Sunday Slam: Halpin Drove St. Viator Boys Golf to Great Heights
Girls Basketball Coaching Milestones for MSL Products Raethz, Palicki; Prospect Girls Cross Country Fifth in National Meet
Driving for show was not part of Jack Halpin’s plan when he took over the St. Viator boys golf program 30 years ago.
Halpin played golf at Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst and for three years on the varsity at now-shuttered St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. One of the lasting impressions could be described as sub-par.
“I walked around with animosity toward my high school and college coaches because they didn’t do anything but drive the van,” Halpin said. “At age 49, I decided it was time to shut up and do something about it.”
What Halpin did was put together three decades of phenomenal success, highlighted by three team state championships and two runner-up finishes, before announcing his retirement last month to oversee Viator’s boys and girls programs as the Director of Golf Support. But one of the keys for Halpin was also understanding where he needed to hit the brakes.
“I know enough about golf to know I don’t know enough about golf,” Halpin said of his insistence his players also work with a PGA professional for technical support.
Halpin played football and basketball and ran track in addition to playing golf at Immaculate Conception. So, he knew he wanted to be involved at Viator when his sons Sean, Kevin and Timmy all played football and he spent 10 years as a statistician/coach. Then, in 1993, school president Fr. Charles Bolser told Halpin he wanted him to be the golf coach - naturally, while they were playing golf.
Halpin was the frosh-soph coach for three years before replacing Marc Heidkamp, who wanted to focus on his work as director of golf operations at Old Orchard Country Club. Viator had finished third in the Class AA state tournament in 1983 but Halpin knew there was work to do to challenge Benet and Carmel in the upper echelon of the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
He made sure his kids looked the part with team shirts, shorts, hats and bags.
“I’m a golf geek,” Halpin said. “We actually started looking like a team.”
Bolser’s support in making Old Orchard the Viator home course while Heidkamp was still coaching was another pivotal move. The team was also in only one weekend tournament when Halpin took over as head coach. He started his own tourney and invited state powers such as Loyola, New Trier, Lake Forest, Hinsdale Central and St. Charles East to get Viator in their tourneys as well.
But it still took time for the breakthrough to occur. It finally happened in 1999 when the Lions won an ESCC title and advanced to the state tournament for the first time in 16 years by finishing third in the Buffalo Grove sectional.
“It was such a big deal to the team and school it was like the Ryder Cup,” Halpin said. “I never thought we’d get to that level.”
One of the key players was senior John Perna, who had initially been cut from the team, but worked to become a starter as a sophomore and one of its biggest success stories. Halpin wound up making golf at Viator a no-cut sport and Perna went to play at Florida Gulf Coast and owns the TPS Golf Academy in Downers Grove he started.
Halpin had no problem having players work with people such as Perna or PGA teaching pro Dan Kochevar at Oak Brook Golf Club. Then he would have the pros send copies of videos to the players, parents and Viator coaches so they could reinforce what they were taught.
The glory years for the Lions arrived in 2006 when sophomore Matt Vitale was joined by freshmen Danny Stringfellow, Joey Carlson and Brad Klune, who were all following older siblings who attended the school.
“Any golf coach would have been thrilled to have one player with the ability of those four in their career, much less four at the same time,” Halpin said. “I told Klune’s dad Eddie, ‘Hang on, it’s going to be a heck of a ride.’”
Indeed it was as a second-place finish in 2006 was followed by three consecutive Class 3A state titles. Viator became the first team to accomplish that feat at the highest level since Rockford East won four in a row in one-class competition the mid-1940s. Their two-day total of 583 in 2008 matched the record shot by Normal U-High in 2A a year earlier and still stands. They also won 11 consecutive tournaments against top-level competition in 2007-08.
Carlson shot 68-69 to win the 2008 title with a 3A-record 137 that was equaled in 2021. Stringfellow won the title a year later and joined PGA Tour pro D.A. Points of Pekin as the only players to finish in the top 10 all four years of their high school career.
“To be seen as a perennial power when you’ve got Loyola, New Trier, Lake Forest, Hinsdale Central and St. Charles East, I never thought we’d be in the same sentence as those guys,” Halpin said. “They were ‘good, good.’
“What was interesting in those years is every year somebody who was the fifth or sixth guy would come up and shoot (great). In 2006, it was Nick DeTrempe with 74. Then Mike Ferrari with 72 (in 2007). That’s what you had to do. You had to find the depth.”
They also finished second in 2A in 2017. Halpin also coached 12 ESCC, 8 regional and 5 sectional championship teams and was inducted into the ESCC and Illinois Golf Coaches halls of fame. He started talking to Viator athletic director Jason Kuffel about a succession plan, and said a long ovation that brought him to tears at this year’s season-ending banquet, along with the decision of girls coach Mick Drewes to retire made him decide it was time for him to step aside as well.
Halpin is excited about Jon Dean, a Michigan state amateur champion who played at Notre Dame, moving up from assistant coach to take over the boys program. Halpin is currently the girls interim coach and will help both programs with scheduling, purchasing of uniforms, running youth summer camps and other administrative duties.
“This allows me to continue to do what I’m doing but not at the same pace,” Halpin said. “It’s two years earlier than I planned but better to do it too early than too late. It’s been a great run.”
Especially for someone who was a sports information director at St. Joseph’s College with interest in becoming a writer. Halpin expressed his appreciation for all the coverage Viator golf got from the Daily Herald and how it inspired so many of his current and future players.
“The real fun is introducing kids to golf,” he said. “You hear that click - that one good shot and you’re hooked.”
Raethz Milestone Rates Highly at Huntley
Steve Raethz was a big part of turning Hoffman Estates into one of the best boys basketball programs in the Mid-Suburban League in the mid-1990s under Bill Wandro.
Raethz was fresh out of St. Norbert’s College when he took over a Huntley girls program that had never had a winning record. He ended his first season 2-23 in 1999-2000 but Raethz quickly built the foundation for one of the top girls programs in the Fox Valley Conference and Chicago area.
On Friday night, Raethz reached a milestone with his 400th career victory as Huntley improved to 6-0 by beating Jacobs (coached by former Hoffman star Jonny Reibel). Raethz is now 400-277 in 24 seasons with 11 regional titles, 3 sectional crowns, a fourth-place Class 4A finish in 2013 and nine 20-win seasons.
Raethz was a Daily Herald All-Area pick as a senior in 1994 when Hoffman went 19-7 in Wandro’s third season and his first with a winning record. Two years later, the Hawks would go on to the first of two Class AA Elite Eight appearances during Wandro’s tenure.
Raethz maximized his talent as he averaged 11 points a game and defended the opponent’s best guard in his All-Area season. The kind of player who looked like he had future in coaching.
“He’s the type of kid who spent more time in the gym than anybody else and he stays late all the time,” Wandro said of his all-area guard in 1994. “He’s certainly a role model.”
Similar to Wandro, Raethz’s first winning season at Huntley was also his third with 19 victories. The 2013 team led by future Illinois starter Ali Andrews and her sister Sam started a four-year run where it went 111-21, reached the supersectional three times and set a single-season school record with 30 victories.
It was also fun to cover his supersectional victory at Dundee-Crown that guaranteed them a state trophy 10 years ago.
“I knew I wanted to get into education and work with kids and it was a lifelong dream to coach,” Raethz said that night in 2013. “I was fortunate to get the opportunity right out of college and take the reins of a program. It’s been a great ride the last 14 years.”
Now it’s 24 years of success and counting for Steve Raethz.
Prospect Girls Fifth at Nike Cross Country Nationals
Mount Prospect, comprised of girls from the Illinois Class 3A state champions, finished fifth out of 22 teams at the Nike Nationals on Saturday in Portland, Oregon.
Meg Peterson took 62nd in 18:17.5 to lead Mount Prospect as its top five scoring runners were separated by just 20 seconds. Veronica Znajda (18:27.5) was 67th, Lily Ginsberg (18:33.4) was 78th, Hailey Erickson (18:35.9) was 82nd and Cam Kalaway (18:37.3) was 84th. Ireland Wildhart and Sam Patterson were also part of the team’s seven runners.
Elmhurst, comprised of girls from 3A state runnerup York, finished 10th. Bria Bennis led the way in 45th in 18:06.4 and Michaela Quinn was 97th. Notre Dame-bound Grace Schager, the 3A champ from Glenbard North, finished fifth in 17:16.8.
In the boys race, 3A champ Aden Bandukwala of Hinsdale Central took 26th in 15:28.9. Hinsdale finished eighth as a team as Dan Watcke took 28th in 15:31.1. Downers North was 10th behind Caden Weber in 54th in 15:51.0. Plainfield, with runners from 3A champ Plainfield North, took 13th.
Hinsdale Central and Downers Grove North finished second and third respectively in the 3A state meet.
McBride Plays Key Role for US Men’s National Team in World Cup
Brian McBride led Buffalo Grove to a state soccer title in 1988 and is one of the greatest players from the United States. For the last three years he’s been working on helping the current crop of the best from the US succeed on a global stage.
McBride is nearing the completion of his third year as general manager of the US Men’s National Team. He was selected as the team’s second general manager on Jan. 10, 2020. This year’s team advanced to the Round of 16 four years after failing to even qualify for the World Cup.
McBride was chosen from a list of 20 candidates, according to the USA Soccer website. His primary areas of focus are overseeing the development and management of the player pool, building and guiding the USMNT’s culture, managing relationships with clubs and representing the USMNT globally.
Wheeling Grad Palicki Hits Century Mark at Resurrection
Jon Palicki, a 2006 Wheeling grad, picked up his 100th career victory as Resurrection girls basketball head coach Wednesday. The Bandits improved to 4-1 this season with a 46-32 victory over Amundsen.
Palicki is in his seventh season in charge of the program on Chicago’s Northwest Side and has a record of 100-72 with three Class 3A regional titles. His teams the last two full seasons finished 22-10 and went 10-4 in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Palicki was also a girls assistant coach for two years at St. Viator.
Around the NFL
Jimmy Garoppolo (Rolling Meadows) kept on rolling last week as he was 26-for-37 passing for 222 yards and a touchdown as the San Francisco 49ers beat New Orleans 13-0. Garoppolo has completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 2,381 yards with 16 TDs and 4 interceptions as the 7-4 49ers face 8-3 Miami.
Bears rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn (Lake Zurich) had 15 tackles (10 solos) and 2 tackles for losses in last week’s loss to the Jets. He has 48 tackles with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for losses.
It’s also a battle of Chicago-area tight ends when the Bears face the Packers at Soldier Field. The Bears’ Cole Kmet (St. Viator) has 29 catches for 336 yards and 5 TDs and the Packers’ Robert Tonyan (McHenry) has 44 catches for 362 yards and 1 TD.
Tampa Bay wide receiver Scotty Miller (Barrington) has 21 catches for 170 yards and Denver tight end Eric Saubert (Hoffman Estates) has 10 catches for 111 yards and 1 TD.
Christie Returns to Lakers After Illness
Rolling Meadows grad Max Christie missed 3 games with the LA Lakers for COVID-19 health and safety protocols. In the 4 games before the layoff, the 19-year-old Christie averaged 4.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 20 minutes played. Christie had 3 points, a rebound and an assist in 19 minutes against Portland on November 30.
Thanks to you, Marty for this great article. The things that we were able to accomplish with the Saint Viator Golf team over the years was so well documented by you and your colleagues at the old Daily Herald. Just wanted to let you know how much all of your professionalism is and was appreciated.