Sports Banquet

This is the Sports Banquet Schedule for the 1969–70 school year. There were only four teams that year: Basketball, Cross Country, Track and Field, and Cheerleading—with Cheer being the only girls’ sport. Terrapin, the swimming team, disappeared after 1965, while Orchesis, the synchronized dance team, disappeared after 1964. These most likely disappeared due to declining membership, though many seniors in 1970 had been on the teams earlier in their careers. The Girls Athletic Association also disappeared in 1968 “because of a lack of response” after it had provided new gym equipment the previous year.

New girls’ sports teams did not appear until around a decade later. Polly Steeyk became the first girl to run Cross Country by running on the boys’ team in the 1974–1975 school year. The next girl to run would be Jane Gladney, in the 1977–1978 year, and in the 1978–1979 year, there were four girls running. That same year, the Girls’ Basketball team was created, followed by an official Girls’ XC team a year later.

In the 1970 yearbook, neither Track nor Cheer has any information about their seasons, while Basketball and Cross Country do contain some notes. Basketball didn't have the best season, with varsity winning zero games and junior varsity squeaking out a single win against Mansfield. Cross Country, on the other hand, had a winning 7–3 dual meet season, with decent performances at a number of invitational meets too. Unfortunately, Uni couldn't qualify for the state meet that year, and hadn't since the 1967–1968 season. They wouldn't do so again until the 1980s. Runner Tod Satterthwaite would go on to be Cross Country team captain in 1971, placing eighty-seventh at the state meet in Peoria.

According to the News-Gazette article, “Uni High’s Never-Say-Die Illineks Beautiful, Even In Losing Finale,” Uni’s performance against Bellflower, with Uni losing 85–68, led coach Chuck Davis to say, “When I came here the boys couldn’t play defense at all. We just don’t have any outshooting or ball-handling, and if we run up against a zone or press that’s it”. The 2/27/70 article, written by Stan Hieronymus, pointed out “Uni has had only one winning season in the past 25, but this is the first winless one ever.” When player Dick Broudy was asked how he felt about Uni’s position as a perpetual underdog, he answered, “I’m not sure if Uni will ever have the personnel to win a lot of games. But I’m glad I go here because I get to play. I don’t think I would play much at Central or Centennial.” The article concludes by saying, “So the Uni high tradition continues. A tradition that has included barefoot player; a season that more letterman managers returned than letterman basketball players; and a player who scored three baskets one season for the other teams on opening tips. Add one long haired 33-point scorer who plays just to be playing.”

The University of Illinois in the Cold War Era 1945–1975: Women's Athletics at the University of Illinois

 

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Sports Banquet