Salem Wildcat Sports Hall of Fame

The Salem Community High School Sports Hall of fame was organized in 1985 under the leadership of then Athletic Director, John Cavaletto. Committee members were SCHS sports enthusiasts and some were graduates and former athletic team members. Admission to the Hall of Fame criteria and the voting method were established and the committee has met almost every month for 23 years.

Sports archives and the writings of Salem businessman/sportswriter Bill Larimer, along with those of another sports writer, Bruce Hixon, are researched and studied. Chairman Cavaletto and his successor, Athletic Director Scott Steward, conduct the meetings but are non-voting committee members.

Induction of Hall of Fame members is held annually the first Saturday in June.

Past and present members of the Sports Hall of Fame Committee are:

  • Ray Baldridge
  • Harold Blank
  • Lou Bryant
  • John Cavaletto
  • Jack Cunningham
  • Les Deason
  • Anna Lou Eller
  • Doris Gatewood
  • Willard Green
  • Greg Gruenkemeyer
  • Lou Gruenkemeyer
  • Mike Hargis
  • Bill Hawley
  • Bruce Hixon
  • Bob Jamison
  • Mark Johnson
  • Shannon Kagy
  • Robert Kane
  • Bill Larimer
  • Mark Larimer
  • Kerry McLain
  • Charles Mills
  • Dr. Harry Nesmith
  • Bob Roddy
  • Walter Simpson
  • Scott Steward
  • Gene Yolton

To view the members of the Salem Wildcat Sports Hall of Fame visit the Inductees Page, browse by year on the left, or just start looking through the list of Hall of Fame inductees below.

Hall of Fame Inductees


91-football

The 1991 Salem Wildcats football team turned in one of the best seasons in school history with a stifling defense that shut out four opponents and limited three others to only one touchdown.

The North Egypt Conference co-champions compiled a 9-2 record, a victory total topped only by the 1985 team’s 10-1 mark, and at the time of its inductions was one of only three Salem football teams to have won a playoff game.

Coach Scott Steward’s team kicked off its season with a 35-21 win over Centralia in the annual Shriners Game, as running back Brad Mabrey rushed for a school record 354 yards and had touchdown runs of 48, 6 and 57 yards.
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94-girls-relayAn incredible postseason ride helped the 1994 Salem girls 800 medley relay bring home the first state medal by a Salem relay team in school history, boys or girls.

The quartet of Angie Burroughs, Julie Bierman, Trisha Ward and Serra Morton, which was coached by Suzanne (Henry) Brown, broke the school record in three straight postseason races. They began their path at the Class AA sectional race where they defeated a very tough East St. Louis squad on its home turf as well as several other strong relay teams from the metro east and southern Illinois with a first place time of 1:51.1.
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91-boys-golf

Coach Bill Morgan’s 1991 Salem Wildcats golf team compiled an impressive resume, which included a North Egypt Conference championship, a regional crown and an overall 63-8-1 record.

Salem was nearly perfect in the regular season where it compiled a 47-1 record. The Wildcats won the NEC Meet, which was played at Lawrenceville, by 33 strokes over second place Carmi. Salem’s winning score of 304 included a 73 from NEC individual champion Mike Williams and a 75 by runner-up Blake Morrison. The Wildcats also got identical rounds of 78 by Ryan Andrews, Jeff Morgan and Mike Russell.
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91-girls-golf
Many of the same faces that helped the Salem Lady Wildcats golf team to a 13th place finish at the 1989 state meet and a tenth place mark at the 1990 state meet took the program to even greater heights in 1991.

The program won its first ever regional and sectional championship and improved its state meet finish to ninth under the direction of Coach Bill Morgan.

Salem lost just once during the regular season and compiled a 39-1 record going into the state meet before it settled for the final mark of 44-9.  During the regular season the Lady Wildcats won the Benton Invitational by 15 strokes over Carterville, an event where Julie Morgan and Anne Clark tied for Medalist honors. The Lady Wildcats were even more dominant when they won the Olney Invitational, as they had a 27- stroke margin of victory over second place Benton.  Amber Boyles was the individual medalist in that tournament. (more…)

kristi_beeson_propstKristi (Beeson) Propst used her running and jumping skills to become a state medalist and record holder during her track career at Salem Community High School.

A 1989 graduate of SCHS, Propst wasted no time making a big splash on the track scene when she won a sectional championship and earned an eighth place finish at the Class AA state meet as a freshman in 1986. Propst’s leap of 5-5 that season stood as the school record for 14 years until Brittany Bowers broke it by one-half inch in 2000.

Propst still owns or shares three school track records including the 100 meter high hurdles at 15.2 set in 1989 and the 300 meter low hurdles of 45.8 set in 1987.
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tiffany_tamminenOne of the best multi-sport athletes in the history of Salem Community High School girl’s athletics, Tiffany (Husk) Tamminen carried that distinction on to the college level.

While Tamminen competed in cross country and track during her high school career, the 1994 SCHS graduate made her biggest impact in volleyball and basketball.

Tamminen was an anchor in the middle for three consecutive Salem North Egypt Conference championship squads, a streak that began in 1991 and carried on through her senior season of 1993.
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