STREATOR HIGH SCHOOL - GREAT GOLFERS - ONE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

In addition to their brilliant entrance into the NCIC (see related story), Streator's Bulldogs — while nowhere near the top of the NCICtitleist list — have certainly left their paw mark on NCIChistory. 1983 state champs! The Class of 1959 might have been the greatest collection of male athletes Streator has ever produced, but the Class of 1984 undoubtedly gave Bulldogs fans its best crop of female athletes ... not to mention La Salle County's first and Streator's only team state championship. The girls of the 1983 softball team started an unprecedented and as-yet unrepeated stretch of success for Lady Bulldogs athletics. Led by All-American pitcher Alexandra "Zami" Mogill, outfielders Amy Pedelty and Jean Essman, second baseman LuAnn Kozak and catcher Linda Weiss, the Lady Bulldogs compiled a 30-2 record, won the NCICtitle and put together a Cinderella-esque run through the postseason all the way to winning the single-class IHSAstate championship. "These girls had been playing together 10 years, and every year they got better and better at doing the things they knew they had to do," the team's coach, A.T. "Tim" Mogill, told The Times in a 2008 look back at that magical season. "We didn't take a lot of time teaching individual skills. The skills were there, and everybody knew what they had to be doing. When we had practice, it was just, 'OK, girls, let's play softball.' " The main components of that junior-heavy team returned in the fall of 1983 and won the school's first and only volleyball sectional title, won the school's last regional title as members of the NCIC in girls basketball, then put together another fantastic softball season in 1984 with an NCIC, a regional and a sectional championship before falling at state on a bad-hop throw. Streator's success on the softball diamond has been carried on to this day, as the Lady Bulldogs have pocketed 11 regional titles and won the NCIC a handful of times behind such star players as Jennifer Cherveny (Class of 1993), Kari Hagerty (2000), Lyndi Araujo (2006), Erin Harcar (2009) and Allie Riordan (2010). Look out Fore Streator! There's something about springtime in Streator that breeds champions. ===================== Photo: Photo courtesy of Streator Township High School Co-captains Bob Clayton (left) and Bob Abdaour led Streator golf to third place in state in 1962. Photo: Photo courtesy of Streator Township High School The late Jodie Harrison (above) was one of the greatest basketball players in school history. Streator’s player of the year award is named in his honor.