Valparaiso High School Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2012 to be Inducted January 28th, 2012

Valparaiso High School Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2012 to be Inducted January 28th, 2012

The Valparaiso High School Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will be inducted in a ceremony at the Strongbow Inn Banquet Center on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

The following athletes will be honored in this year’s induction: Mark Allen, Charles E. “Skip” Bird, Ellison (Tipton) Carter, Shannon (Swanson) Dominco, Thomas Hampson, Collette (Douglas) Huffman, Adolph (Adie) Jankowski, Greg Kirby, Sarah (Stricklett) Mosher, Rebekah (Porter) Peterson, The Reggie Family, Amy (Shurr) Agema, and Sue (Watts) Collins.

Tickets are on sale in the Athletic Office at VHS for $35 per person, with the Awards Dinner taking place at 2:30pm, followed by the Induction Ceremony at 3:30pm.

For more information, please contact Stacy Glidden at the Valparaiso High School Office of Athletics at 219-531-3080 or SGlidden@valpo.k12.in.us.

Mark Allen

A 1976 VHS graduate, Allen is considered one of the best ball carriers in school history. Allen played on two of the schools’ best football teams, including the undefeated Class 3A state championship team in 1975, his senior year. Allen, a tailback in the single-wing offense of Hall of Fame coach Tom Stokes, rushed for 795 yards, passed for 860 yards, passed for 8 touchdowns and scored 16 total touchdowns. In the 14-13 championship game victory over Carmel at Viking Field, Allen scored Valpo’s first touchdown on a 64-yard punt return. On his years playing varsity, the “Big Green Machine” won 19 consecutive games beginning with the second game of the 1974 season. Allen also played basketball, first earning varsity time as a sophomore. He finished with 164 career points. Allen went on to play football in college at the University of Cincinnati and Arizona State, and played professionally in the USFL. He lived most of his adult life in Valparaiso before passing away in 2008.

Charles E. “Skip” Bird

No one contributed more to the success of the Valparaiso boys swimming program than Charles E. “Skip” Bird. After receiving his BA and MA degrees from Valparaiso University, Skip returned to his alma mater (VHS Class of 1958) to teach English in 1963. He became varsity swim coach in 1967, a position he held through the 1998 season. His teams won more than 300 dual meets, 19 Duneland Conference championships, 18 sectional championships and produced 17 All-American champions while annually advancing several athletes to the state championship meet. The Vikings’ best overall state meet finish was third place in 1985. Bird was named Indiana State Coach of the Year in 1980 and again in his final season. During his more than 30 years of teaching and coaching, he received many academic and athletic awards including two most prestigious honors: Sagamore of the Wabash presented by Indiana governor Evan Bayh and the Disney Teacher Award in 1992. Recognized by national high school and university swimming coaches for his exceptional leadership, dedication and services to the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association of America and the sport of swimming and diving in the United States, Skip was inducted to the Indiana High School Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 2007. He was recognized by his fellow Indiana coaches who voted him into the Indiana Swimming Hall of Fame, where he also received the “Doc” Counsilman Award for his lifetime of coaching and mentoring swimmers. “Doc” was Skip’s mentor for more than 50 years and Skip’s most cherished friend. Known for a wonderful sense of humor, Bird influenced hundreds of VHS graduates, not only his swimmers but also his English class students. He passed away in February, 2011 at age 70 and is survived by his wife Betsy, daughters Mary and Patty, and the greatest joys of his life, grandchildren Sydney, Logan and Blake Spillers.

Ellison (Tipton) Carter

A 2000 VHS graduate, Ellison Tipton Carter earned 11 letters in gymnastics, soccer and track and field. Ellison was the Vikings’ third individual all-around state champ for gymnastics coach Lorie Cook. As a junior in 1999, she won the all-around title as well as the uneven bars and balance beam to lead the Vikings to a second-place team finish. As a freshman, she placed second all-around and in the floor exercise and balance beam to lead the Vikings to the state championship. She won the floor exercise and was fourth all-around as a sophomore, when the team repeated its state title. An elbow injury cut short her senior gymnastics season, but she did return to compete in track and field. She was a regional qualifier in track, competing in the hurdles, long jumps and various relays. She attended Indiana University, where she excelled in the pole vault. As a junior and senior at IU, she was named Academic All-Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA regional in the pole vault.

Shannon (Swanson) Domico

A 1994 graduate, Shannon Swanson Domico was a key performer on state championship gymnastics teams in 1991 and 1994. She was named team MVP as a senior, and went on to win a silver medal in a national gymnastics meet in Michigan. As a freshman, she placed fifth in floor exercise and eighth on beam in the state meet and was named the team’s most improved gymnast. Domico received the mental attitude award twice in her career. She also participated in cross country for three years, running in the state meet as a sophomore, and was a member of the track team for three years until she was slowed by a knee injury. She graduated with a 4.3 GPA and attended Indiana University, where she stayed active as a runner and competed in the Little 500 bike race in 1997. Domico and her husband, Robert, have three children and reside in Monaca, Pa., where she is a Senior Systems Analyst for PPG Industries.

Thomas Hampson

A 1966 graduate, Hampson was a dominant basketball player on three mid-1960s high-scoring and successful teams directed by Hall of Fame coach Virgil Sweet. Hampson, a 6-foot-7 center, still owns every major rebounding record in school history. Hampson finished his career with 911 rebounds, 349 more than any other player in school history. His two best single-season totals of 387 (1965-66) and 306 (1964-65) rank 1-2 on the school single-season list, while his 212 rebounds as a sophomore ranks sixth. Hampson could also score. He ranks 13th on the school’s all-time scoring list at 1,012 points, one of just 14 players to score more than 1,000. VHS won sectional titles all three years Hampson played on the varsity, a streak that reached 10 in a row his senior year when the Vikings went 20-5 and also won the Northwest Conference title. He helped lead the 1964 team to a regional title, when Valpo reached the final eight of the single-class state tournament. Valpo’s three-year record was 58-18 while Hampson played. Hampson attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a varsity letter in 1969 and led the freshman team in scoring. He had a 25-year career in federal law enforcement.

Collette (Douglas) Huffman

A 1991 graduate, Collette Douglas Huffman is one of the best runners in school history who continued as a professional until her 30s. As a high school senior, she stunned the crowd at the IUPUI Track Stadium in Indianapolis by winning individual state titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs on a blistering hot day. Huffman set seven Duneland Conference records, and was the Keebler Invitational National Champion in the 3,200 in 1991. Huffman competed briefly at Ball State before transferring to Valparaiso University, where she became the most dominant runner ever at the school and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2003. At VU, she was a two-time All-American and was named Mid-Continent Conference Athlete of the Year in 1999. As a professional sponsored by Nike, she represented the United States on 11 national teams and qualified for the Olympic trials in 2000 and 2004, competing in distances ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 meters. Huffman lives with her husband, Ric, son James and step-children Ryker and Sara in Indianapolis where she is director of Community Programs at the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana.

Adolph (Adie) Jankowski

A 1937 graduate, Jankowski was one of the school’s premier athletes of the mid-1930s. Jankowski was voted Best Boy Athlete in the school as a senior, after he had successful seasons in football, basketball and golf. Jankowski was the leading rusher on the football team as a junior and a senior. He played varsity basketball for three years, scoring 255 career points during an era when scores rarely reached the 30s. One of his teammates was future Olympian and VHS Hall of Famer Campbell Kane. Jankowski was on the 1935 team that finished 18-9 and won a sectional title. He was a top golfer throughout his high school years, a sport he continued to play throughout his life. Jankowski owned his own business in town for many years. His wife, Betty, was a 1938 graduate. They had eight children who all graduated from VHS. Jankowski continued to attend and support VHS athletics before passing away at age 87 in April, 2005.

Greg Kirby

Making the switch from coaching boys basketball, Greg Kirby took an already successful VHS girls basketball program to the next level. Kirby coached the Lady Vikings for 16 seasons beginning in 1990-91. His first team finished 24-2, and he exited with an overall record of 324-58, an incredible winning percentage of .848. Kirby’s teams won 13 Duneland Conference titles, including eight in a row from 1991 through 1998. The Vikings won 13 sectionals, including seven single-class titles, nine regionals and four semistates. VHS advanced to the state finals in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 2000, finishing as state runners-up in 1996 and 2000. The 1991-92 team finished 26-2, which is still the best in school history. Kirby was named the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Coach of the Year three times, coached two first-team all-state players and four Indiana All-Stars. He left VHS after the 2006 season to become an assistant coach at Valparaiso University.

Sarrah (Sticklett) Mosher

A 1996 VHS graduate, Sarrah Stricklett Mosher was the leading scorer on the Vikings’ team that advanced to the state championship game against Center Grove her senior year. She hit a last-second game-winning shot against Lake Central in the Lafayette Semistate to give the Vikings a berth in the state Final Four. A 6-foot-1 post player, Stricklett averaged 18.7 points and 7.8 rebounds as a senior and 10 points and six rebounds as a junior. She was named an Indiana All-Star after her senior season. The Vikings won a school-record 21 consecutive games her senior year and finished with a 23-4 record. She also won a Duneland Conference title in the high jump as a senior. Mosher went on to have a fantastic career at Valparaiso University. She was a member of VU’s first Mid-Continent Conference regular-season championship team in 1998-99. She ranks second in VU history with 1,498 points and is the school’s all-time leading rebounder with 772. She was named an all-conference player four times, and earned the tournament MVP as a sophomore. Mosher was inducted into VU’s Hall of Fame in 2006.

Rebekah (Porter) Peterson

One of the most decorated gymnasts in school history, Rebekah Porter graduated in 2004 with six individual and one team state championship.As a senior, Porter scored a school-record 9.9 to win the individual vault title, won the floor exercise and captured the all-around title with a score of 38.025 leading the Vikings to the team championship. She was also named the Mental Attitude Award winner at the state meet. Earlier that season, she returned from a stress fracture to lead the Vikings to the Duneland Conference title by winning the all-around title. As a junior, she amassed a first-place all-around score of 38.05 at the state meet, winning individual titles in the floor exercise and vault as the Vikings placed third as a team. Porter also competed and placed well in several national meets. An excellent student, she earned a full scholarship to the University of New Hampshire.

The Reggie Family

For more than five decades, the Reggie family has been involved in VHS sports and academics. Father Sid Reggie began teaching social studies at VHS in 1964, when he also started a successful career as a varsity assistant and head JV football coach. Through 1980, his JV teams amassed a record of 103-25-2 with undefeated seasons in 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1979. He was a key member of coach Tom Stokes’ staff when the Vikings won the Class 3A state football championship. Daughter Erica, a 1981 graduate, was a member of the first VHS team to win a state championship in gymnastics. She earned four letters in gymnastics and twice was named the team’s mental attitude award winner. Son John, a 1984 graduate, was a key contributor on Valpo’s 1983 state cross country championship team. He was an all-Duneland Athletic Conference runner and also won his team’s mental attitude award. Daughter Lisa was a two-year varsity basketball player before graduating in 1985. Son Peter, a 1989 graduate, played football. Mother Maredith helped Sid organize athletic banquets, including designing unique programs featuring items such as poems or crossword puzzles. Sid continued to teach until 2010. Erica is an industrial engineer for Southwest Airlines in Dallas, John is a mechanical engineer in Richmond, Calif., Lisa is a retail store director in Denver and Peter is a high school Spanish teacher in Dallas.

Amy (Shurr) Agema

A 1997 VHS graduate, Amy Shurr Agema is one of the most versatile athletes in school history. She excelled in diving, basketball and track and field. Amy was the state diving champion in both her sophomore and senior years, one of just four divers in state history to accomplish that feat. She is the only diver to win four consecutive Duneland Conference titles, and was inducted to the Indiana High School Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 2007. She is one of just six divers to receive that honor. Shurr not only excelled as a diver, but also earned three varsity letters in basketball and four in track and field. She had an outstanding junior year, placing third in the state diving finals in the fall, leading the basketball team in minutes played on their way to the state championship game in the winter and leading the 4 x 800 relay team to a third-place finish at the track state finals in the spring. For those accomplishments, she was named the Northwest Indiana Times Athlete of the Year. During her senior year, Shurr won the state diving championship in the fall and led the 4 x 800 relay team to a state championship in the spring. At Indiana University, she competed in diving but suffered an injury before moving on to compete in the prestigious Little 500 bike race four times. She currently works in pharmaceutical sales and lives with her husband, Michael, in Chicago.

Sue (Watts) Collins

A 1980 graduate, Sue Watts Collins is the first basketball player in school history to be named an Indiana All-Star for the annual Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series. She had an outstanding senior season, scoring a record 469 points, a 26.1 average that ranks No. 1 in school history. She twice scored 40 points in a single game, was named Player of the Year in Northwest Indiana and voted MVP of the Duneland Conference. She also averaged 13 rebounds per game, and finished her career with a scoring average of 17.2 points per game. Collins went on to a four-year career at Indiana University, where in 1983 she helped the Hoosiers win their only Big Ten title in school history and advance to the NCAA Tournament. She was a two-time recipient of the IU Student Academic Award for combining excellence in athletics with outstanding classroom performance. She has a business degree from IU and a master’s from the University of Notre Dame. Collins is vice president and CEO of Capgemini Corporation and resides in Valparaiso.