Inductees Bergan's High School's Girl Track Team went from obscurity to becoming the stateís 1981 state Class A champion in just three seasons.
The Trojans were tutored by first-year coach Luis Rubio, a soccer coach from Spain who admitted his knowledge of track and field was not great.
But Bergan qualified four relay teams for the state finals and two of them won. That, combined with a stellar four-event performance by junior Sandy Geier, gave Bergan 42 points and the title. Providence was second, with 36 points.
Geier was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 17-9, fourth in the 200 meter dash in 26.1 seconds, third in the 200 meter low hurdles in 29.6 and ran a third leg on Berganís winning 400 meter relay team.
Carrie Eggerichs was also vital to the Trojans, finishing third in the 400 in 57.3 and anchoring the 1600 meter relay team.
In the 400 relay, Julie Szidon, Cheryl Geier, Sandy Geier and Diana Joseph won in 49.9 seconds, a Bergan record.
Then, in the key 1600, with Bergan needing at least a second-place finish to win the state, Karol Heid, Barb Beyers, Maria Pasquel and Eggerichs won in 4:03.9.
"I always thought we had a chance," said Rubio. "We had the depth to win."
| 2006 Tri-County Male Co-Athlete of the Year MATT SAVOIE Matt capped his figure-skating career with a seventh-place finish at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, last February. He qualified for the Games with a third-place finish at the U.S. National Championships in St. Louis. A graduate of Peoria High School and Bradley University, Matt earned his master's degree from the University of Illinois and currently is in his first year of law school at Cornell University. |  |