NeveHarms The selection of Sheriff Mike McCoy as our Neve Harms Award winner this year was a natural. The Neve Harms Award is given each year to the person who makes significant contributions to the youth of the greater Peoria area. We've all heard and read about the run from Peoria to Memphis for St. Jude each August. Mike McCoy founded the St. Jude Run in 1982, and the children of St. Jude and their parents are well aware of this charity. This event has raised over $15.6 million dollars for St. Jude since its inception.
Sheriff McCoy graduated from the FBI National Academy in 1976, and in 1979 he was named Chief of Police in Peoria Heights. Then McCoy was appointed as the 55th Sheriff of Peoria County on June 10, 2002.
McCoy has always been a staunch supporter of youth activities in the Peoria area, earning the St. Jude Volunteer of the Year Award in 2004, and the 0SF /Children's Hospital Bill Houlihan Award in 2005.
| 2019 Tri-County female athlete of the year: HANNA HICKS (Illini Bluffs High School) The team captain of her basketball team, Hicks led Illini Bluffs to the class A Sweet 16 averaging 15.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. The All-state shortstop hit .415 and scored 34 runs leading the Tigers to a the state runner-up trophy at the class 1A softball finals. Hicks was a key member of a volleyball team that went to state for the first time ever. She lead her team in kills (421) and digs (325) in lifting IB to a 40-2 record and a class 1A state runnerup finish. |  |