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Gillespie increases capacity for football games

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(photo by Jake Bilbruck)

Gillespie CUSD #7 announced they have increased capacity for the football season from 50 visitors to 600 visitors including 400 home spectators and 200 visitor spectators.

In February, the school released a policy allowing just 50 home spectators to events which were all indoors at the time.

Football season is slated to begin this Friday, March 19 and will be homecoming for the school. Attendees are asked to bring bottled Gatorade since the usual annual Gatorade scrimmage couldn’t take place. The school’s senior night is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 2.

The school said each athlete including players, cheerleaders, dancers and band members will receive four home tickets for March 19 and April 2. Football players and cheerleaders will receive three tickets for each away game.

No one will be admitted into a home or away game without a ticket, the district announced. Any extra tickets that student-athletes cannot use are asked to be returned back to the office to allow other high school students to use them.  

When attending games, all spectators will be required to wear face masks and socially distance in bleachers and in standing area. Gillespie fans will park in the North parking lot on Broadway Street across from the front of the high school or in the East parking lot behind Dairy Queen. Gillespie fans will enter through the East gate, get their temperature taken, and show their ticket.

Visiting fans will be asked to park at Ben-Gil Elementary and enter the facility through the West gate. Porta potties and a concession stand will be provided for the visiting fans on the West side of the field.

Concession stands with pre-packaged snacks and drinks will be available for all attendees.

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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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Community News

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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