More than 30 years after they last suited up the 1977 Salem Lady Wildcats volleyball team remains as one of the most successful in school history.

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.
(more…)

The 1985 Salem Wildcats football team went places the program had never gone before or since at the time of its Hall of Fame induction.

Their 10-1 record is still the most wins in a season in school history as are their 417 points scored, their 3,514 yards rushing and 3,886 yards of total offense. They, along with the 1943 team, are the only Salem football teams to go through the regular season unbeaten, but the 1985 team is the only one to go unbeaten and untied. Coach Chuck Budde’s team achieved another school first with the program’s first playoff victory. Salem rode a potent one-two punch in its backfield to much of its success, as that squad is the only one in school history that featured two 1,000-yard rushers. Running back David Meador led that ground attack with 1,681 yards and 30 touchdowns on his way to being named the North Egypt Conference’s Most Valuable Player. Meador was joined in the backfield by Mark Byars, who rushed for 1,173 yards. Seven times Meador and Byars rushed for 100 or more years in the same game.
(more…)

The 1981 Volleyball team coached by Pam McCartney (Raymer) and assisted by Suzanne Henry (Brown) had an impressive team that won the North Egypt Conference championship and recorded a perfect 16-0 record against N.E.C. opponents.

In addition to the conference title, the Lady Wildcats had huge wins in their season by winning the Kaskaskia tournament and the consolation bracket in the highly competitive Carbondale Invitational tournament. Probably the biggest accomplishment of the 1981 season was winning the District Championship. Salem had to defeat Centralia in the first round of the tournament and then defeated Mt. Vernon in the Championship game. Mt. Vernon was highly favored in the Championship, especially since they had defeated the Lady Wildcats earlier in the season 2-0.

The volleyball team finished the season with an overall record of 24-7 and will go down as one of the best volleyball teams in SCHS history.

The girls basketball team of 1979-80 had a very tough act to follow. The team from the prior season had an outstanding 23-0 regular season record with several seniors. Many thought the team would not be nearly as competitive or successful. They were wrong.

Coach Jim Koehler proved through hard work, determination, and hustle, this team could be successful. They started out the season strong by winning the first 17 games in a row, led in scoring by Junior Marla Sapp, who had 770 points.
(more…)

The 1971-72 Basketball team, Coached by Lee Emery in his third year, achieved success in many ways. Their 17-9 record was one of the best in several years. Led by senior guards Don Jones and Dick Kagy, the Wildcats worked a ball control offense that also relied heavily on the inside game. Jim Sager, Greg Malan and Jack Sechrest provided much of the inside game. Jim Sager, Greg Malan and Jack Sechrest provided much of the inside scoring and rebounding while sophomore Ron Eller was a defensive player that helped with rebounding and inside scoring.

Salem was an early contender for the North Egypt Conference race battling Olney all season for conference title. Early wins against Mt. Carmel (58-50), Lawrenceville (70-62) and 1971 NEC Champions Fairfield (55-51) set the tone for a good season and the Centralia Holiday Tournament. A forth place finish in the tournament was Salem’s only trophy in their history in this tournament. Salem eventually finished second in the NEC but wins against Centralia, the first in fifteen years, and winning the 21st Salem Invitational Tournament, were definitely bright spots of the season.

The championship win over Olney by a score of 70-59 in the Invitational was the highlight of the season. Jack Sechrest led the way in scoring with 22 points while Greg Malan had 18 points and Don Jones had 13 points. The tournament championship was the first since 1966. Coach Emery said that “this was a fun team to coach that enjoyed a lot of success.”

The 1983 SCHS cross country team won the North Egypt Conference championship, took 24th place in the state meet and compiled an overall record of 172 wins and 41 losses. Tidwell, and Russell Woodward.

Coached by Jim Corrona, the 1983 team won invitational meet titles at Herrin, Benton, Mt. Vernon and Harrisburg. The squad was regional champion and took second place in the sectional to earn its trip to the state meet at Peoria.Tidwell, and Russell Woodward.

Dennis Squibb was the individual winner of the conference race. Other team members were Donnie Cato, Chris Daniels, David Doherty, Paul Gierten, Terry Goodin, Jeff Mills, Brian Prince, Tim Sullens, Dennis Tidwell, and Russell Woodward.