At SCHS he qualified for 3 state meets, placing 2nd at the sectional in 1998 and winning the sectional championship in 1999 and 2000. Cosby placed 7th in the IHSA state meet in 1999 and 3rd in 2000.

Along the way Cosby established the North Egypt Conference record of 15’0″ in 2000 and the SCHS record of 15’3″, set at the East St. Louis Invitational in his senior year.

Cosby continued his career at Ole Miss and at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In college his personal record was 17’3″. He was the Atlantic Coast Conference champion in 2004 and an NCAA qualifier in 2005.

Cosby also ran sprints in high school, and his times in the 100 and 200 meter dashes are among the top 10 in SCHS history. He also participated in football and cross country.

At the time of his induction, Cosby lives in San Diego, where he is Vice President of Sales for Fortune Builders, Inc.

Coming off one of the best seasons in school history, the 1998 Salem Lady Wildcats cross country team had high hopes despite losing 3 of it’s Top 5 runners as graduating Seniors and facing an increase in official course length from 2 miles to 2.5 miles. The team returned the top 2 runners in Junior Erin McMullen and Senior Trisha Hustedde and rounded out its experience with returning varsity runners in Junior Gena Terlizzi and Senior Audrey Hargis. Add several talented younger runners into the mix and the team had a promising season ahead.

The Lady Cats started the season with a victory scoring 35 points at the Murphysboro Invitation, finishing in front of rival school Mt. Vernon. McMullen lead the team with a 2^nd place finish, Hustedde right behind in 3^rd and Freshman Erica Jansen in 5^th. Next, the ladies won the Granite City Invitational with a team score of 65 points. The Mt. Vernon Invitation made it three in a row for the Lady Cats with a combined score of 10 points, winning 4 of the 7 filghted races.

The Peoria Notre Dame Invitational proved the first challenge for the ladies as they ran short-handed. Hustedde was a double sport athlete and was playing for the Lady Cats’ volleyball team that weekend. Despite missing their number two runner, the team finished 16^th in the loaded field of 41 teams. Two days later, the ladies were back on track at the annual tri meet with Mt. Vernon and Centralia putting up 18 points with McMullen, Hustedde and Jansen finishing in spots 1 through 3.

On to the Springfield Invitational and another team win for the Lady Cats of Salem with a team score of 68 points against 16 other schools. The Lady Cats then traveled North to the power packed Peoria Invitation and brought home a 3^rd place finish. Once again, the team was lead by Erin McMullen, while Freshman Erica Jansen stepped into the number two spot. Gena Terlizzi ran 3^rd for the ladies, Trisha Hustedde, Brittany Heuerman, Audrey Hargis and Shandi Murphy rounded out the varsity squad for the meet.

Next up was the NEC Conference Championship where the Lady Cats took the title with 17 points and an individual win by McMullen and into the post-season they ran. The ladies won the regional title hosted by the Mt. Vernon Rams with McMullen winning the individual title. The IHSA Sectional proved a show down with some of the top teams across Central and Southern Illinois. With a strong showing from McMullen, Jansen, Terlizzi, Hustedde, Heurman, Hargis and Freshman Ashley Crompton, the Lady Wildcats captured a 2^nd place finish behind Champaign Centennial – a team that went on to place 5^th at the state meet. The Ladies had just punched their ticket to the IHSA state meet in Peoria.

The 1998 Lady Wildcats continued one of the best seasons in school history with an impressive and best ever team finish at the IHSA State Cross Country meet by placing 15^th. The Lady Cats were once again lead by Erin McMullen with a school best finish in 38^th place. Six members of the team were elected to the All-South Team in McMullen, Hustedde, Jansen, Heuerman, Terlizzi and Hargis.

Members of the 1998 Lady Wildcats lead by Coach Kirby Phillips  & Coach Suzanne Henry were Erin McMullen, Trisha Hustedde, Gena Terlizzi, Erica Jansen, Brittney Heuerman, Audrey Hargis, Ashley Crompton, Sarah Larmier, Kim Minton, Anna Larmier, Nicole Evans, Carrie Graham, Kassie Clutter, Jolene Wattelet, Kristen Brough, Meghan Hawkins and Shandi Murphy.

The 1999 boys track team is the first track team to be inducted into the SCHS Hall of Fame. The accomplishments of this team, undoubtedly, make it one of the best teams in any sport at Salem Community High School.

Coached by Kirby Phillips and assisted by Orlando Ramos, their success began early in the season when they won the Sterling Indoor Meet, edging out Springfield Lanphier. Throughout their season, the team totally dominated all dual and triangular meets. In large, multiple team meets they were champions of the Paducah Tilghman Invitational, Wamac Invitational and Marion Relays, and finished an impressive second place at the Mineral Area Meet at Belleville West, Orphan Relays, Al Joyner Classic, and Mt. Vernon Relays.

They were runaway champions of the North Egypt Conference, scoring 228 points to second-place Olney’s total of 105. Many conference records were set by this talented team. SCHS Hall of Famer Noah Cosby set a new record in the pole vault while Jeremy Silvey, Ed Cox, Cosby and Conor Kain set a new 4 X 100 conference mark. SCHS Hall of Famer Nathan Purcell set a new record in the 1600 meters, and workhorse and SCHS Hall of Famer Mike Minton became a four-time conference champion in the shot put and three-time champion in the discus.

The 1999 boys track team was the first and only sectional champion track team. Eighteen different individuals contributed points toward the team’s total, sending seven Salem athletes to the state meet in Charleston.

Results at the state meet were as impressive as the team’s entire season. Leading the way was Minton, finishing first in both the shot put and discus. Purcell finished fifth in the 1600 meter and Cosby vaulted to finish seventh. The 4 X 800 meter relay team of Billy Beer, Brian Diefenbach, Tim Tolka and Tommy Oliverio ran a strong 8:08 but failed to make it into the finals. At the end of the day, Salem Community High School proudly finished fourth at the IHSA state meet. This is an accomplishment that has never been matched in track at SCHS. To date, the 1999 boys track team still holds 3 SCHS indoor records and 10 outdoor records.

Megan Grizzle Kessler was an outstanding three sport athlete all four years of her tenure at SCHS. She was voted 1st team NEC Volleyball in 1997 and second team all NEC in 1998. In track she was a member of the 1997 indoor 3200M Relay record setting team. Megan was the 1998 Robert Raver Outstanding Field Athlete and in 1999 she made a shot put throw of 37’5″ which stands as the 5th best throw in Lady Wildcat Track history.

In basketball she was the 9th female in school history to score over 1,000 career points and started every game all four years of her basketball career. She was 1st team NEC in 1997 and 1998 and was awarded the NEC Co-MVP in 1999. She was voted the team MVP in 1998 and 1999. Megan was a part of the 28-3 Elite 8 team in 1999 and was given AP All State Honorable Mention in 1999.

Megan then played her college basketball at SIUE and there she made a NCAA Division II Tourney appearance in 2001. After graduating from SIUE she became a SCHS faculty member and coach. Megan coached girls track for five years and is currently coaching girl’s basketball and golf.

Megan has been previously inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the 1999 Girls Basketball Team and the 1999 Girls Volleyball Team.

The 1997 Salem Wildcats boys cross country team was loaded and ready for the fall campaign with six of their top seven runners returning from a very successful ‘96 season. The question that remained was who would step up to fill the shoes of graduated number one, Chris Owen.
The Wildcats started the season by losing the Murphysboro Invitational on a tiebreaker to the Mt. Vernon Rams, with each team scoring 41 points. The highlight of the race was the emerging of junior Nathan Purcell as the number one runner for the Wildcats and the individual race winner, setting a new course record. Charlie Stanley, Shane Kelly, Tommy Oliverio and Aaron Duke rounded out the counters for the Cats in that first meet.

Heading west to the Granite City Invitational gave the Cats their revenge on Mt. Vernon by taking the team victory with a score of 51 to the Rams’ 56. Once again, the men were lead by Purcell, Tommy Oliverio stepped up to the number two spot with a time of 16:03. Following was the tight pack of Shane Kelly, Henry Alers and Charlie Stanley in times of 16:14, 16:16 and 16:19 respectfully.

Herrin Invitational fell in the middle of that next week and the Wildcats were able to show their depth by winning the meet while resting their top group. The team victory was lead by Jeff Smith, followed by Shannon Owen, Aaron Duke, Josh McDonald and Brian Diefenbach.

The weekend found the Wildcats at the Mt. Vernon Invitational where they earned first place finishes in 5 of the 7 flighted races. Wins came from Purcell, Stanley, Kelly, Owen and Smith. Oliverio was second in his race, while Alers picked up a third. With a combined team score of 10 points, the Wildcats were 14 points better than runner up Centralia and this rounded out the first two weeks of an already very successful season.

Next, the Wildcats headed north to the 8 team Downers Grove Invitational where the men dominated the scoring with 21 points. Salem took five of the top seven spots in the race and all seven of the Cat’s runners finished in the top eleven. “Our boys ran extremely well. It was just a great team effort and that is what it takes,” said Coach Kirby Phillips.
That following Monday, the Cats returned south for the annual tri-meet with local rivals Centralia and Mt. Vernon. The team kept its winning streak alive with a 9-point victory over Centralia. Purcell remained unbeaten, Henry Alers ran number two for the Cats followed by Kelly in the third spot.

The Wildcats then traveled to Springfield where they continued to bring home the gold, with another win against the tough Central Illinois competition. The 72 points team score was 21 points better than Chicago Bensenville Fenton, the number 4 ranked team in the Chicago area.

The biggest challenge of the year lay ahead with the power packed Peoria Invitational next on the schedule, a big test for the team and an even bigger test for Cats number one Nathan Purcell. The team race was dominated by state powerhouse Elmhurst York with 32 points, and the Wildcats bought home a fourth place finish in the 39 team race. Purcell led the way with a 2nd place finish overall and he was followed by Alers, Kelly, Oliverio and Stanley to round out the Top 5, while Josh McDonald and Shannon Owen finished in the 6th and 7th spots for the Cats. The following week the Wildcats placed 2nd by one point to Pontiac at the Metamora Invitational rounding out their regular season schedule.

The Wildcats began the post season by winning the 16th straight NEC Championship and then headed to Centralia’s Foundation Park for the IHSA 2A Regional meet where the men placed five counters in the top twelve that morning to bring home the title with just 38 points.

The only thing between the Cats and another trip to the big dance was the IHSA 2A Sectional at Decatur. “Salem posted an almost unthinkable score of 71 points to win the meet.” Bruce Hixon, Salem Times Commoner sports editor penned of the Sectional Champions in the local paper. Purcell just missed the individual Sectional Championship by 2 seconds; senior Henry Alers was 7th, followed by Stanley, McDonald and Oliverio. Next in line came Jeff Smith and Shane Kelly. And the Cats were headed north again!

One week later the Wildcats found themselves at the ever familiar Peoria Detweiller Park and the IHSA 2A state championships. The 1997 Wildcats boys cross country team had high hopes but realistic expectations for the state race, looking to make school best finishes from both the team and individual runner in Purcell. Those hopes exceeded all expectations when Purcell ran to the first ever Top 25 place for the SCHS Wildcats crossing the finish line in 7th with a blazing time of 14:36 for the 3 mile course. A mere 6 seconds separated Purcell from 3rd place. He was followed by Alers in 73rd (51st among team runners), McDonald at 97th (68th), Smith in 131st (98th) and Stanley rounded out the counters in 145th (110th). Tommy Oliverio and Shane Kelly finished out the team for the Wildcats, who ran to a best-ever 13th place finish for Salem.

The 1997 Salem Wildcats Cross Country team led by Coach Kirby Phillips included Nathan Purcell, Henry Alers, Josh McDonald, Jeff Smith, Charles Stanley, Tommy Oliverio, Shane Kelly,

After college Kerry became an assistant coach at Sparta High School for three seasons and then became the head coach for one season. That year Sparta won the Southwest Egyptian Conference and qualified for the playoffs. From there he became the head coach at Flora High School where he stayed for three years and finished with a record of 18-11 and two playoff appearances. Kerry moved on to Carterville High School where his team won four Black Diamond Titles and qualified for seven playoff appearances. His 1996 season was his most successful going 14-0 and winning the state championship. In 2002 he moved on to Marion High School where he currently coaches. His record at Marion stands at 87-49. Marion has made ten consecutive playoff appearances and his overall record stands at 178-82.

During his career Kerry has served as Athletic Director at Carterville, he is an avid Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader, has been named Coach of the Year by The Southern Illinoisan and has been chosen as Teacher of the Year. He has also coached in fourteen different All-Star games.

Salem Community High School has always had its share of quality running backs and linebackers. Very few have ever been able to play both positions equally as well as Ryan Weeks.

Coming to SCHS from Selmaville School Ryan was known to be a good athlete. Nobody could have ever predicted the success that he would go on to have on the football field at SCHS. As a freshman he quickly impressed the freshman coach Jim Koehler. The freshman coach felt that he was an outstanding player that could move into a varsity position as a sophomore. In the summer of his sophomore year, and after an off season injury to a senior running back, and a promising junior that did not play, Ryan was moved to a starting position in the offensive backfield. Ryan quickly proved his worth at summer camp and won the starting running back position. As the season progressed, he quickly began to play more on defense. First, playing an Eagle Linebacker, he finished the season with 256 rushing yards, and defensively he recorded 36 tackles. The team finished 7-3 and was a playoff qualifier.

After becoming a leader in the weight room and in the off season, Ryan went into his junior year as a starting running back and a line backer. His 1993 season proved to be a great one. He led the team in rushing with 1005 yards rushing and also led the team in defensive statistics with 56 tackles, and 7 tackles for loss, 4 sacs, 2 interceptions and 4 recovered fumbles. He was selected o the 1st team all North Egypt at running back and 1st team line backer. He was also selected as the most valuable player in the NEC Conference and to the Southern Illinois Coaches Association 1st Team. The team finished the 1993 season 7 – 3.

After a great junior year, Ryan had big expectations and a target on his back. He was the only player in SCHS history to be a NEC Conference MVP. Ryan did not disappoint saving his best games for last. Once again, he was the team leader rushing for over 1000 yards in the 1994 season. Again he led the team in defensive statistics with 67 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 4 recovered fumbles. He then repeated as 1st team NEC as a running back and line backer and was unanimous selections as both. And was also voted an unprecedented two times NEC Most Valuable Player. Again he was selected to the SICA All South Team. Coach Steward has referred to him as the best all around player he ever coached.

After high school Ryan signed to play football at Lindenwood College, but returned home and graduated from Kaskaskia College. He went on to be involved with law enforcement
Agencies and is currently a law enforcement official in the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Department. He has become a valuable deputy and continues to serve Jefferson County. He is married to SCHS graduate Jonna (Green) Weeks and has a son Ryder Weeks.

The Head Coach Scott Steward gives much of the credit to an outstanding coaching staff. Brad Detering: Offensive Coordinator, John Boles, Roger Brummett, Jim Koehler, Terry Heern, and Chuck Fairbanks.

The season opened with a heartbreaking loss to Centralia but the Wildcats followed that up with eight consecutive wins. Defeating conference opponents, Red Hill 28-14, Flora 21-8, Fairfield 34-8, Mt. Carmel 20-8 and finally a non-conference win vs. West Frankfort 29-15. The Wildcats qualified for the playoffs, but were defeated by a tough Morton team. Probably the biggest win was defeating Mt. Carmel at home after falling behind early in the game. Huge catches by Tyson Bargh and Pat Lobek were 2 highlights and a strong performance defensively against an excellent Mt. Carmel offense led the Wildcats to victory.

The 1997 team was led on offense by all conference players, Kyle Bowers (QB) whose passing statistics were 81/146, 1363 yards, and 18 touchdowns. Chad Hawley (WR) had 30 receptions for 474 yards and 6 T.D.s. Eric Lux who was a great blocker had 12 receptions for 241 yards, 3 T.D.s and 2 conversions. Up front a strong offense line was led by tackle John Colclasure. Jason Kirstein was a first team all conference kicker.

The defense was led by 4 all conference players. Eric Lux, John Colclasure, Mike Minton, and Pat Lobek, who were known for swarming to the ball, the defense was also known as great hitters who worked together within a sound scheme.

Team Statistics seemed to define the season the most. Four ball carriers rushed for over 450 yards. Mike Minton and Tyson Bargh had 571 yards, while Derick Vincent had 535 and Pat Lobek had 488. As a team the Wildcats rushed for 1993 yards, passed for 1363 yards for 3056 total yards while allowing only 1194 on defense. Coach Steward frequently remarked that the difference was in the 3rd quarter in most games outscoring opponents 96-27 for the season.

Captains for the season were Tony Ferrero, Kyle Bowers, Chad Hawley, Pat Lobek and Eric Lux. For the post season awards Mike Minton was the MVP, Kyle Bowers was offensive player of the year, Eric Lux was the defensive player of the year and Jason Kirstein was Special Team Player of the year.