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Four Gillespie players featured in Carlinville Rotary All-Star Basketball game on March 26

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The top 59 boys’ and girls’ basketball seniors from South Central Illinois will be playing in the 19th Annual Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic, presented by Prairie Farms Diary and CNB Bank & Trust on Sunday, March 26th at Carlinville High School.

A total of 20 high schools will be represented in the event that includes 30 girls and 29 boys.

Players on the girls’ West squad are Kendal Conway and Shelby Seiler of Auburn; Mae Bandelow, Caroline Peters, Edin Copelin and Brooklyn Hermes of South County; Emily Schoen and Jenna Clark of Gillespie; Kylie Kinser of Greenfield/Northwestern; Paige Henson, Ella Stumpf, Sophie Pohlman and Lauren Walker of Carrollton; Haris Legendre of Staunton and Olivia Thoroman of North Mac. Blaine Hartwick of Carrollton will coach the West All-Star team.

Players on the girls’ East team are Morgan Langheim of Pawnee; Anna Forbes of Vandalia; Charlee Stearns and Lilly Funneman of Greenville; Layne Ruppert and Alex Frailey of Hillsboro; Avery Pope of Lincolnwood; Audrey Sabol, Hailey Engelman, Natalie Engelman and Emma Sneddon of Nokomis; Gianna Pop of Kincaid/Edinburg; Anna Beyers, Chloe Ashcraft and Aryn Alde of Pana. Nokomis coach Brandon Engelman will coach the East All-Stars.

The West boys’ squad includes Nathan Barth, Jackson Kern and Kellen Davis of Auburn; Thad Bergschneider of South County; Kam Link and Bryan Jubelt of Gillespie; Ryenn Hart of Carlinville; Grant Burch of Bunker Hill; Kaiden Brecken and Bobby Heath of Carrollton; Hank Bouillon, Lane Gage and Collin Robinson of Southwestern; Reese Scott of North Greene and Mick Downs of North Mac. Southwestern’s Jason Darr will coach the West All-Stars.

Representing the boys’ East team are Clayton Bishop of Litchfield; Cody Ellis of Pawnee; Reid Well and Preston Nestrick of Vandalia; Landen Moss of Greenville; Will Christian of Hillsboro; Braden Whalen and Zake Guzman of Lincolnwood; Elijah Aumann, Ryan Eisenbarth and Nolan Himes of Nokomis; Arjan Epperson of Mulberry Grove; Devon Peebles and Max Lynch of Pana. Dan DeWerff of Nokomis will coach the East All-Star team.

Each game will be played in four 10-minute quarters. The CNB Bank & Trust 3-Point Shootout for the girls will begin at 3 pm., followed by the girls’ All-Star game at 3:30 pm. The CNB Bank & Trust 3-Point Shootout for the boys will be held between games, starting at 5:30 pm., with the boys’ All-Star game to follow at 6:00 pm.

The Prairie Farms Dairy Slam Dunk contest will be held at halftime of the boys’ game. At halftime of each game, the Carlinville Rotary Club will present the “Coach of the Year” awards. An MVP award will also be given following each game.

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The East defeated the West 140-90 last year, but the West leads the all-time series 12-6 in the boys’ event. The first boys’ game was played in 2003. In the girls’ game last year, the East held off the West 69-61 and extend their lead in the all-time series to 12-5. The first girls’ game was played in 2004.

All proceeds from the day’s events will go to the Carlinville Rotary Club to help with community projects throughout the year. Admission to the Carlinville Rotary All-Star Basketball Classic is $7 with children 6 and under admitted free. The Carlinville Rotary Club will provide concessions with a variety of food and drinks.

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First class of athletes inducted into CUSD 7 Athletic Wall of Fame

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Gillespie Community School District recently held its firstt inaugural class of its “Athletic Wall of Fame” on October 1, 2023. The inductees were invited to participate in the Homecoming Parade and then a “meet and greet” at the high school football game.

Here is a list of the inductees and a brief biography of their accomplishments.

Sam Anderson graduated from Benld in 1952. He participated in football, baseball, basketball, and track for 4 years earning all-conference in three sports and All-State in football and basketball. He was a St. Louis Browns professional baseball tryout and played basketball at St Louis University for one year and Eastern Illinois University football for two years. He scored over 1300 career points in high school basketball.

Keith Parker graduated from Gillespie in 1940. He participated in football, basketball, and track and earned nine varsity letters. He played football at University of Missouri and National Champion Purdue University for one year each. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. He was a football and basketball official for 41 years and inducted into Granite City Hall of Fame, Missouri Football Hall of Fame, NFHS Hall of Fame, and Greater St Louis Hall of Fame.

Lisa (Ribes) Roberts was a graduate of Gillespie HS in 1996. She participated in multiple sports including four yrs in track. She holds the school record in 1600 and 3200 meters. She ran track at SIUE for 4 years and is a professional Tri-Athlete and 6x Iron Man Champion. She has participated in over 100 triathlons around the world and holds multiple Iron Man course records.

Jim Hlafka graduated from Gillespie in 1952. He earned all-conference in basketball. He played basketball at St Louis University and Eastern Illinois University for one year each. He coached Bunker Hill High School basketball for 43 years and ranks 13th in IHSA career wins with a record of 754-347. Hlafka was also inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame.

Gordon Hartweger graduated from Gillespie in 1957. He participated in basketball, baseball, and track for four years earning all-conference honors in basketball. He played basketball at St Louis University for 4 years earning MVP and Captain. He was the assistant basketball coach at St Louis University for 5 years and played in the NIT National Finals.

Jerry Grandone graduated from Gillespie in 1960. He participated in basketball, track, and football earning all-conference in basketball and track. After Gillespie, he played basketball and track at Eastern Illinois University for 4 years. He held hurdle records, MVP, and track captain at Eastern Illinois, basketball captain at Eastern Illinois, and earned seven varsity letters at Eastern Illinois. Grandone coached basketball in Coal City and Gillespie, was the track coach at Coal City five years, and in Gillespie for 38 years.

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Rick Bertagnolli graduated from Gillespie in 1978. He participated in football, basketball, baseball, and track earning all-conference in football and baseball. He played baseball at Lewis and Clark and SIUE for two years each and was the MVP and Captain at Lewis and Clark. Bertagnolli was a men’s Olympic Festival softball and Major fastpitch softball for five years and earned the IHSA Softball Coach of the Year. Bertagnolli coached softball at Wabash Valley Jr College, University of South Carolina-Spartanburg and California University of Pennsylvania for 20 years winning the Div. II National Champion twice and also receiving the Conference, Regional and National Softball Coach of the Year.

Bob Boston graduated from Gillespie in 1966. He participated in football and basketball for four years each. He is the all-time school basketball scoring leader with approximately 2000 points and also threw for over 2000 career passing yards. He earned all-conference football and basketball, and honorable mention little All-State football and basketball. He played basketball and football at University of Missouri for 2 years each and received over seven university scholarship offers from St Louis University, Air Force, Memphis State, LSU, Northwestern, Holy Cross, Princeton and Dartmouth.

The 1964 Gillespie football team was the last inductee with an 8-0-2 record. They were the last unbeaten football team with wins over Feitshans (Springfield SE), Hillsboro, Mt Olive, Pittsfield, Jerseyville, Carlinville, Nokomis and Dupo, and ties to Southwestern and Staunton. The team was coached by Bill Parmentier and Andy Easton.

Another class will be inducted in the fall of 2024. Wall of Fame nomination forms can be found on the Gillespie Community School District website.

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Antonacci named DII player of the year

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Charlotte, NC – Heartland’s Sam Antonacci has been named the 2023 NJCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year after a stellar sophomore season. Antonacci is the grandson of Pete and Janet Kocis, formerly of Gillespie.

Antonacci ended the 2023 campaign batting .515 with 14 home runs and 103 RBI. The sophomore also ranked in the top five in the nation in seven statistical categories: hits (106, 1st); runs (105, 1st); doubles (32, 1st); RBIs (103, 1st), batting average (.515, 1st), on base percentage (.618, 1st), and total bases (186, 2nd).

The ABCA/Rawlings National Player of the Year helped lead Heartland to a Division II Baseball World Series championship, where he continued to shine bright. In four championship games, Parker batted .286 with three runs and one RBI.

“Sam Antonacci is the most talented baseball player I have ever been around and that showed up all year. He is deserving of this award, but I guarantee he only cares about us winning the National Championship.,” Heartland’s coach Chris Razo said. “Sam was the rock this season and set the tone on winning over everything. He is the most competitive person I have ever met and is going to have a long successful career.”

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Gillespie to honor record-setting baseball team on Wednesday

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Gillespie High School will honor the high school baseball team before the team’s banquet on Wednesday, June 14 with a parade through downtown.

The parade will start at the school at 5:30 p.m. and proceed through downtown Gillespie before heading back to the school so the team can conclude their season with a team-only banquet.

The school invites everyone to come downtown to recognize the team and celebrate this year’s accomplishments. The team ended their season with an overall 32-1 record and won 32 straight wins, a new school record.

The team also won their respective conference and regional.

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