Rod Wells, a three-sport star at Salem Community High School, rushed for 1119 yards in two years with the varsity Wildcats, averaged nearly 11 points per game his senior year in basketball, and was outstanding in the low hurdles in track.

A 1960 graduate of SCHS, he received an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs and was sixth in his graduating class in 1964. While at the Air Force Academy, he played freshman football and ended his football activity in his sophomore year after a broken collar bone and two separated shoulders.

In football his senior year in high school, he carried the ball 121 times for 742 yards, having exceptional games against Flora with 113 yards in a 40-12 victory, against Olney with 179 yards in a 25-19 win; and against Bridgeport with 92 yards in a 39-13 victory.
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A former captain of the Southern Illinois University football team who earned two high school varsity letters and two varsity letters at SIU, Charles “Bud” Parker was one of the kingpins of the line of the Salem team that earned a H-l record in 1949 to gain the co-championship of the North Egypt Conference.

An all-state honorable mention in 1949, Parker helped anchor the middle of the Salem line with Bob Bishop, a 1989 Hall of Fame inductee, and Earl Justice.

Parker played football all four years at SIU and lettered with the varsity his junior and senior years. As a 5-9, 169-pound lineman, he was chosen the Salukis’ captain his senior year. Ironically, he teamed in the line with Ron Bishop, brother of Bob. Ron Bishop had graduated from Bridgeport High School after the family moved from the Salem area.
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A hard-throwing right-hander who made sports history with five no-hitters, four in succession, Jerry Mercer led the Salem baseball team to a North Egypt Conference championship and to the sectional finals in the state elimination series. Mercer graduated from Salem Community High School in 1956.

Mercer, who had an 11-0 record in regular season action, opened with a 4-0, no-hit victory over Vandalia, striking out 18 batters. He walked one batter that game and then promptly picked him off at first. He next recorded an 8-0 no-hitter over Lawrenceville, also fanning 18. Then came a no-hit, 11-0 win over Centralia, with 13 strikeouts, and a 13-0 no-hitter over Olney, with 10 strikeouts. Both of those games were five-inning affairs. National recognition came after the fourth no-hitter with a two-page spread in Life magazine.
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A stalwart in the line of the Salem Wildcats North Egypt Conference football champion team of 1947 and the near-miss team of 1946, Bill Chance lettered in football, basketball and track at Salem Community High School.

He was a starting guard on the 1946 team that compiled an 8-1 record and on the 1947 championship team that went through the league schedule 6-0. He was an all-conference selection that year.

Chance was a member of the 1947-48 SCHS basketball team that compiled a 27-3 record and won the NEC championship with an 11-1 record.
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Morris Steevens, a 1958 graduate, a fireballing left-hander excelled in four sports at Salem Community High School.

Steevens later pitched professionally for the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League.

Steevens started his high school pitching prowess with a four-hit shutout of Odin as a sophomore and also notched a four-hit victory over Centralia. During his junior year, he was the kingpin of the Wildcat pitching staff with five shutout victories, including a no-hit, 1-0 win over Flora. The Wildcats won their fourth straight North Egypt Conference championship that year and, with Steevens pitching a four-hitter, won the regional championship. During his senior year, Steevens combined with Jack Simmons and Billy Smith to pitch a 12-0, no-hit, win over Odin. Salem also won the district title that year, beating Centralia 4-2, with Steevens pitching a five hitter and contributing a two-run home run.
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Dr. Edward E. Perry, a four sports star in high school, whose basketball career started as a sixth grader with the junior varsity in junior high school and culminated as a three-time letter winner with the University of Illinois Fighting Illini.

Perry, who participated in basketball, baseball, football and track in high school, set records his senior year in high school in football and basketball. While basketball and football were his strongest sports in high school, he also lettered in baseball and track and was a member of the championship 880-yard relay team both his junior and senior years.
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