In addition to the conference title, the Lady Wildcats had huge wins in their season by winning the Kaskaskia tournament and the consolation bracket in the highly competitive Carbondale Invitational tournament. Probably the biggest accomplishment of the 1981 season was winning the District Championship. Salem had to defeat Centralia in the first round of the tournament and then defeated Mt. Vernon in the Championship game. Mt. Vernon was highly favored in the Championship, especially since they had defeated the Lady Wildcats earlier in the season 2-0.

The volleyball team finished the season with an overall record of 24-7 and will go down as one of the best volleyball teams in SCHS history.

The 1994 Lady Wildcats golf team would prove to be one of the most dominant teams in SCHS history. The team’s record was an impressive 58-15. They won the Olney and Benton Invitational tournaments, finished second at the Edwardsville Invitational, and fourth at the Blazier Classic.

In post season, the girls won the AA Regional and Sectional and qualified for the State Tournament where they finished eleventh. This team was out played only by Mary’s 1995 team that was 77-8 (a school record). This was Coach Riley’s most accomplished team. They finished as the N.E.C. Champions, won the Olney, Benton, and Edwardsville Invitationals. They won the Class AA Regional and finished second in the Sectional. They qualified for the State tournament and finished in seventh place. The girls’ golf teams continued their winning ways in 1996 finishing 54-19, 1997 – 46-20, 1998 – 47-23, and 1999 – 50-18. Mary’s overall record was 332-103. Following Mary’s retirement from coaching, she continued to be a wonderful Math teacher until December of 2003.

Mary passed away on February 28, 2004 after a long battle with cancer. She will always be remembered as a great coach, math teacher, and friend to all of the students and faculty at Salem Community High School.

In 1941, Henry enrolled in school at Southern Illinois National University (SIND) which is now known as SIU. He was an honor student, a sophomore repre5entative to the student council and a three sport letterman in football, basketball, and track.

Henry stayed in school until March of 1943 when he was drafted into the army to fight in World War II. Following his basic training in the U.S., he was sent to Australia and later assigned to fight in the battle of Biak with the U.S. Anny, 163rd Infantry Regiment, 41 II Division. Biak is an island, near New Guinea, that was sought after for its strategic location for the airbase which could refuel aircraft used in various missions. Henry was killed by machine gunfire, along with 435 other American soldiers, on June 7, 1944. He was awarded the Purple Heart and was laid to rest at the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines.

In 1946 members of the NU Epsilon Alpha fraternity at Southern Illinois University decided to honor and perpetuate Henry’s memory by recognizing “The Most Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year” by presenting him with the Henry Hinkley Award. This award started in 1946 and continued until the early 1980′s

Coach Jim Koehler proved through hard work, determination, and hustle, this team could be successful. They started out the season strong by winning the first 17 games in a row, led in scoring by Junior Marla Sapp, who had 770 points.

This team finished the year with a 21-3 record. Two of the major highlights were winning the Newton tournament and beating highly favored Centralia at home by one point. The Lady Wildcats scored an average of 60 points per game, which is impressive since the 3-point line had not yet been introduced and the girls still played with the heavier and bigger regulation boys’ basketball at that time.

Coach Koehler said “We were not a very big team, so we had to run on other teams”. Other starters beside Sapp were Sheena Young, Tammy Donoho, Maureen Cooney, and Rue Woodruff. Each player contributed in their own way as did all of the other players. Coach Koehler went on to say “This was an easy team to coach and they were very hard working. It was a very enjoyable season”.

Although the regular season was quite successful, the post-season was a bit of a disappointment. The team lost in the conference tournament to Red Hill and lost to Centralia by two points in the regional semi-finals. This team, along with the 1978-79 team, would prove to be two of the best back-to-back basketball teams in SCHS history.

Having coached for 33 years, 22 of which were as the golf coach at SCHS, Bill has achieved an impressive list of accomplishments. Probably the most impressive is a string of 15 North Egypt Conference championships, defining SCHS as the school to beat every year in the conference tournament. Also during his tenure, Salem won 16 invitational championships, seven Class AA regional championships, one sectional championship, three appearances in the State finals as a team and 12 individual State final appearances. He was named the Southern Illinois Coach of the Year in 1991 and 2002. Bill coached at least 15 players that have received college scholarships and 6 golfers who are now members of the PGA of America.

In 1988 Bill started the first girls’ golf program at SCHS. This program has also grown into a conference power each year. In 1991 Bill had the rare opportunity to coach both of his daughters, Julie and Jane, and his son, Jeff, in the State finals with the girls’ and boys’ teams. In addition to coaching golf, Bill coached tennis, ran the intramural program, and taught driver education at SCHS.

Since Bill’s retirement in 2003, he has continued to be involved with golf as a golf club maker, being named the Club Maker of the Year in Illinois in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and still plays daily at the Salem Country Club.