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.

Mabrey ran for 154 yards and scored three more touchdowns on runs of one, three and seven yards and the Salem defense recovered two fumbles, as the Wildcats opened NEC play with a 28-0 win at Red Hill.

Salem’s defense posted its second straight shutout in a 35-0 triumph against Flora in week three, as quarterback Jeff Hopkins ran for two TDs and threw for two more to go along with 185 yards passing.

The Wildcats survived a tough battle in week four when they slipped past Fairfield 16-8, as Hopkins threw a 33-yard TD to Justin Carter and a 24-yard TD to Brian Hill to go along with Ed Mann’s 33-yard field goal.

Salem suffered its lone regular season blemish in week five and fell out of sole possession of first place in the NEC. The Golden Aces ran for a 76-yard TD the first play from scrimmage, converted four Salem turnovers into TDs and ran out to a 34-0 halftime lead and held on for a 34-20 victory despite 278 yards of total offense  from Hopkins and 104 yard receiving by Tony Evischi.

One week after being down 34-0 at halftime, Salem led 34-0 at halftime in week six en route to a 47-0 win over Lawrenceville thanks to a pair of TDs from Hill, Evischi and Chad Donoho and another TD from Hopkins.

The Wildcats also built a 34-0 lead by halftime and cruised to a 34-6 win over Onley in week seven, as Hopkins threw for 201 yards and two TDs and ran for another TD from 49 yards out.

Salem needed a win over a 2-5 Carmi squad in week eight to clinch a share of the NEC crown with Mt. Carmel and the stubborn Bulldogs put up quite a fight. The game was tied 7-7 late in the third quarter before a 13-yard TD run by Scott Falletta, who rushed for 113 yards, put the Wildcats ahead for good. A 16-yard run by Hopkins late in the fourth quarter secured the 21-7 win that wrapped up a share of the league title and a 6-1 NEC record.

The Wildcats concluded the regular season with an impressive 24-0 win over a DuQuoin squad that ranked No. 8 in Class 3A. Hopkins threw TDs of 22 and 24 yards to Evischi, Falletta rushed for 102 yards and Mann kicked a 30-yard field goal in the 24-0 victory.

Salem drew a first-round postseason matchup home game against Highland in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs. The Bulldogs owned the first half and a 10-0 lead, but three second half TDs by Mabrey on runs of 4, 8 and 15 yards rallied the Wildcats to a 20­10 win and their first playoff victory since 1987.

Salem traveled to Jerseyville in round two. Snow had fallen on the field earlier in the week and melted shortly before the game and left the field a muddy quagmire. After having averaged 28 points going into the contest, Salem’s offense could never find its footing against the tough Panthers defense. Jerseyville got a 20-yard TD on a halfback option pass late in the first half and a 45-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Panthers a 14-0 victory.

Ten Wildcats earned NEC honors. First Teams picks included Steve Garrett at guard, Falletta at tackle, Evischi at wide receiver and Hopkins at quarterback on offense and Joe Owens at lineman, Falletta at linebacker and Carter at defensive back on Defense. Evischi was chosen as return speciaist. Second Team honors went to Hill at running back and Doug Jourdan at defensive end. Special mention went to Mabrey at running back and Shawn Morris at linebacker, who had their seasons reduced by injury.

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.

The group needed to be even better at a state meet held at Eastern Illinois University and they responded by lowering their time at another school record of 1:50.7 during the preliminaries to earn a spot in the finals.

Burroughs, Bierman, Ward and Morton saved their best for last in the final, as they broke their school record yet again with a time of 1:49.6 and an eighth place finish.

Crystal Anderson was also a key contributor to the squad. In addition to serving as an alternate for the state race, Anderson stepped into Ward’s spot at the North Egypt Conference Meet and teamed up with Bierman, Burroughs and Morton to win that race with a league record time of 1:55.

In addition to their state medal in the 800 medley relay, Burroughs, Bierman, Ward and Morton had a big postseason in other areas and competed in two other state events that year. Burroughs, Bierman, Ward along with Lori Huston qualified for state in the 800 meter relay and set a new school record of 1:47.1 during the state preliminaries even though they were unable to advance to the finals. Burroughs, Bierman, Morton and Aimee Francois competed in the 1600 meter relay at state. While the 800 and 1600 relays did not grab one of the two automatic state berths at the sectional, their respective third place performances still beat the qualifying standard. Morton won the 400 meter dash at the sectional with a school record time of 59.2, but was unable to advance to the state finals.

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.

Salem came out on top again at the Class AA Centralia Regional when it held off second place Marion 311-320. Morgan and Morrison led the way with matching rounds of 75 and tied for third place overall. Andrews was 11th at 79 followed by Russell at 82, Williams at 92 and Craig Vieira at 96.

Salem’s hopes for a state berth came to an end at the sectional where the Wildcats finished eighth in a very difficult 13-team field with a score of 351, 13 stroked out of the last state advancer spot. Morgan led the way with a sixth place finish at 82 followed by an 85 by Vieira, a 91 by Morrison, 93 by Williams and Andrews and a 94 by Russell.

While Salem’s season as team ended at the sectional, Morgan’s season continued as his sixth place sectional finish was good enough to land him an individual berth in the state meet.

Morgan, who had broken the Salem Country Club Course record during the regular season when he shot a three-under-par 33, turned in an impressive 11th place finish at state with a round of 140.

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.

Salem’s domination carried over into the postseason, as they shot a 369 and won the Murphysboro Regional by 32 strokes over Mt. Vernon. Clark led the way with a fourth place finish with an 88 followed by Leslie Horn at 88, Julie Morgan at 91, Jane Morgan at 102, Boyles at 105 and Sarah Cosby at 111.

Salem and Mt. Vernon went 1-2 again at the Edwardsville Sectional, as the Lady Wildcats lowered their score to 356 and won by 20 strokes. Clark led the way with an 83 and a seventh place finish. Next was Julie Morgan with 89, Boyles with 91, Horn at 93, Cosby at 98 and Jane Morgan at 108.

After they shot 856 at the 1989 state meet and an 832 at the 1990 event, the Lady Wildcats improved their score to 825 at the 1991 finals. As she did throughout the postseason, Clark led the way with a 24th place finish at 187. Julie Morgan followed with 204, Horn at 212, Boyles at 222, Cosby at 229 and Jane Morgan at 246.

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.

She is also part of the high hurdle shuttle relay record set in 1988 along with Carrie Bierman, Lisa Budde and Janis Donoho.

Propst, who also participated in volleyball and cheerleading while at SCHS, continued her track career with a scholarship at Indiana State University. During her time with the Lady Sycamores Propst set the Ball State Open Meet record in the heptathlon and ranks in the top five in Indiana State University history in that event.

Propst also ranks among the top five times in the 400 meter hurdles. Propst also ranks among the top five times in the 400 meter hurdles.

Propst, who resided at O’Fallon, MO. at the time of her induction, resumed her track career in 2008 when she became an assistant coach for Child of God Middle School.

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.

The Lady Wildcats also won regional championships during her junior and senior seasons.

Tamminen was an NEC and All-South First Team selection as a sophomore, junior and senior and won the NEC Most Valuable Player Award as a senior.

Tamminen was also highly successful on the hardwood and still holds school records for most rebounds in a season with 367 and most rebounds per game average at 15.3, both of which were set in her senior season in 1993-94.

In fact Husk holds the top two positions in the school record book in that category.

She pulled down 331 rebounds and averaged 12.3 boards per game as a junior.

Tamminen also holds two spots in the Lady Wildcats top ten record book for most blocked shots in a season.

Her 79 swats as a senior currently ranked no. 2, while her 20 blocked shots as a junior ranks no. 10.

Tamminen ranked no.4 on the school career scoring list at the time of her induction with 1,176 points.

She is one of only eight Salem girls’ basketball players who have scored 1,000 points in a career.

Tamminen was honored by the North Egypt Conference for her senior basketball season as the league’s Honorary Captain. Tamminen originally signed to play college basketball at McKendree College, but switched to Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa prior to the start of her freshman season.

Tamminen continued to play basketball and volleyball for her first two seasons at Graceland before she decided to concentrate solely on volleyball for her final two seasons.

Tamminen’s best season at Graceland came in 1997 when she was named to the Heart of America Athletic Conference Volleyball Team.

During that season Tamminen had been selected as the HAAC Player of the Week.

During her volleyball career at Graceland she was also selected to the St. Edwards Tournament Second Team.

Tamminen was part of some highly successful volleyball squads at Graceland.

During her stay at the school Graceland won the HAAC Preseason tournament the HAAC regular season championship, the HAAC postseason Tournament and a regional tournament qualifier where they took third place.

Tamminen resided in San Clement California at the time of her induction.

The 1943-44 Salem Wildcats basketball team ranks as one of the most successful in the program’s history.

Coach Kenny Farrar guided the squad to a 25-10 record, a share of the North Egypt Conference championship with Flora, a regional championship and advancement to the sectional championship game.

This particular group of Wildcats often had to come from behind to earn their success.

Salem had to win its final three games to get a piece of the NEC crown, which included a 37-33 win at Lawrenceville in the final conference game.

The Wildcats, who finished league play with a 10-2 record, overcame a five-point deficit in that contest thanks to ten-point outings by Don Wile and Jim Finks.

Salem beat three opponents by a combined 116 points to win its own regional championship, which at the time of its induction, is the last for the program.

The Wildcats blasted Sandoval 64-17 in the opening round behind 16 points from Francis Meador.

Salem then beat Kinmundy 56-27 in the semifinals behind 17 points from Finks.

Doc Laney and Meador also hit double digits with 11.

The Wildcats got a surprise opponent in the regional championship game, as Patoka upset heavily favored Centralia 41-29 in the other semifinal game.

The Warriors kept the game close for a half, but a 25-8 run by the Wildcats in the third quarter sparked Salem to a 76-38 win.

Finks, Wile and Meador combined for 68 of the 76 points led by 27 from the NFL Hall of Famer, 22 by Wile and 19 by Meador.

Salem advanced to the Centralia Sectional where it faced a Mt. Vernon team that had drilled the Wildcats 47-25 during the regular season.

This time was a different story, as Salem racked up a double-digit lead in the first half and went on to beat the Rams 46-33 behind a team-high 18 points from Wile and nine more from Finks.

The Wildcats faced another tough obstacle in the sectional championship game where they met West Frankfort, another team that beat Salem during the regular season.

The Redbirds, who beat Salem 44-38 the last week of the regular season, got off to a strong start in the rematch and went on to post a 41 -27 win despite nine points each from Meador and Finks.

While the 1995 Salem Lady Wildcats golf team was not large in numbers with seven players, they still rank as the most successful team in school history at the time of their 2010 Hall of Fame induction.

Six of the team’s seven members were returnees from the 1994 squad that finished 11th at the state meet. The only newcomer was freshman Candice Vogt.

Coach Mary Riley’s squad compiled an amazing 77-8 record, which included two wins over eventual state champ Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

In fact, those were the only two blemishes Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin had the entire season.

After a regular season that included championships at the Olney and Benton Invitationals, Salem won its own regional championship by a 32-stroke margin over runner-up Massac County, 354-386.

Melissa Cantrell and Gretchen Clark tied for the individual championship with identical rounds of 84. Cantrell then defeated Clark in a one-hole playoff to claim the individual title.

Salem also got top ten finishes from Carrie Eller and Janelle Hopkins, who finished tied for tenth with rounds of 93. Spring Riley’s 12th place mark of 93 and Randa Vogt’s 13th mark of 95 rounded out the scoring.

The Lady Wildcats were denied a second straight sectional championship, as they were derailed at the Decatur Eisenhower Sectional by the host school 329-351.

The second place finish was still good enough to earn another trip to state.

Cantrell had a sixth place individual finish at the sectional with a 79 to lead the Lady Wildcats.

Clark followed with an 86, Eller with a 92 and Randa Vogt with a 94 to complete the team scoring.

Riley and Hopkins also competed and had scores of 97 and 99 respectively, Salem improved its team score by 24 strokes and its team finish by four spots at the state meet, as it ended the season with a seventh place finish.

Once again the Lady Wildcats got off to a bit of a slow start at the state meet, as they stood in tenth place after day one.

Salem had the fifth best team score on day two, which enabled them to move up three positions.

Eller led the Lady Wildcats at state with a 46th place mark and a score of 177.

Clark was 46th with a 187, Cantrell was 52nd at 189 and Hopkins was the final counter in 89th place to 203.

Randa Vogt and Riley also competed and had respective rounds of 205 and 214.

More often than not the history book followed the 1994 Salem Lady Wildcats golf team. Under the direction of first-year coach Mary Riley, the Lady Wildcats had an undefeated regular season in nine-hole matches wi1h a 25-0 record.

That regular season record also included first place finishes at the Benton and Olney Invitational’s, a second place mark at the Edwardsville Invitational and a fourth place effort at the Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin Blazer Classic.

The Lady Wildcats broke school team records for lowest nine-hole and 18-hole scores. Melissa Cantrell also broke the school record for the lowest individual score in an 18-hole match.

A furious pace on the back nine enabled the Lady Wildcats to win the Carbondale regional championship by 19 strokes over the host school, 383-402.

Salem trailed by three strokes through the first nine holes, but out shot the Lady Terriers by 22 strokes over the final nine.

Elisabeth Somer led the Lady Wildcats with a fourth place individual finish with an 89. Gretchen Clark and Cantrell compiled rounds of 97 and Janelle Hopkins was the final counter with 100.

Salem advanced to the Mattoon Sectional where it came away with its first sectional crown since 1991 and just the second in the program’s history.

The Lady Wildcats once again ran away from the rest of the competition, as their winning score of 393 beat runner-up Edwardsville by 21 strokes.

Only four players were able to shoot below 100 in extreme windy conditions.

Salem had two of those, as Cantrell led the way with a 94 and Somer followed with a 97.

A 100 by Clark and a 102 by Carrie Eller rounded out the top four team scoring.

Salem ended its season with an 11th place finish out of 13 teams at the state meet.

The Lady Wildcats were last in the field after day one with a 396, but improved that score by nine strokes in day two of the competition to move ahead of two schools.

Randa Vogt and Clark led Salem with identical two-day totals of 191, while Somer was two shots back with 193.

Cantrell and Eller tied for the final counter spot with 212.

Hopkins also competed for the Lady Wildcats at state and shot a 219. Salem finished the season wi1h a 58-15 record.

Coach Kathy Finney’s squad compiled a sparkling 25-4 record and its .862 winning percentage ranked second in school history at the time of its induction behind only the 1998 team’s 32-3 record and .914 winning percentage.

The Lady Wildcats compiled a 22-3 regular season record that included second place finishes at the Salem Invitational and Flora Invitational. There was no North Egypt Conference season in place at that time.

Salem captured the district championship on its home floor with a 20-1, 20-5 victory over Effingham in the opening round and a 20-18, 20-6 triumph over Mt. Carmel for the championship.

The Lady Wildcats picked up the program’s first ever win in a sectional tournament when they knocked off Carbondale in three sets 20-15, 11-20, 20-18. Salem’s postseason run ended in the sectional championship game to Mascoutah 20-8, 20-12. At the time of its induction, only the 1997 squad that advanced to the Class A super-sectional Sweet 16 round had advanced deeper in the postseason than the 1977 Lady Wildcats.

Coach Finney’s rotation that season usualy included Kathy Smith, Laura Raver, Carol Beasley, Carla Doss, Marla Sapp, Robin Owen, Diane Beasley and Peggy Wilson.