Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame

6 individuals, 10 teams set for induction

Six individuals and 10 teams will be inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame during the 43rd annual banquet and ceremonies March 29, 2025, at the Peoria Civic Center. The induction class is one of the largest in GPSHOF history.

The individuals elected by the Hall of Fame Board are former Richwoods High School and University of Georgia swimmer Andy DeVooght; former Richwoods and University of Illinois basketball player Kendra Gantt; former Bradley University basketball player and NFL tight end Marcus Pollard; longtime high school and college golf coach Mickey Schallau; former Peoria High multi-sport athlete and Arizona State basketball player Rhea Taylor, and former Pekin High School athlete and longtime college and NFL coach Rick Venturi.

The teams were announced previously:  the 2004-05 Richwoods girls basketball team, the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Peoria High boys basketball teams, and Eureka boys cross country teams that won five championships and placed second twice in an unparalleled seven-year era from 1998-2004.

Clay Cantrell, winner of the Neve Harms Award for Meritorious Service to Sports, Tri-County athletes of the year Anna Peplowski and Alec Hagaman, and Tri-County coaches of the year Shelly Stoner and Layne Langholf — will also be honored at the banuet.

Banquet reservation information is available at the bottom of this story.

Andy DeVooght, Swimming

DeVooght was a five-time state champion at Richwoods, helping lead the Knights to third-place team finishes at the IHSA state meets in 1992 and 1993. He won 10 state medals in his three seasons, including back-to-back golds in the 100-yard backstroke and 4 x 100 freestyle relay and one in the 100 butterfly. Named Richwoods Male Athlete of the Year in 1993, DeVooght still holds the Richwoods school record in the 100 backstroke, and school records set by his 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams also are unbroken. Outside interscholastic competition, he took second place in the 100 backstroke at the Junior Nationals and fifth in the same event at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Earning a scholarship to college powerhouse Georgia, DeVooght was a four-year letterman and team captain in 1997, when the Bulldogs placed third at the NCAA championships. He twice earned all-America honors as a member of Georgia’s 200 medley relay team. He was an NCAA individual qualifier in the 100 and 200 butterfly events. As a senior at Georgia, DeVooght also won the school’s Senior Leadership Award, the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and was named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

DeVooght will become only the second swimmer inducted, joining another former Richwoods standout Gib Leach.

Kendra Gantt, Basketball

Gantt was a three-time all-state selection and a third-team Parade Magazine All-American at Richwoods, where she led the Knights to two state tournament appearances, including a second-place finish in 1981. During her three varsity seasons, she averaged 18.2 points per game as a sophomore, 21 points and 11 rebounds as a junior and 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds as a senior.

She signed with Illinois and went on to play 114 games, scoring 1,526 points (13.4 average) and grabbing 803 rebounds (7.0 average) over four seasons from 1981-85. Her career totals still rank ninth in Illini history. Gantt posted 23 career double-doubles, ranks sixth in program history in field-goal percentage (.533) and fourth in blocked shots (156). She set a single-game record with 49 points in a win over Kent State in 1983. Gantt was invited to the National Sports Festival in 1981-82 and was selected to the USA Junior National Team.

Marcus Pollard, Football

An undersized forward at 6-foot-3, Pollard played two seasons of basketball at Bradley, where he captained the 1993-94 team that won 23 games and reached the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals. Although he never played college football, Pollard made key contacts during his time in Peoria to earn a tryout that led the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts to sign him as an undrafted free agent in 1995.

In 14 NFL seasons, Pollard developed into one of the league’s best pass-catching tight ends, playing 10 seasons with the Colts, and later with Detroit, Seattle and Atlanta. He finished his career with 349 receptions for 4,280 yards (12.3 yards per catch) and 40 touchdowns in 192 games. He appeared in 14 payoff games, catching 19 passes for 235 yards and one touchdown. Hooking up with QB Peyton Manning, Pollard helped the Colts win division titles in 1999, 2003 and 2004, and reach AFC championship games in 1995 and 2003. His best individual season was 2001, when he caught 47 passes for 739 yards (15.7 average) and eight touchdowns for the Colts. He caught at least 40 passes in each of three other seasons.

Since 2013, Pollard has served as director of player engagement for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mickey Schallau, Golf Coach

After an all-star high school athletics career in Iowa during the 1960s, Schallau landed in the Peoria area and played for the Pekin Lettes softball team from 1968-75. But she made her biggest mark as a coach, primarily in golf, where she became one of the first women to coach an all-boys team.

Schallau coached softball and both girls and boys golf at Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute from 1973-87, then golf at Peoria Notre Dame from 1988-2007. Her golf teams won five trophies at the IHSA state tournaments – second place with Spalding boys (1978), AOL girls (1979) and Notre Dame boys (2003) and third place with AOL girls (1978) and Notre Dame boys (2007). Her golf teams posted a 486-178 record in dual matches and won 81 tournaments. In 2016, the Journal Star named her AOL girls golf program as the third-best in area history. Individually, she coached 1976 IHSA boys state champion Tom Ferlmann and 1982 girls state runnerup Patty Ehrhart.

Schallau started the women’s golf program at Bradley University, where she coached for seven years. In 2000, she was one of six high school coaches in the nation chosen to help run an 11-day AJGA junior tournament in Hawaii. She founded the Peoria Notre Dame boys golf tournament in 2006 and served from 1982-84 on the IHSA Girls Golf Advisory Committee. She has been a member of the IHSA Golf Hall of Fame Selection Committee since 1994, when she was inducted into the IHSA Golf Coaches Hall of Fame.

Rhea Taylor, Basketball

Taylor is considered one of the greatest multi-sport high school athletes in area history, starring in football, basketball and baseball at Peoria High until his graduation in 1968. All-conference for two years in all three sports, Taylor was all-state in football and basketball – and a third-team Parade Magazine All-American in football as a senior. His long-term prospects might have been brightest in football, but a nagging injury led him to concentrate on basketball in college.

He made the all-tournament team at the national junior college tournament, starring for Robert Morris College. His performance drew attention from several major programs, and he signed to play his final two seasons at Arizona State. Although Taylor didn’t start his first three games there, once he broke into the starting lineup, he never left it. He averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds as a junior, 14 points and 8 rebounds as a senior. In his senior season, Taylor was selected captain by his Sun Devils teammates and at season’s end was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.

Rick Venturi, Football Coach

Born into a coaching family, Venturi moved to Pekin in 1963, when his father was hired as the school’s head football coach. Rick had started two years as quarterback and linebacker for Rockford Auburn before earning Chicago Sun-Times All-State honors at Pekin. He also has the distinction of being sixth man for two state-tournament  basketball teams – with Auburn in the 1963 quarterfinals and with Pekin’s 1964 state champions.

After earning two varsity letters playing football for Northwestern University, Venturi jumped into a coaching career that led him to two head-coaching stints in the National Football League. After four years as an assistant coach at Northwestern, Venturi became defensive coordinator at Purdue and defensive backs coach at Illlinois before returning to his college alma mater as head coach from 1978-80. He would go on to assistant coaching positions with Hamilton of the Canadian Football League, as well as the NFL’s Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and St. Louis Rams. During organizational shakeups, Venturi served as interim head coach of the Colts in 1991 and the Saints in 1996.

Venturi stepped out of coaching after the 2008 season and into the broadcast booth. He currently is the color analyst for radio broadcast of Colts games.

Richwoods Girls Basketball 2004-05

Coached by Hall of Famer John Gross, the Knights set the Illinois High School Association record for most victories in a season, going 38-0 to claim the Class AA state championship.

Sophomore point guard Bianca Ward was a consensus first-team all-stater and the Journal Star Class AA Player of the Year. She averaged 15.8 points per game while shooting 53% from the floor, including 44% on 3-pointers. Megan McGann, who played the last several weeks of the season with a stress fracture above her right ankle, also received all-state recognition. Ward and McGann  were named to the all-state tournament team.

Richwoods won the Pekin Sectional title by defeating No. 11-ranked Galesburg for the third time that season. The Knights followed by beating Normal Community in the supersectionals, No. 2 Oak Park Fenwick in the state quarterfinals, Chicago Whitney Young in the semifinals and Bartlett, 52-48, in the championship game.

The Knights’ victory broke a 19-year Class AA state-title drought for Downstate Illinois teams. 

Peoria High Boys Basketball 2002-04

Coached by Hall of Famer Chuck Buescher, the Lions won back-to-back Class AA state championships in his final two seasons at the helm.

Future NBA champion and Hall of Famer Shaun Livingston starred on both teams, but he had all-star support in 2002-03 from all-state point guard Daniel Ruffin, who would play for Bradley University, and in both seasons from defensive stalwart Brandon Lee, who signed with Northwestern.

In 2002-03, the Lions won 29 games in a row to finish 31-1 and ranked No. 15 nationally by studentsports.com. In their final five tournament games, they avenged their only loss, to Limestone, then knocked off Lincoln, Chicago Von Steuben, Evanston and Thornwood, with Livingston delivering the winning shot with 3.2 seconds left for the title. Lee locked up each opponent’s leading scorer, allowing them a total of 44 points through those five games. Through all eight postseason games, no opponent scored more than 48 points.

In 2003-04, PHS finished 31-2 and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation. Among the Lions’ victims that season was Santa Ana (California) Mater Dei, ranked No. 2 by USA Today. Their only losses were to reigning Indiana state champ Indianapolis Pike and Aurora West. The IHSA Elite Eight was loaded, with all eight teams ranked in the final regular-season poll. Lee scored 21 points and scored the winning free throws in a 42-40 quarterfinal win over Chicago Farragut. The  Lions then knocked off Carbondale in the semifinals and Homewood-Flossmoor in the championship game with Livingston posting 27 points, 9 rebounds and only 1 turnover. Livingston, Lee and Jacob Motteler were named to the all-tournament team.

Eureka Boys Cross Country 1998-2004

Coached by Brett Charlton, the Hornets were one of the top teams in either class of state competition, and they dominated Class A. During this era, the Hornets won four titles in succession and claimed a fifth, sandwiched by two runnerup finishes.

Despite being a small school, Eureka in 1999 was ranked No. 30 in the nation by Harrier Magazine. At the IHSA state meet that year, the Hornets set a Class A record with their 32 points, placing four runners in the top nine. Led by individual state champ Dustin Franckey, they also set Class A records for victory margin (123 points) and total time for their five scoring runners (76:08). Had the Hornets competed in Class AA, they would have finished second only to perennial powerhouse Elmhurst York. 

Eureka began its remarkable era by winning the 1998 championship, despite only Ryan Chapman earning  all-state honors. That’s because the Hornets packed their top four runners within four seconds of each other and their fifth just 10 seconds later. They followed up with titles in 2000 and 2001, becoming the first Class A school to win four IHSA championships in a row. Only York, with six in Class AA, has done better. Jon Houseworth and Daniel Martin ran for all four of those teams, and Doug Swanson ran for three.

With a team of two seniors and five sophomores, the Hornets narrowly lost the 2002 title to Winnebago, coming up six points short. Had the meet been a one-on-one dual, Eureka would have won. When the youngsters returned in 2003, they won their fifth championship in six years and did not lose to a Class A team all season. Ranked No. 1 all season in 2004, the Hornets were upset at the state meet by Rock Island Alleman, but still took second for their seventh successive top-two finish.

INDUCTION BANQUET INFORMATION

Induction festivities on March 29 begin with a social hour at 5 p.m. at the Civic Center Ballroom. Dinner begins at 6 p.m., with Hall of Fame inductions to follow. The Neve Harms Award winner and the Tri-County Male and Female Coaches and Athletes of the Year also will be celebrated.

Tickets are $55 if purchased by March 20. Tickets after that date, if available, are $65. Tickets are not available at the door.

To reserve tickets, contact Susie Stockman (309) 691-3553 or susie1026@comcast.net with credit card information, or send check to GPSHOF, PO Box 9338, Peoria, IL 61612-9338.

Cantrell wins Harms Award; Tri-County Athletes and Coaches of Year named

Winners of the annual Neve Harms Award for Meritorious Service and the Tri-County Athlete and Coach of the Year awards were announced January 18 by the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.

Longtime coach and community volunteer Clay Cantrell is the winner of the Neve Harms Award, named for a man who championed sports participation sports for all youth.

Female Athlete of the Year for 2024 is Olympic medalist Anna Peplowski. Male Athlete of the Year is Rivermen hockey captain Alec Hagaman. Female Coach of the Year is Shelly Stoner of Limestone volleyball. Male Coach of the Year is Layne Langholf of Peoria Notre Dame.

The annual award winners will be honored during ceremonies at the 43rd Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, which will spotlight the inductions of six individuals and 10 teams. The banquet is set for March 29 at the Peoria Civic Center Ballroom.

Neve Harms Award – Clay Cantrell

Clay Cantrell has spent more than 50 years working and volunteering in the Peoria area. He is a retired high school teacher, counselor and baseball coach at Illini Bluffs in Glasford, and he still volunteers his coaching skills.

He volunteered in the 1970s and ‘80s, selling tickets and providing meals and transportation for the Peoria Pacers baseball team in the Central Illinois Collegiate League. He is a charter member of the Greater Peoria Baseball Coaches Association and an active member of the Independent Sports Club, Old Timers Baseball Organization, the Rivermen Booster Club and the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors.

Clay has volunteered in various capacities – from statistician to assistant coach to radio and public address announcer and more – for Bradley University basketball, the Peoria Suns and Chiefs baseball franchises, Limestone High School, Peoria Notre Dame, Illinois Valley Central and Peoria Sunday Morning League.

He still serves as a team host for the IHSA state baseball tournament in Peoria. He also was active with the selection committee for local and state all-star baseball games.

Female Athlete of the Year – Anna Peplowski

Former Metamora High School swimmer Anna Peplowski earned a silver medal at the 2024 Olympic Games, swimming for Team USA in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay. Anna led off the relay in the semifinal heat. As a junior at Indiana University, she won three Big Ten Conference events and was runnerup in three other events, helping the Hoosiers to the Big  Ten team championship.

Male Athlete of the Year – Alec Hagaman

Alec Hagaman came out of retirement to captain the Rivermen in the 2023-24 season, and lead them to the Southern Professional Hockey League championship. Alec scored 50 points on 23 goals and 27 assists in 48 games during the regular season, then was named Most Valuable Player of the SPHL playoffs before retiring for good.

Female Coach of the Year – Shelly Stoner

At Limestone Community High School, Shelly Stoner took a relatively young squad that improved steadily throughout the season, which culminated in a second-place finish at the IHSA Class 3A state tournament. The team placed second in the Mid-Illini Conference but won 12 of 13 matches to finish off the season in high style. The Rockets fell to Mahomet-Seymour in three sets in the state title match, marking the best finish in Limestone history.

Male Coach of the Year – Layne Langholf

Layne Langholf coached the Peoria Notre Dame girls basketball team to the school’s first state basketball championship, defeating Nashville, 48-46, in the IHSA Class 2A title game. The Irish finished 34-4, with two losses to Class 4A Elite Eight qualifier Alton, and one each to unbeaten Class 3A state champion Lincoln and Missouri state champion St. Louis Lift for Life.

BANQUET INFORMATION

Induction festivities on March 29 begin with a social hour at 5 p.m. at the Civic Center Ballroom. Dinner begins at 6 p.m., with annual awards and Hall of Fame inductions to follow.

Tickets are $55 if purchased by March 20. Tickets after that date, if available, are $65. Tickets are not available at the door.

To reserve tickets, contact Susie Stockman (309) 691-3553 or susie1026@comcast.net with credit card information, or send check to GPSHOF, PO Box 9338, Peoria, IL 61612-9338.

Grant money for area youth sports

The Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame is reinstating a grant program to provide financial assistace to youth sports organizations in the Tri-County area, The program was launched in 2016 and suspended when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

Youth sports programs from Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties are eligible to apply for the grants, which will be funded by benefactor contributions and revenues generated by the GPSHOF annual banquet.

Programs interested in receiving a grant should submit a request by the deadline of March 1, 2025. Applications will be reviewed by the GPSHOF Board of Directors, and three winners will be announced at the awards banquet on March 29.

Written request letters must include:

• Youth program’s name and mission

• How the funding can assist the mission

• Primary point of contact (name, email and phone number)

Send request letters to:      

Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame

            Attn:  Youth Sports Grant

            P. O. Box 9338

            Peoria, IL  61612