One of the most well-rounded athletes Salem Community High School has ever produced, 2007 graduate Ellen (Young) O’Rourke left the school as the all-time career scoring leader for the girls and boys basketball program with 2,500 points.

O’Rourke, who was an All-Apollo Conference and Southern Illinois Coaches Association All-South selection all four seasons, made an immediate impact as a freshman when she averaged 15.0 points per game. She also received Special Mention on the IBCA and Champaign News-Gazette All-State Teams. She increased that scoring average to 17.2 points per game as a sophomore and was selected to the IBCA All-State Third Team and Honorable Mention on the Champaign News-Gazette All-State Team. As a junior O’Rourke poured in 24.8 points a game and was an IBCA All-State Second Team choice. During her senior season O’Rourke broke Marla Sapp’s 26-year-old school scoring record of 2,347 points and averaged 25.3 points a game overall. She was an IBCA and Champaign News-Gazette All-State First Team choice as well as an Associated Press Third Team All-State pick. O’Rourke represented the school and Class AA South squad at the IBCA All-Star Game.

O’Rourke was more than just a scoring machine. She set the school record for most steals in a season with 109 in the 2006-07 campaign (since broken) and ranked tenth for most rebounds in a season when she pulled down 291 boards, which she also accomplished in the 2006-07 season. O’Rourke ranked second in season three-point percentage at 44.8 percent for the 2003-04 season and third in made free throws for a season when she hit 150 in the 2006-07 slate.

O’Rourke, who also competed on the volleyball court for two seasons and one year on the track at SCHS, also left her name in the school’s record book for softball where she set the season stolen base mark when she pilfered 37 during the 2005 campaign.

O’Rourke begun her collegiate basketball career at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. During her one season with the Lady Salukis O’Rourke was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman Team as she averaged 11.9 points per game and was third in the MVC in three-point percentage. O’Rourke played her three remaining seasons at the University of Southern Indiana at Evansville. As a sophomore she was a Great Lakes Valley Conference Third Team choice as she averaged 13.1 points per game and reached double digits 18 times. She improved that scoring average to 15.3 points per game as a junior when she was named to the All-GLVC Second Team. Twice she was named the GLVC Player of the Week. Prior to her senior season O’Rourke was named a preseason honorable Mention All-American by the Division II Bulletin. Once again, she was a GLVC Second Team selection after she posted a team-high 15.6 points per game average, which included a career high 34 points against Indianapolis. Twenty-three times she scored in double digits. Despite having played only three seasons at USI, O’Rourke finished eighth all-time on that program’s scoring list with 1249 points, third in career made three-pointers with 150 and third in free throw percentage at 78.0 percent. O’Rourke scored 1,677 points overall in college to go along with 486 rebounds.

O’Rourke was serving as the financial manager for the City of Marengo, Iowa at the time of her SCHS Sports Hall of Fame induction.

It did not matter whether it was on the volleyball or basketball court, success and Chandra (Hensley) Steers went together.

A 1999 graduate of Salem Community High School, Steers was a four-year member of the Lady Wildcats volleyball program and a three-year starter. During that three-year run from 1996-98 Steers helped Salem compile records of 26-7, 31-5 and 32-3. Those squads won the North Egypt Conference crown each season, three regional titles and the program’s first sectional championship in 1997. Steers was an NEC Second Team selection for the 1997 and 1998 teams.

While Steers had a solid volleyball career at Salem, she elevated her game even more when she moved on to Parkland Community College in Champaign. That success began in the fall of 1999 when she helped Parkland compile a 54-9 record that ended with the NJCAA Division II national championship. With Steers up front at the net, the Lady Cobras made a return trip to the national tournament in 2001 where Parkland took home a sixth-place finish and a 45-15 record. Steers, who was one of the top blockers in the country, was a big reason for that trip to the national tournament as she was a Midwest Athletic Conference First Team selection and a member of the All-Region 24 First Team. Steers was rewarded for her success at Parkland when she was inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame in 2007. Steers transferred to Eastern Illinois University for her junior and senior volleyball seasons. During her time at that school Steers received the school’s ROTC Leadership Award in 2002 and was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference All-Academic Team in 2003.

Besides her accomplishments on the volleyball court, Steers was also a key contributor to the 1998-99 Lady Wildcats basketball team that went 28-3, won the NEC championship with a perfect 14-0 record and reached the Class AA Elite Eight. Steers, who was an NEC Honorable Mention selection that season, led Salem to its first regional championship when she poured in a career high 28 points in a 78-51 victory over Chatham Glenwood. She averaged 8.7 points per game that campaign, was the team’s third-leading rebounder and was one of its best free throw shooters at 73 percent.

Steers did not stay away from athletic competition for long after her playing days ended as she entered the coaching field in 2004 as the head volleyball coach at Macon-Meridian High School. She later served as head volleyball coach at Mahomet-Seymour High School where her team won a Class 3A regional championship in 2015. Steers has had assistant volleyball coaching stints at Parkland College, Blue Ridge High School and Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School. Steers has also coached multiple seasons for PrimeTime VBC, a club volleyball team based in Champaign.

At the time of her induction into the SCHS Sports Hall of Fame Steers resided in Mahomet where she was a certified surgical technologist at Gibson Area Hospital.

After Kim Kreke used her size and skill to become the top shot blocker in the history of the Salem Lady Wildcats basketball program, she left her mark in the same category with the Air Force Academy.
A 2005 graduate of Salem Community High School, Kreke began to become a defensive force near the basket as a junior when she turned away 74 shots during the 2003-04 season. That mark still ranks third in the program’s history at the time of her Hall of Fame induction. Kreke was even better during her senior year in the 2004-05 campaign when she became the school’s single-season shot blocker with 102. During that senior season Kreke was selected to the All-Tournament Team at Effingham, the All-Apollo Conference team and received Special Mention on the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-State Team.

Kreke became a regular in the Lady Wildcats as a sophomore and helped Salem win just its second regional championship in 2003. Kreke’s presence in the middle helped the Lady Wildcats win 22 games during her junior season in 2003-04 and a 28-3 record, which included another regional championship in 2005, as a senior.

Kreke was also tough at the net in volleyball and helped Salem to 22 wins in 2002, 25 wins and a regional championship in 2003 and 20 victories in 2004.

It would be basketball that would be Kreke’s ticket to college at the Air Force Academy. Kreke had spot duty with the Lady Falcons during her first two seasons as she appeared in 15 games as a freshman and 18 games as a sophomore. Kreke’s work load at Air Force increased significantly as a junior when she appeared in 28 of her team’s 29 games. Kreke averaged 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds a game, but again it was on the defensive side where she made her biggest presence known as she had at least one blocked shot in 17 games and nine games with multiple blocked shots.

Kreke saved her best season at Air Force for her senior year as she averaged 9.3 points per game, which included 22 three-pointers. Her 43 blocked shots for the season established a new program record during the Division I era and also ranked second in the Mountain West Conference. Kreke also established another Air Force season record with 278 rebounds as she averaged 9.4 boards per game. Kreke was named Air Force’s Most Valuable Defensive Player and shared the team’s Most Valuable Player Award and the Loudermilk-Chavez Leadership Award.

Kreke continued to be involved in athletics after her graduation as she served as a women’s basketball assistant coach for the United States Air Force Prep School in 2010. She participated in the All Air Force Basketball program in 2012 and the All United States Air Force Volleyball Program in Europe in 2016. She also served as a volunteer assistant basketball coach at Arlington, Massachusetts High School in 2017.

At the time of her Hall of Fame induction Kreke was serving as a program manager for the United States Air Force.

The 2004-05 Salem Lady Wildcats basketball team put together one of the best seasons in the program’s history. Their 28-3 record matched the same mark compiled by the 1998-99 state team.

Under the direction of head coach Janet Holst, Salem was often its best during tournament time as the Lady Wildcats won their own Thanksgiving Tournament with a thrilling 46-36 victory over perennial power Edwardsville in the championship game. The Lady Wildcats finished runner-up at Mascoutah with wins over Marion, Mascoutah and Belleville West before falling 60-46 to Belleville East. Salem also won the Effingham Round Robin Tournament. The other big regular season Salem accomplished was when it won the Apollo Conference championship.

Salem began postseason play at home by winning its own Class AA regional as the top-seeded Lady Wildcats knocked off Charleston and Mattoon. The season came to an end for the Lady Wildcats when they lost to East St. Louis 44-33 in the semifinal round of the Mt. Vernon Sectional.

The 2004-05 Lady Wildcats possessed a deep roster, many of which moved on to the collegiate level. Senior Kim Kreke left the program as the school’s all-time season and career shot blocker. Kreke took her skills on to the Air Force Academy. Senior Shana Stein moved on to the University of Illinois at Springfield. Junior Lacey Hester went on to play at John A. Logan, while junior Erin Pea played at Kaskaskia College. Sophomore Ellen Young eventually became the school’s all-time career scoring leader with 2,500 points before she moved on to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the University of Southern Indiana.

When Janet Holst-Behrens arrived in Salem in 1995, she also inherited a Lady Wildcat basketball program that had posted just one winning season in the previous 14 years. Twenty-one years later Holst-Behrens has built a model of consistent success and took the program to levels it had never reached before.

Prior to her stop at Salem, Holst had put together a highly successful stint at Newcomb, New Mexico where she compiled a 134-60 record during her eight seasons there, which included four straight 20 win seasons. It took a little while for Holst to rebuild the Salem program, as her first three teams combined for a 33-46 record. Starting in the 1998-99 season her teams had winning campaigns in 17 of the next 18 years, which included twelve 20 win seasons. Her teams won six conference championships, a run that began when it claimed the North Egypt Conference championship in 1999 when it compiled a perfect 14-0 record. That was the first conference title for the Lady Wildcats in 20 years. After Salem moved to the Apollo Conference for the 2003-2004 school year, her teams won the title in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012.
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While it was basketball that proved to be her ticket to college, it was also her excellence in volleyball that made Danette (Jones) Wolfe a multi-sport standout athlete at Salem Community High School.

A 2001 SCHS graduate, Wolfe had to wait two years for a talented senior class that won 63 games during that span to crack the Lady Wildcats lineup. Once she got her chance as a junior in the 1999 season, the middle hitter was named the North Egypt Conference Most Valuable Player Award. Besides her individual honor, Wolfe helped Salem compile a 25-7 record to along with an NEC and Class AA regional championship. Wolfe won another NEC MVP Award in volleyball during her senior season in 2000, as she helped the Lady Wildcats put together a 22-6 record and another NEC title.

Although Wolfe also had to wait until her junior season to crack the Salem starting lineup in basketball, she proved to be a valuable sixth man as a sophomore for the 1998-99 Lady Wildcats squad that went 28-3, won the NEC championship and advanced tot he Class AA Elite Eight. Jones averaged 8.2 points per game as a sophomore and earned NEC Honorable Mention status. Wolfe proved to be an early threat from long range, as her 38.5 percentage from three-point territory (25-65) ranked ninth best in school history at the time of her induction. She also qualified for state competition in the Country Financial Three-Point Shot competition.
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