carla_haney_jourdanIt took Salem Community High School basketball 44 years to produce a 1000 career points player in Mike Gibbs. Fifteen years would pass before the next Salem player reached that plateau and that player was Carla (Haney) Jourdan.

Haney reached that plateau late in the 1978-79 season. She wound up with a final career mark of 1087 points.

Haney saved her best season for last. In her senior campaign of 1978-79, she averaged 21.8 points per contest. Haney was a member of the All-North Egypt Conference First Team, a member of the Decatur Herald All-Area Team and a member of the Chicago Tribune All-State team.

Haney’s senior team produced the best overall season mark for both boys and girls at Salem. The Lady Wildcats went through the regular season undefeated at 23-0 before losing to Centralia in the regional championship game. Salem won its only NEC girls basketball championship that season with Haney.

Haney was also a great track athlete at Salem.

As a sophomore she qualified for the state meet in both the mile and the 440 yard relay. Earlier that season the 440 yard relay team set a school record with a time of 52.7. Haney broke the district record for the mile at Olney with a time of 5:30.1.

As a junior Haney qualified for state again in the mile and went on to finish sixth. She is one of only two Salem girls to ever place at state meet. The other is Lori Beckham.

Haney’s time at the state meet in 1978 was 5:18.2. That mark still stands as the school record.

After high school Haney went on to play college basketball at both Eastern Illinois and Kaskaskia College. She was named the Co-Most Valuable Player for Kaskaskia for the 1983-84 season.

Haney entered the teaching ranks after she graduated from college and spent some time coaching. She coached the Patoka Junior High volleyball team to a 21-1 record in 1987. Haney still teaches at Patoka.