Springfield Sports Hall 2016 Inductees

Back Springfield Sports Hall of Fame 2018 Inductees

2018 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

James Ballard

Southeast High School graduate (1994) who played basketball and also competed in track. He began his career at Lanphier and spent two school years there, finishing seventh in the high jump at the 1992 state meet. He transferred to Southeast for the 1992-93 school year and finished eighth in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump as a junior. As a senior in 1994, Ballard finished second in the 200 meters, third in the triple jump and fourth in the high jump. In addition he was a two-time Junior Olympic high jump champion in 1993 and 1994 as well as the Junior Olympic triple jump champion. He went to junior college and was a seven-time NJCAA All-American, and in 1996 he was named NJCAA Most Outstanding Performer in 1996, when he was a finalist for the U.S. Olympic Trials. He was a member of Arkansas' NCAA Division I Jchampionship teams in 1997 -- he was named the school's Newcomer of the Year and 1998. He was a three-time NCAA All-American and still ranks No. 4 all-time on Arkansas' indoor high jump (7-5 in 1997) and is tied for first all-time on the outdoor list (7-6 1/2) Efforting more information.

Rob Dye

Southeast High School graduate (1996) who scored 731 points during his junior senior basketball seasons, earning honorable mention all-state honors and a scholarship to Bradley University. He also was an all-conference baseball player as a junior. He was a regular at Bradley from 1996-2000 and a member of the 1990s Bradley Basketball Team of the Decade. Dye was an honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a sophomore in 1998 and a two-time first-team All-MVC pick in 1999 and 2000. He's one of 12 players in Bradley history to earn multiple All-MVC first-team honors. He averaged 12.4 points a game during his career and currently ranks 16th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,453 career points. He earned a spot on the 1999 All-MVC Tournament team, and he was a two-time team MVP (1999, 2000). Dye equaled the school and Missouri Valley single-game record for steals in a game with nine Jan. 13, 1999 at Missouri State. After college Dye participated in training camps with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves and played in the CBA, USBL and in China before retiring from professional basketball.

Leah Kincaid Berry

2003 Southeast High School graduate who won state track championships in the long jump and 100 high hurdles as a senior. She also finished second in the 300 low hurdles as a senior after placing third in that event as a freshman and junior. She was eighth at the state meet as a junior in the long jump. Kincaid earned four varsity letters in track and four in cross country. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Youth Adult and Family Services and a bachelor of arts in Sociology from Purdue University (2008). While at Purdue she was an active member of women's track and field team and earned 2007 NCAA Outdoor All-America honors in the long jump after finishing in ninth place with a mark of 20-3 1/2 at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. She holds Purdue records for the 60-meter hurdles (8.31), 100-meter hurdles (13.27), indoor long jump (20-3 1/2) and outdoor long jump (21-2). In 2007 she was a team captain, and she was a two-time NCAA Outdoor Championship qualifier, meeting the standard in the 100-meter hurdles in 2006 and the long jump in 2007, three-time NCAA Mideast Regional qualifier, three times in the 100-meter hurdles and once in the long jump. She owns a trio of Big Ten medals, taking the silver in the long jump at the 2007 outdoor championships, the bronze in the long jump at the 2007 indoor championships and the bronze in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2006 indoor championships. After graduation from Purdue she continued to train as a professional track athlete in Columbia, South Carolina, for about a year, and she qualified for the 2009 indoor nationals in the 60-meter hurdles (8.15 seconds) but did not attend because of an injury. She moved back to Springfield in the fall of 2009 and became one of the assistant girls track coaches at Southeast in 2011. She also is the head coach during the summer for the Springfield Striders Track Club.

Mike "Murph" Mathiot

Springfield High School graduate (1987) who played golf, basketball and baseball in high school. He was a starter as a sophomore on the 1985 SHS baseball team that finished second at the state tournament, and in 1987 he was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round of the draft. He spent four injury-plagued seasons in the Twins' system before being released. He then became a golf professional at Panther Creek Country Club before resigning to get into the banking business. In the summer of 2017, he scored two holes-in-one on the same day.

Randy Rice

Springfield High School graduate who was a three-time letter-winner in football, basketball and baseball. Averaged 17.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game as a senior in basketball and finished his career with 1,184 points.He was Central State Eight Conference Player of the Year in basketball as a senior, played wide receiver and running back in football and was the center fielder on the baseball team. He played basketball at Wabash Valley Community College and then transferred to Illinois State, where he started at point guard for two seasons.

TEAM

2005 Sacred Heart-Griffin Football

City's first state football champion went through the season 14-0, winning the Central State Eight Conference championship and beating Rock Island Alleman 28-21 in the Class 5A title game. Seniors Alex Reavy (Illinois) and Jeff Sanders (Indiana) went on to play Big Ten football, but this was a junior-dominated team led by quarterback Bobby Brenneisen and coached by Ken Leonard.

FRIENDS OF SPORT

Gary Moser And Larry Bailey

Lanphier High School football and basketball statisticians for more than 20 years. They travel to all of the games, record the stats on a computer and provide them to the media and coaches. Also do results of local track meets and cross country meets. Other schools like Sacred Heart-Griffin (football) and Jacksonville (football) have asked them to work playoff games, and they provide stats for all City Tournament basketball games. Members of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Ron Riggle Sr.

. Supported area boys and girls athletic teams since 1973 and was a member of the Springfield High School Booster Club from 1980-86. He coached youth baseball at several levels. Riggle planned and coordinated the successful 1984 District 186 tax referendum that helped continue the growth and success of District 186 athletics. When his son, Ron Jr., graduated from Springfield High and moved on to Lincoln Land Community College, Riggle Sr. developed a successful plan that ultimately led to the installation of lights at the LLCC baseball field, and he planned and coordinated the successful 1989 LLCC tax referendum that helped continue the growth and success of Loggers athletics. Riggle also developed a successful plan that ultimately led to the building of a concession stand, press box, restroom facilities and new bleacher seating at Claude Kracik Field, and he secured funds to purchase equipment needed to operate the concession stand at the LLCC baseball field. Since 2002, he has managed and worked in the LLCC concession stand at almost every one of the Loggers' home baseball games, high school baseball games and other activities at the LLCC baseball field, and he has attended almost every home and away Lincoln Land baseball game from 1987-89 and 1992-present.