June 23, 2008
Twleve individuals with a long history of service to the Illinois High School Association were honored June 9 at the 2nd Annual IHSA Distinguished Service Award ceremony, held at the Chateau in Bloomington.
"The Distinguished Service Award winners are the embodiment of the can-do spirit of high school sports and activities," said Executive Director Marty Hickman. "In every case, they have been given a task and then taken it far above and beyond the job description. For their lasting commitment to IHSA sports and activities, we are happy to have the opportunity to honor each of them with this award."
The award winners are:
Brief biographies of the award winners follow.
John Bailey, Jr.
John is the retired principal of Lincoln High School in East St. Louis and former federal law enforcement officer. For the past 30 years, he has served as a volunteer official at the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals where he served on the Games Committee and Jury of Appeals. He also served as a field event inspector, member of the dugout staff and awards custodian. John was also a long-time member of the IHSA Boys/Girls Track Advisory Committee. In 2004, he was named Honorary Referee at the Girls Track and Field State Final. John continues to enjoy his annual trip to the IHSA Track and Field State Finals and finds it to be a rewarding experience that he greatly looks forward to attending each spring.
Blaise Blasko
A career educator, Blaise wore a number of hats until his retirement in 2001. He was a teacher, coach and athletic director at Glenbard West High School, serving the IHSA on a number of advisory committees during his career. Blaise became an IHSA registered official in Boys Gymnastics in 1975 and has worked 23 IHSA Boys Gymnastics State Final meets. He is the only IHSA Certified Boys Gymnastics Clinician. For the past nine years, Blaise has been a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations Boys Gymnastics Advisory Committee and a leading voice in boys gymnastics nationally.
In 1998, he was inducted into the Illinois High School Gymnastics Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Blaise was named the National Federation Officials Association Boys Gymnastics Official of the Year in 2001.
Jerry Bretag
For 20 years Jerry has been updating the IHSA database of sports records. Almost 90,000 separate records are listed and Jerry has had a hand in almost every one, processing and deciphering submissions for all-time records that are sent throughout the year by coaches and fans. Jerry started his career as a sportswriter in the Quad Cities. When he retired in 1984, he began recording the IHSA’s growing history. In the early days, Jerry’s long printouts were rolled into scrolls. These days, he transmits his changes to the IHSA Office via the Internet and they are updated on the Web soon after. This year, the IHSA has offered him a new challenge – developing completely new sets of records in Class 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A in five different sports.
Al Cornish
Before his retirement in 2002, Al was a teacher and coach at Galesburg, Dunlap and Illinois Valley Central High Schools. He served as athletic director for four years at Dunlap and for eight years at IVC. During the time as A.D., he managed numerous IHSA regional, sectional and super-sectional tournaments. He also was a member of the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. In addition, he served as the IHSA Class A Boys Golf State Final Manager for four years in the mid-1980s and returned to that capacity since 2005. Al is a member of the Steering Committee for the IHSA Boys Basketball State Finals in Peoria and serves as a team host for the Class 1A and 2A Boys Basketball State Finals. Al was selected as the March Madness Experience Volunteer of the Year in 2003.
Geza Ehrentreu
Geza became a licensed track official 31 years ago with the help of his high school track coach, Phil Salzer. In his long career, he has served as a starter, referee, and coordinator of officials at both the IHSA Boys and Girls Track and Field State Finals and the IHSA Cross Country State Finals. Geza founded the Illinois Track and Cross Country Officials Association, served as its first president, and is still actively mentoring about 20 officials. He has served as the Head Clinician for IHSA Track and Field and Cross Country since the inception of the clinician program. Geza was the recipient of the NFOA Illinois Cross Country Official of the Year Award in 1999 and 2000 and was named the Honorary Referee for Cross Country in 2002 and in Girls Track and Field in 2007.
John Elder
John was head football coach at Alexis High School from 1965-93 and also worked as assistant basketball coach and head track coach for shorter periods. He was junior-senior high school principal from 1968-95 and superintendent from 1984-95 until his retirement. John has served the Illinois Coaches Association as Executive Director since 1980 and as State Football Chairman since 1976. A member of the IHSA Legislative Commission for six years, John also served on the IHSA Strategic Planning Committee in 1996 and 2008. John has been inducted into both the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Hall of Fame. In 2008 John received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Organization of Coaches Association Directors and in 2003 the Gerald Ford All-American Coach Award from the All-American Football Foundation.
Carol Koszola
Carol began her career as a teacher at Lake Park High School in 1972 and played a vital role in establishing its girls sports programs. She also served as Dean of Students and Assistant Athletic Director and coached volleyball (12 years), track and field (7), softball (6) and basketball (1). Carol served on a number of IHSA committees and ran the Three-Point Showdown and softball Hitting Derby. For 13 years, Carol has been the assistant manager for the IHSA Girls Bowling State Final and for the last eight a P.A. announcer at the IHSA Girls Volleyball State Final. She served as a finish line official at the Girls Track and Field State Final from 1980-99 and a Girls Badminton tournament official from 1996-2002. In 1997, Carol was inducted into the Illinois Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame and served as its president from 1998-2002.
James (Jimmie) Lewis, Jr.
At East St. Louis Sr. High School, Jimmie served as an assistant coach in track and field from 1967-72, head track and field coach from 1972-79. He served as the Principal of Lincoln Senior High School the last five years of his career prior to his retirement in 1999. Jimmie has officiated at IHSA boys track and field meets for 37 years, in many roles from long jump judge to the jury of appeals, currently holding down the position of dugout supervisor. He’s worked in a similar capacity at the Girls State Meet for 15 years. Jimmie also served two terms as a member of the IHSA Track and Field Advisory Committee. Jimmie was recognized as the Illinois Track and Field Coach of the Year in 1974-75 and 1976-77 and was inducted into the Illinois Coaches Hall of Fame in 1983.
Joe Pedersen
Joe began his teaching career at Eisenhower Junior High School in Darien, Illinois. His coached wrestling at the junior high and later at Hinsdale South and Downers Grove South, with his teams winning over 400 dual meets, 11 regionals and 3 sectionals. Joe became an IHSA licensed official about the same time he started coaching and has served over thirty years as a wrestling official, working many IHSA regionals and sectionals as well as the State Dual Team and Individual State Finals. Early in his career he served as a volunteer bench official; for the last six years he has been tournament manager. Joe was honored as the IWCOA Man of the Year in 1995, elected to the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1996 and was a Grand Marshal at the Individual State Wrestling Tournament.
John Polka
John has coached cross country and track and field at Fenwick High School since 1966. He began officiating at the IHSA state track and field meets in 1972 and worked as the starter-referee at both the girls and boys state meets from 1992-2001. For the past two years, he has served as the meet manager for both state meets. He has been an IHSA rules interpreter since 2000 and a track clinician since 2001. John is currently a member of the IHSA Track and Field Advisory Committee and the IHSA Officials Advisory Committee. He received the National Federation Illinois Boys Track Officials Award in 2001 and the ITCCCA Outstanding Officials Award in 2006. John was inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2004 was named the IHSA Boys Track and Field Honorary Referee.
Phil Salzer
Phil taught in the Peoria School District for over thirty years where he held various positions in teaching and coaching. From 1978-2004, he served as a member of the IHSA Boys & Girls Track and Field Advisory Committees and served as the first chairman when the two combined. In addition, Phil served as the meet manager for both the Girls and Boys Track and Field State Finals. He was a member of the original committee that brought March Madness and the IHSA Boys Basketball State Finals to Peoria in 1996. For 33 years, he has been an officer in the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association. Phil received the prestigious “Ray Eliot” Award in high school football and in 1974 was named the Illinois High School Track and Field Coach of the Year. He has also been inducted into four different halls of fame.
Jean Walker
During her years at Prospect High School, Jean coached badminton, tennis and basketball. She served as the first Girls Athletic Director from the 1970s until her retirement in 2000. She hosted many IHSA regionals and sectionals in a variety of sports and also volunteered for duty at state meets in boys gymnastics, girls track and field, girls bowling, girls archery, as well as the softball Hitting Derby and the girls basketball Three-Point Showdown. For 36 years Jean has served the IHSA at the Girls Tennis State Final, first as tournament manager and most recently as assistant tournament manager. She has been present at every Girls Tennis State Final since its inception in 1972. On September 28, 2007, Jean became the first female to have an Illinois high school fieldhouse named in her honor.