at wide receiver and wound up
with 228 career receptions. He once caught 16 passes in a game and
had 15 games during his collegiate career when he topped the 100-yard mark in receptions. In baseball, he was a four-year regular and
set school records for at-bats, runs, hits and stolen bases. He's a member
of the Valparaiso Sports Hall of Fame.
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![Shatonia Levy](levyshatonia.jpg)
SHATONIA LEVY
Springfield High
School graduate (1995) and basketball
standout. She scored 2,043 points and
had 865 rebounds, 532 assists and 308
steals. Her teams never lost a City
Tournament game - SHS was 81-10 while
Levy was a member of the team - and she was
an all-state selection by the Champaign News
Gazette, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times
and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. She
signed a national letter of intent with Drake
University but never attended.
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![Ron Thunman](thunman.jpg)
RON THUNMAN
Springfield High
School graduate (1949) who played
football for four years, basketball for
three years and ran track for two years.
He was named the center on the
Chicago Daily News All-State, All-City and All-
Big 12 Conference teams in 1948, when the
Senators were unbeaten (7-0-2). In basketball,
Thunman was first-team All-City at center in
1949 and an honorable mention all-state center.
He received a football scholarship to the
University of Illinois in 1949, but a summer construction accident
sidelined him for his freshman year. Meanwhile, he received a congressional
appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He hurt
his knee playing freshman football and was never able to play collegiately.
After graduating in 1954 from Annapolis, he served in the
U.S. Navy for 35 years, retiring in 1989. Along the way he won two
Distinguished Service Medals, four Legion of Merit awards, two Navy
Commendation Medals, two Navy Unit Commendation awards and
many more. He currently lives in Springfield.
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TEAM |
![Standard Concrete](standardconcrete.jpg)
1962 STANDARD CONCRETE BASEBALL
Team managed by Clyde Oliver and coached by Lawrence Irving and
Deke Suits finished second in the Connie Mack (17-I8-year-olds)
World Series in 1962 at Lanphier Park, the last Springfield-area team
to make it to the title game of the Connie Mack World Series. Fort
Worth (Texas) beat Standard Concrete and Joe Hamende 5-0 in the
title game. Team members on the World Series team were the late Joe
Ham.ende, Lance Davsko, John Pyle, Jim Heitzman, Lamont "Monte"
Irving, Rich Hayes, Bob Clifford, the late John Jones, Rick Grant, Bob
Sagle, Bert Gerger, Lany Ackerman, Robert Smith, Tom De Frates,
Dennis Yoggerst and Mike Rodgerson. Harnende, Hayes, Clifford
and Rodgerson were not on the league team, but they were picked up
for the World Series. Hamende, who pitched a no-hitter against
Danville (Va.) in a 1-0 victory, Hayes and Davsko all were named to
the World Series All-Tournament team.
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FRIENDS OF SPORT |
![Jack Howard](howardjack.jpg)
JACK HOWARD
Long-time chairman
of the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame
Board of Directors who recently retired
as president of House of Brews, a Hall
of Fame sponsor since the very beginning.
He has served as a Southwest Youth
Baseball Association coach, a YMCA youth basketball
coach, on the Rail Charity Board of
Directors and as chairman of the Springfield
2020 Committee on Recreation. He also has
been involved in the following sports sponsorships:
St. Louis Cardinals Caravan, LPGA State Farm Classic,
Springfield Junior Blues, Springfield Cardinals, Springfield Capitals,
Sultans of Springfield, Illinois Express and University of Illinois at
Springfield soccer.
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![Don Yutzy](yutzy.jpg)
DON YUTZY
Arthur native, United States Air Force veteran and Eastern
Illinois graduate who spent the better
part of 30 years as a teacher and
coach in District 186. When he came
to town in 1959 he was hired as a traveling
physical education teacher and served in that
capacity for five years. He also worked for the
Springfield Recreation Commission and was
involved in Khoury League baseball. In the fall
of 1964 he went to Springfield High and taught
there for 24 years, serving as an assistant coach in baseball, football
and basketball under such storied coaches as John Staats, Verdie
Altizer and Norm Keefner. In that capacity he touched the lives of
many young people in a positive way.
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