Returning all but two players from a school-record breaking performance in 1997, the 1998 Salem Lady Wildcats Volleyball team etched their own chapter in the school’s record book.

Salem’s 32-3 mark broke the 1997 team’s school record for wins by a team and the Lady Wildcats were undefeated against Illinois competition until their final game.

The first of two regular season tournament championships for Salem came at Carbondale, as the Lady Wildcats went 5-0 to claim the top spot. Salem won its pool by beating Carlyle, Sparta and Carbondale and finished things off by beating Sparta again in the semifinal round and Freeburg in three sets in the championship match. Senior Audrey Husk was selected to the all-tournament team.

Both of the Lady Wildcats regular season losses came at the Effingham Crossroads Classic where Salem finished seventh in the gold medal division. Salem beat Shelbyville and Montgomery County, Mo. to win its pool, but lost in bracket play to St. Joseph’s Academy of St. Louis and Herman, Mo. Salem’s other tournament championship came at Edwards County. The Lady Wildcats won their pool by beating Benton, Effingham and Grayville followed by a semifinal victory over Kansas and a straight-set win over North Clay in the title match. Husk along with seniors Chandra Hensley and Renee Brubaker were all-tournament selections.

Coach Suzanne Henry earned a personal milestone early in the season, as a 15-1, 15-3 triumph over Red Hill at B. E. Gum Gym gave her 200 wins for her career.

The team’s eight-member senior class of Husk, Hensley, Brubaker, Megan Grizzle, Paula Gregg, Trisha Hustedde, Marcia Schaubert and Krissy Kolmer celebrated Senior Night with a straight-set win over Fairfield that clinched Salem’s eighth straight North Egypt Conference championship and their 7-0 league mark for the year extended their conference winning streak to 30 games.

The Lady Wildcats began the state’s new sectional complex format for Class AA by winning their own regional, as they knocked off Cahokia 15-2, 15-1 in the semifinals and Centralia 15-4, 15-2 in the championship.

Salem remained at home for the sectional and a 15-9 , 15-7 victory over Belleville Althoff in the semifinal round was the team’s 32nd of the season to break the 1997 team’s school record for wins.

For the third straight season, Salem’s postseason path was ended by a school from Belleville, this time the Mighty Maroons of Belleville West in the sectional championship game. Salem won the first set 15-8, but dropped the next two 15-8, 15-9. The Lady Wildcats had a 9-7 lead in the decisive third set, but Belleville West scored the final eight points to win the match.

Husk closed out her high school career with her third straight NEC Most Valuable Player Award. Brubaker and Hustedde garnered NEC First Team honors, while Hensley and Grizzle were selected to the Second Team. Gregg and Schaubert received Honorable Mention.

While many sons follow in their father’s footsteps, Bob Jamison, Sr. is following in son, Bob Jamison, Jr., into the Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame.

The retired Salem High School and Salem Junior High instructor began a ten-year stint in the late 1960′s coaching the Wildcats baseball program, but that was just part of Jamison’s long involvement with baseball in the Salem area. Jamison was also involved with SCHS athletics as clock operator for the boys basketball team for ten years and the football program for 20 years. Jamison, who worked as a scout for the Cincinnati Reds for 30 years, served as a board member, director and groundskeeper for the Salem Little League program. Salem Little League dedicated Bob Jamison Field in his honor during a 1998 dedication at the new complex.

Jamison served as the grand marshal of the 2007 Salem Little Egypt Festival Parade during a year when the program’s theme was “The Games That We Play” as a salute for his love for area athletics.

Jamison was a 1943 graduate of Oblong High School.

Jamison received the Salem Chamber of Commerce and Salem Area Foundation Civic Achievement Award in 2009. Jamison has also been recognized for his patriotism and devotion to Salem American Legion Post 128.

Jamison has also served as a member of the Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame Committee.

The 1998 Salem Wildcats cross country team earned the distinction of the best season in the program’s history at the time of their induction into the Salem High School Hall of Fame.

Salem won six invitational meets with first place finishes at Murphysboro, Granite City, Mt. Vernon, Peoria Notre Dame, Springfield and Metamora. Salem’s depth showed when it finished second at the Herrin Invitational without using its top seven runners. The Wildcats other regular season meet was a seventh place finish at the Crete Monee Invitational.

Led by individual champion Nathan Purcell, Salem won the North Egypt Conference Meet held at Fairfield with a team score of 19 points. Fairfield’s Nathan Atkins went into the NEC meet undefeated on the season, but Purcell’s first place time of 14:49 beat Atkins by 17 seconds.

All seven Salem runners finished in the top ten at the NEC Meet, as Jeff Smith was third, Tommy Oliverio was fourth, Charlie Stanley was fifth, Josh McDonald was sixth, Brian Diefenback was eighth and Bucky Shuler was tenth.

Salem began the postseason path by winning the Class AA Mt. Vernon Regional with a decisive 25-66 margin over runner-up Centralia.

The Wildcats had four of the top five runners led by Purcell’s individual championship in a time of 15:29. Smith was third at 16:07, Stanley was fourth at 16:08, Oliverio was fifth at 16:13 and Kelly was the final counter in 12th place at 16:41. Also competing were McDonald in 13th place at 16:42 and Diefenbach was 19th at 16:55.

The Wildcats turned in arguably their best day of the season when they won the Centralia Sectional. Salem won the tough 20-team field by a 78-point margin (50-128) over runner-up Springfield.

Purcell followed his individual regional championship by winning the sectional by 22 seconds over his closest competitor. Smith was ninth at 16:03, Oliverio was tenth at 16:07, Stanley was 14th at 16:13, and Kelly was the final counter in 24th place at 16:33. Other participants were McDonald in 27th place at 16:38 and Diefenback in 127th place at 18:07.

Salem ended its season with its best ever finish at the state meet held at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, as it finished ninth with 242 points.

Purcell, who became the first Salem runner to crack the top ten at the state meet in 1997 when he finished seventh, came back with a ninth place finish in a time 14:44.

The other counters for the Wildcats were Stanley in 44th place at 15:19, Smith in 68th place at 15:31, Oliverio in 69th place at 15:31 and Kelly in 145th place at 16:07. The other state runners were McDonald in 147th place at 16:08 and Diefenbach in 174th place at 16:21.

Five of Salem’s seven state runners, Purcell, Stanley, Smith, Oliverio and Kelly, were seniors. McDonald and Diefebach were juniors.

The 1997 Salem Lady Wildcats Volleyball team went where no team in the program’s history had ever gone before and no team has made it that far since at the time of their induction into the Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Returning a large nucleus from the 1996 team that won 26 games and was a sectional finalist, the 1997 Lady Wildcats smashed the school record for wins in a season by going 31-5 and advanced to the Class AA Sweet 16.

All four regular season losses came during tournament play. Salem was third at the Carbondale Tournament beating Marion, Mt. Carmel and St. Jacob Triad (twice), but fell in the semifinals to eventual champ Belleville Althoff.

The Lady Wildcats were sixth in the gold medal division at the always rugged Effingham Crossroads Classic. Salem won its pool by beating Dieterich and Montgomery County, Mo. The Lady Wildcats also downed Kansas during bracket play, but were upended by Hartsburg-Emden and Normal University High during the medal round.

Salem posted a third place finish at the Edwards County Tournament. The Lady Wildcats won their pool by beating Mt. Vernon, Cisne and Mt. Carmel before falling to Kansas in the semifinals. Salem Wildcats closed out the tournament with a win over Fairfield.

Salem picked up its 20th win of the season during the straight-set victory at home over Effingham St. Anthony and clinched the program’s seventh straight North Egypt Conference championship with a 15-13, 15-1 victory at Fairfield in the regular season finale. Salem went through the NEC season with a perfect 7-0 mark and in the process extended its league winning streak to 23 games.

The Lady Wildcats made school history during the first rung of the postseason ladder when they downed Mt. Vernon 15-0, 15-1 in the semifinal round of the Centralia Regional, as their 28th win of the season broke the previous mark of 27 held by the 1987 team. Coach Suzanne Henry’s crew won that regional two days later when it beat the host school 15-4, 15-0.

A 15-10, 15-8 victory over Charleston in the first game of the Olney Sectional was the 30th of the season for the Lady Wildcats and a 15-8, 15-4 win over Taylorville in the championship match gave Salem its first sectional championship.

The Lady Wildcats returned home for the super-sectional, but their hopes of advancing to the state tournament were derailed when they fell to Belleville East 15-1, 15-5.

Salem achieved its success despite having only two seniors on its roster, setter Marissa Tolliver and outside hitter Shannon Ozaras.

Seven Lady Wildcats earned All-NEC honors led by Audrey Husk’s second straight Most Valuable Player Award. Tolliver and Megan Grizzle were NEC First Team selections, while Chandra Hensley and Trisha Hustedde were Second Team. Ozaras and Renee Brubaker received Honorable Mention.

The 1996 Salem Lady Wildcats cross country team owns two notable distinctions in school history at the time of their induction into Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame as the owners of the program’s only sectional championship and best finish at the state meet.

Coach Kirby Phillips’ crew won three invitational meets during the regular season, as they took home top honors from the Murphysboro invitational, Springfield Invitational and the Herrin Invitational. The Lady Wildcats posted a runner-up finish at the Mt. Vernon Invitational, took third in meets at Granite City, and Metamora and a fourth place effort at Peoria.

The Lady Wildcats claim the first-ever North Egypt Conference Girls Meet held at Salem’s Bryan Park and did so with a perfect team score of 15 points. League Champ Erin McMullen set a new course record with a time of 12:18, while runner-up Trisha Hustedde also broke the previous course mark with a time of 12:20.

The rest of the perfect score included a third place finish by Jerri-Lynn Sparling, a fourth place mark by Andrea Fisher and a fifth place effort by Stephanie Helton, Salem also got a sixth place mark by Brooke Rollberg and a tenth place spot by Gena Terlizzi.

Salem kicked off its postseason path by winning the Class AA St. Jacob Triad Regional, as the Lady Wildcats slipped past Mt. Vernon 50-55 for the top spot.

Hustedde and McMullen had identical times of 12:07 to lead the Lady Wildcats although Hustedde nipped McMullen at the finish line for the fourth place spot. After the fifth place mark by McMullem, other counters for Salem were Sparling in ninth place at 12:26, Helton in 15th place at 12:42 and Rollberg in 17th place at 12:44. Also competing were Fisher in 18th place at 12:46 and Terlizzi in 30th place at 13:34.

Salem returned back to Marion County for the sectional at Centralia and once again survived a tough battle with MT. Vernon, as it edged the Lady Rams 107-113 to secure a berth in the state meet.

McMullen led the Lady Wildcats at the sectional with a ninth place time of 12:41, while Hustedde also cracked the top ten and was one spot back in tenth place at 12:47. The other sectional counters were Sparling in 17th place at 12:56, Helton in 39th place at 13:15 and Rollberg in 50th pace at 13:28. Also competing were Fisher in 51st place at 13:29 and Audrey Hargis in 120th place at 14:47.

Salem ended the season with a 19th place finish and a team score of 467 points at the Class AA state meet held at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Hustedde led Salem at state in 103rd place with a time of 13:06, while McMullen was one second back at 13:07 and in 107th place. Sparling was 122nd at 13:13, Rollberg was 164th at 13:35 and Fisher was the final counter in 167th place at 13:38. Also competing at state were Helton in 168th place at 13:38 and Hargis in 213th place at 14:39.

There were no seniors among the seven runners who competed for Salem at state. Sparling, Fisher and Helton were juniors, Hustedde and Hargis were sophomores and McMullen and Rollberg were freshman.