May 12, 2000
It is only appropriate that the first person ever to administer the girls state track and field meet series be named its first Honorary Referee.
Retired IHSA Asst. Executive Director Ola Bundy, who started the program in 1973 and was in charge of girls track and field for 24 years, is being honored as the 2000 Honorary Referee - the first ever for girls.
She joined the IHSA staff in August of 1967 and retired from it June 30, 1996. During that time she nurtured track and field for girls from its infant stage to adulthood. The IHSA girls track and field program is ranked one of - if not the - best in America. Her efforts on behalf of young women in sport were rewarded by the National Federation of State High School Associations with her induction into the National High School Hall of Fame on July 6, 1996.
A native of Allerton in Champaign County, Ola graduated from Champaign High School and then the University of Illinois. She taught for 8 ½ years, including at IHSA members Grant Park, Lansing (TF South) and Champaign (Central), before joining the IHSA staff. During her tenure at IHSA, Ola was the administrator in charge of volleyball, track and field and swimming for girls and boys, as well as being a rules interpreter in all three sports. When she first joined the staff, Ola administered the GAA program.
In the grand tradition of girls track and field
in Illinois, it is fitting the First Lady of
America's girls interscholastic athletics be its
innaugural Honorary Referee.