On Monday, January 16, 2017, the Teutopolis High School girls’ basketball team notched a 74-31 victory against Wesclin High School that was also the 1,000th in program history.

Teutopolis became the second girls’ basketball program in state history to achieve 1,000 program wins.

Marshall High School in Chicago was the first to achieve the feat in 2014, with all 1,000 victories coming under the guidance of legendary coach Dorothy Gaters.

The Lady Shoes program has had just four coaches in its history. Wendy Hawnhorst led the program for its first three seasons and Ben Wesselmann for the 1981-82 campaign, at which point Hall of Fame coach Dennis Koester took the reins for a run that included 652 victories and five state titles from 1982 through 2006.

Koester was followed by Laurie Thompson, a former player in the program who helped guide the team to a state title, in 2006-07 and she has kept the tradition alive, winning 24 games or more in all but one season.