Chicago Heights Bloom Trail “Trail Blazers”

The History of Chicago Heights Bloom Trail High School

Chicago Heights (population 32,776) is located in the southern suburban area of Chicago, which is 22 miles to the north. The Indiana border is within 10 miles of Chicago Heights, which can be reached by using Interstate 57, US 30, and Illinois 1.

The community’s origin can be traced back to the 1830’s when farmer Absalom Wells built his cabin in an area known as Thorn Creek, but it wasn’t until the early 1890’s that there was a movement to create a community to the south of the “big city” as developer Charles Wacker and others lured Inland Steel to locate there and Chicago Heights started to take off. People of different nationalities relocated there and by 1920, over 19,600 people lived there.

The community was home to around-the-clock plants that produced steel, war, and chemical products during World War II, and the Ford Motor Company decided to locate a plant there in the 1950’s. Chicago Heights had over 40,900 residents in 1970, but has declined due to plant closings to its current population and there has been revitalization of urban renewal along with stabilization in the workforce to hold off the decline.

Bloom Trail was started in the 1964-65 school year as the home of freshmen students from Bloom Township High School, then expanded the new school year to house freshmen and sophomores as the population swelled. This forced the school district to institute a split-day schedule for classes at both buildings.

There is a little confusion as to what year Bloom Trail actually became its own school. According to the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org), two sports are shown to have offered in the 1975-76 school year at the school. But on the Bloom Trail site (www.bloomtrail.org) thru Bloom Township High School, it was stated “…in the fall of 1976, following a successful building bond referendum, Bloom School District had two four-year schools. Bloom Trail was then born.”

The first graduating class from Bloom Trail in 1977 had 348 students, all of which made the choice to graduate from there after being at Bloom Township the year before. There were 27 more graduations with over 10,000 alumni before the school board decided to merge the two schools back together under the name Bloom Township in 2003. Bloom Trail remains open but is considered another campus for the main school in the district that it serves. All athletics and extra-curricular activities are now held under the Bloom Township banner.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CHICAGO HEIGHTS BLOOM TRAIL HS

School opened: 1976

School closed: 2003

Now part of: Bloom Township High School

School colors: Navy Blue & Old Gold

School nickname: Trail Blazers

School song: unknown

ATHLETICS

Bloom Trail offered numerous sports for its co-ed enrollment. The boys had their choice from football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, track, cross-country, golf, swimming, gymnastics, and soccer. For the girls, they could play volleyball, basketball, badminton, track, cross-country, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, softball, and tennis. According to the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org), there is no record that shows whether or not the school offered other sports or activities. Anyone who has proof is encouraged to submit the information at dr.veeman@gmail.com.

BOYS’ TRACK

The Trail Blazers were known in the state as a formidable team, taking home several first place medals and finishing in the top three at the state AA meet twice in a three-year span. Coach John Collet helped bring recognition to the program, which went 33-1 in dual and triangular meets over a five-year period in the first half of the 1980’s. Here are some of the highlights for the oval track stars of Bloom Trail:

1978 5-3 Team Medalist Coach John Collet

440-yard relay–6^th place

Individual Medalist

Greg Newquist–7^th place–High jump

1979 Team Medalists Coach John Collet

1-mile relay–2^nd place

880-yard relay–8^th place

1980 6-0 Individual Medalist Coach John Collet

Scott Gillespie–6^th place–200-meter dash

1981 6-0 Coach John Collet

1982 8-0 District Champions Coach John Collet

Team Medalists

1600-meter relay–3^rd place

800-meter relay–7^th place

400-meter relay–8^th place

Individual Medalists

Fred Barnes–7^th place–Long Jump

Clifton Franklin–6^th place–100-meter high hurdles

David Neal–8^th place–100-meter dash

Chico Rigdon–8^th place—Discus

1983 7-1 Sectional Champions Coach John Collet

Second in AA State Finals!!!!

1 East St. Louis Lincoln 49

2 Chicago Heights Bloom Trail 46

3 Waukegan East 30

4 Chicago Kenwood 29

5 Danville HS 28

6 Wheaton North 21

Chicago Tilden 21

8 Oak Park-River Forest 19

9 Arlington Heights St. Viator 16

10 Downers Grove South 15

Team Medalists

1600-meter relay—STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

800-meter relay—3^rd place

400-meter relay—4^th place

Individual Medalists

Ernest Burr—2^nd place—100-meter high hurdles

7^th place—triple jump

Clifton Franklin—2^nd place—300-meter hurdles

3^rd place—100-meter high hurdles

Ed Spila—8^th place—shotput

1984 6-0 SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS Coach John Collet

Individual Medalist

Leonard Vance–5^th place–triple jump

1985 SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS Coach John Collet

Third in AA State Finals!!!

1 East St. Louis Senior 40

2 Elmhurst York 39

3 Chicago Heights Bloom Trail 36

4 Harvey Thornton 29

5 Chicago Mt. Carmel 26

6 Zion-Benton 25

7 Rock Island HS 24

8 Peoria Central 20

9 Danville HS 18

Oak Park-River Forest 18

Team Medalists

400-meter relay—STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

800-meter relay—2^nd place

Individual Medalists

Aaron Mayo—STATE CHAMPION!!!—100-meter dash

2nd place—200-meter dash

1986 Individual Medalist Coach John Collet

Chris Heidt—6^th place—3200-meter run

1987 4-2-1 Individual Medalist Coach Bob Stevens

Edward Williams—5^th place—100-meter hurdles

1988 Team Medalist Coach Joe Skowronski

400-meter relay—6^th place

Individual Medalist

Makeba Wolfe—8^th place—triple jump

1989 7-3 Individual Medalist Coach Joe Skowronski

Cordell Drake—5^th place—300-meter hurdles

1990 Individual Medalist Coach Joe Skowronski

Fletcher Davis—3^rd place—triple jump

1991 Individual Medalist Coach Joe Skowronski

Daniel Wilson—5^th place—100-meter high hurdles

1993 Individual Medalist Coach Joe Skowronski

James Moore—STATE CHAMPION!!!—long jump

OUTSTANDING JOB BY THE TRAIL BLAZER THINCLADS!!!!

WRESTLING

In the winter months, Bloom Trail’s grapplers had plenty of success from the first year that the school was open, eventually having a team champion and two individuals win their weight classes at the state meet, along with three second-place finishes.

1975-76 10-3-1 Coach Mike Fendley

1976-77 14-2 Individual Medalist Coach Ron Ray

Walter Futrell—STATE CHAMPION!!!—119 lbs

1977-78 12-5 Individual Medalist Coach Ron Ray

Harold Moore—6^th Place—145 lbs

1978-79 12-4 District Champions Coach Ron Ray

1979-80 20-1 District Champions Coach Ron Ray

Sectional Champions

Finished Ninth at AA State Finals

1 Addison Trail 62.5

2 Maywood Proviso East 61

3 Moline 58

4 Oak Lawn Richards 52

5 Rockford Jefferson 49.5

6 Belleville West 40

Waukegan East 40

8 Machesney Park Harlem 38

9 Chicago Hts. Bloom Trail 37

10 Oak Lawn Community 36.5

Individual Medalists

Lenal Brinson—5^th place—105 lbs

Carl Davis—5^th place—167 lbs

1980-81 14-4 District Champions Coach Ron Ray

Sectional Champions

Individual Medalist

James Irons—2^nd place–Heavyweight

1981-82 15-4 STATE CHAMPIONS!!! Coach Ron Ray

District Champions

Sectional Champions

1 Chicago Hts. Bloom Trail 72.5

2 Carol Stream Glenbard North 61.5

3 Waukegan East 60.5

4 Bethalto Civic Memorial 58.5

5 New Lenox Lincoln-Way 52.5

6 Wheaton North 46.5

7 Belleville West 42

8 Maywood Proviso East 41

9 Hoffman Estates HS 40

10 Joliet West 39

1982-83 10-8 Individual Medalists Coach Ron Ray

James Irons—STATE CHAMPION!!!—Heavyweight

Chris McFarland—2^nd place—145 lbs

Reginald Wilson—2^nd place—155 lbs

1983-84 Regional Champions Coach Ron Ray

1987-88 9-1 Coach Gabe Damiani

1988-89 11-5 Coach Tom Tong

1989-90 10-8 Regional Champions Coach Tom Tong

Individual Medalist

Stanley Johnson—6^th place—189 lbs

1990-91 12-7 Coach Tom Tong

1991-92 11-8 Coach Tom Tong

1992-93 11-7 Coach Tom Tong

IMPRESSIVE WORK BY THE TRAIL BLAZER MAT MEN!!!

GIRLS’ TRACK

Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the Lady Trail Blazers were in the top 10 AA teams four consecutive years from 1980-83, three of them were in the top four with a second place finish in 1982 along with five of the six first places recorded by Bloom Trail female track athletes at the state finals.

1976 First season Coach Marsha Ulmer

State AA Meet Medalists

1 mile relay 4th place

880 yard relay 6th place

Diane Emmons–220 yard dash 7th place

1977 8-0 Coach Marsha Ulmer

State AA Meet Medalists

880 yard medley relay 6th place
Diane Emmons–220 yard dash STATE CHAMPION!!!

1978 8-0 Coach Marsha Ulmer

State AA Meet Medalist

Kathy Vicari–880 yard run 3rd place

1979 5-1 Coach Joyce Feleky

State AA Meet Medalist

880 yard relay 7th place

Sherry Giarusso–220 yard hurdles 6th place

Dorthea Brown–long jump 4th place

1980 4-1 Took 7TH @ State AA meet Coach Joyce Feleky

1 East St. Louis Lincoln 61.5

2 Chicago South Shore 45

3 East St. Lous Senior 35.5

4 Joliet West 29

5 North Chicago 25

6 Evanston 23

7 Chicago Hts. Bloom Trail 22

8 Downers Grove North 18

Wheaton North 18

10 Oak Lawn 15.5

State AA Meet Medalists

400 meter relay 2nd place

800 meter relay 3rd place

Dorthea Brown–long jump 2nd place

Pam Brown—100 high hurdles 4th place

1981 6-1 4th in AA State Meet Coach Sue Carr

1 Chicago South Shore 52

2 East St. Louis Lincoln 48

3 East St. Louis Senior 44

4 Chicago Hts. Bloom Trail 35

5 Blue Island Eisenhower 29

6 Country Club Hills Hillcrest 24

7 Addison Trail 23

8 Park Ridge Maine East 18

9 Harvey Thornton 17

10 Glen Ellyn Glenbard West 16

Joliet West 16

Moline HS 16

State AA Meet Medalists

800 relay—STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

Dorthea Brown–long jump STATE CHAMPION!!!
100 meter dash 4th Place

Sharon Green–100 meter dash 5th Place

200 meter dash 3rd Place

Pam Hall–100 meter high hurdles 6th Place

Kathy Vicari–800 meter run STATE CHAMPION!!!

1982 9-6 District Champions Coach Sue Carr

2ND IN AA STATE MEET

1 East St. Louis Lincoln 67

2 Chicago Hts. Bloom Trail 57

3 Chicago South Shore 41

4 East St. Louis Senior 35

5 Harvey Thornton 23

6 Joliet West 20

7 Crete-Monee 19

8 Rock Island HS 18

9 Chicago Hyde Park 16

Evergreen Park 16

State Final AA Medalists

400 relay–STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

800 relay–6th place

1600 relay–5th place

Dorthea Brown–long jump STATE CHAMPION!!!

100 meter dash 3rd place

Sharon Brown–100 meter dash 2nd place

200 meter dash 3rd place

long jump 2nd place

Sabrina Harper–200 hurdles 7th place

Annette Masselli–800 meters 6th place

1983 4TH @ STATE AA MEET Coach Sue Carr

1 East St. Louis Lincoln 71

2 East St. Louis Senior 53

3 Chicago South Shore 51

4 Chicago Hts. Bloom Trail 22

5 Harvey Thornton 20

Romeoville 20

Urbana HS 20

Olympia Fields Rich Central 20

9 Schaumburg HS 19

10 South Holland Thornwood 18

State Finals AA Medalists

800 meter relay–2nd place

800 medley relay–7th place

Sharon Green–100 dash 6th place

200 dash 8th place

long jump 2nd place

1984 Coach Sue Carr

State Finals AA Medalists

1600 meter relay 4th place

Sabrina Harper–100 high hurdles 8th place

Annette Masselli–800 meters 7th place

1987 Coach Sue Carr

State Finals AA Medalists

800 medley relay 5th place

Gail Malone–100 meter dash 3rd place

200 meter dash 3rd place

Kim Petty–long jump 4th place

1991 Coach Dennis Carrabine

State Finals AA Medalist

Tameka Gordon–shotput 4th place

1995 Coach Jim Hayden

State Finals AA Medalist

Roslyn Turner–long jump 4th place

VOLLEYBALL

Bloom Trail was a respectable team around the nets during the 1980’s. Joe Skowronski’s Lady Blazers won three AA regional titles and 214 matches during his 15-year tenure on the BT bench.

1976-77 First season Coach Penny Chamberlaind

1977-78 Coach Pam Wallace

1979 Coach Sharon LeBrun

1981 11-11 Coach Joe Skowronski

1982 16- 7 Regional Champs Coach Joe Skowronski

1983 24- 3 Coach Joe Skowronski

1986 12-11 Coach Joe Skowronski

1987 16-10 Coach Joe Skowronski

1988 18- 4 Regional Champs Coach Joe Skowronski

1989 27-11 Regional Champs Coach Joe Skowronski

1991 25-11 Coach Joe Skowronski

1994-95 Coach Linda Connor-Bolden

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

The Trail Blazers played a good game of hoops while being a member of the SICA (Suburban Inter-Conference Association), taking on the likes of Bloom, Rich Central, Rich East, Rich South, and Crete-Monee. One team even made it to the Elite Eight of the state AA tournament before bowing out. Here’s a look at some of the better teams in school history:

1976-77 14-12 (first season) Coach Don Roux

1977-78 14-13 Coach Don Roux

1979-80 15-12 Coach Pete McGuire

1983-84 17- 9 Coach Gary Meyer

1984-85 24- 5 Regional Champs Coach Gary Meyer

1985-86 24- 4 Regional Champs Coach Gary Meyer

1986-87 17-10 Coach Gary Meyer

1987-88 21-10 ELITE 8 IN AA STATE Coach Gary Meyer

REGIONAL CHAMPS

SECTIONAL CHAMPS

Beat Joliet Catholic 58-56 in Aurora East Supersectional

Lost to Rock Island 69-52 in AA quarterfinals

1988-89 14-12 Coach Gary Meyer

2002-03 24- 5 Coach Gary Meyer

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Throughout the history of the school. Bloom Trail’s girls could hoop it up. Even though there were no trophies in IHSA state tournament play, the school was competitive on the hardwood. The best seasons in school history are highlighted below.

1976-77 First season Coach Pam Wallace

1977-78 11- 7 Coach Ray Thornton

1978-79 13- 7 Coach Ray Thornton

1979-80 21- 2 Coach Ray Thornton

1980-81 Coach Otis Watkins

1981-82 13-10 Coach Tony Kennedy

1982-83 15- 8 Coach Tony Kennedy

1983-84 Coach Tony Kennedy

1984-85 13- 6 Coach Tony Kennedy

1985-90 Coach Tony Kennedy

1990-92 Coach Willie Wraggs

1992-93 12-12 Coach Willie Wraggs

1993-94 17-10 Coach Willie Wraggs

1994-95 14-12 Coach Willie Wraggs

2002-03 Final season Coach Sean Bean

One Lady Blazer was named All-State during her career. Oteria Stampley was a second-team All-State pick of the Chicago Tribune in 1978.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Two boys from Bloom Trail earned All-State honors by placing in the top 25 at the IHSA State Meet.

1985AA Chris Heldt 4TH Place
1992AA Tim Sauceda 25TH Place

GIRLS GYMNASTICS

The Lady Trail Blazers were competitive on the parallel bars, vault, rings, and in floor exercises with some success after starting out slow.

1975-78 First seasons Coach Alexis Kneeland

1978-79 9- 3 Coach Pat Moore

1979-80 Coach Del Mach

1980-81 8- 3 Coach Del Mach

1981-82 13- 3 (outstanding record!) Coach Del Mach

1982-83 9- 3 Coach Del Mach

1984-85 8- 4 Coach Del Mach

1985-86 11- 4 Coach Del Mach

1986-88 Coach Del Mach

SOFTBALL

The Lady Trail Blazers had several successful seasons on the diamonds with several winning records and a AA regional title to boot. Their best seasons are listed below.

1976 First season Coach Pam Wallace

1977 7- 7 Coach Pam Wallace

1979 12- 2 Coach Pam Wallace

1980 11- 5 Coach Pam Wallace

1983 11-10 Coach Ernest Turner

1985 16- 8 Coach Ernest Turner

1986 13-12 Coach Ernest Turner

1987 15-12 Coach Ernest Turner

1989 15-12 Coach Ernest Turner

1991 27- 5 Coach Ernest Turner

1992 26- 5 AA Regional Champions Coach Ernest Turner

1994 17-10 Coach Linda Connor-Bolden

2003 22-12-1 Coach Mark Anderson

GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY

Bloom Trail “blazed” it’s way across hill and dale in the fall as a competitive entity to ready its long-distance types for track & field. As you can probably tell, some of the same names that coached the track teams also coached cross-country for the school.

1977 First season Coach Bob Stevens

1978-81 Coach John Collet

1982 6- 6 Coach Bob Stevens

1983-88 Coach Bob Stevens

1989-92 Coach Jim Hayden

1993 4- 3 Coach Jim Hayden

1994 Coach Jim Hayden

GIRLS TENNIS

The Lady Blazers began offering their net program from the first fall that the school was offered with some success. The most wins the program had as a team was five during the 1977 season under coach Emily Means-Willis, and four under Terri Lacy in 1979 along with Ralph Kwilosz’ team in 1993.

1976-78 Coach Emily Means-Willis

1979 Coach Terri Lacy

1980-83 Coach Myrna Hill

1984-94 Coach Ralph Kwilosz

GIRLS SWIMMING

Bloom Trail offered this sport as well in the fall for the girls. Between 1976-95, the IHSA website shows that the program under seven coaches, and had just three team victories.

1976-78 Coach Joan Gamble

1979-82 Coach Larry Loven

1983 Coach Pete Lira

1984 Coach Bill Tucker

1985 Coach Larry Loven

1986-87 Coach Patty Schmipf

1988-95 Coach Lisa Freedman-Hester

BASEBALL

The Trail Blazers took to the field each season and competed with other South Suburban schools. No IHSA hardware was won by the school at the state tournament level in baseball while the school was open as Bloom Trail.

1977-79 Coach Ernie Turner

1980 14-14 Coach Ernie Turner

1981-82 Coach Len Motta

1983-84 Coach Pete Lira

1985-88 Coach Bill Tucker

1989-92 Coach Bert Michael

1993-94 Coach Ron Peterson

1995 15-14 Coach Ron Peterson

2003 19-16-1 Coach Job Gunderson

GIRLS SOCCER

Even though their records are few, Bloom Trail did offer soccer to its girls. Sue Garcia was coach from 1988-95 and the IHSA website reports that two win-loss records were reported…3-13-1 in 1990 and 3-14 in 1994.

GOLF

The Trail Blazers took to the links and came home with some success, although there were no medalists or teams that placed at the state AA meets.

1976-79 Coach Al Versypt

1980 7-1-1 (good record) Coach Al Versypt

1981 5-4 Coach Al Versypt

1982 9-3 (good record) Coach Don Croarkin

1983-87 Coach Don Croarkin

1988 7-7 Coach Don Croarkin

1989 7-5-1 Coach Don Croarkin

1990-91 Coach Don Croarkin

1992 9-7 Coach Gary Meyer

1993 8-7-1 Coach Gary Meyer

1994 10-7 Coach Gary Meyer

GIRLS BADMINTON

Bloom Trail’s girls were offered the chance to compete with the racket and shuttlecock during the spring, but only three seasons were found on the IHSA website. Don Denham was the head coach from 1975-78 as the Lady Trail Blazers were winless in 27 dual meets.

FOOTBALL

Even though the Trail Blazers never did qualify for the IHSA playoffs, they were a competitive team in the SICA. The best of Bloom Trail gridiron seasons follow:

1976 First season Coach Angel Velasquez

1977 6-3 (good record) Coach Angel Velasquez

1978-80 Coach Angel Velasquez

1981-84 Coach Tom Tong

1985-90 Coach Mike Mecozzi

1991 5-4 Coach Mike Mecozzi

1992 Coach Mike Mecozzi

1993-94 Coach Anthony Pietrzak

One Trail Blazer went onto play collegiately and at the professional ranks. Rickey Young went on to star as a linebacker at Oklahoma State, and then spent three seasons in the former United States Football League (USFL) with Michigan and Houston from 1983-85.

BOYS SWIMMING

Bloom Trail offered this winter sport at least from 1977 thru 1994. We have found out that there were three teams won four meets in the winters of 1980-81, 1981-82, & 1990-91. Here’s a list of coaches for the Trail Blazer tankmen:

1977-78 First season Coach Norm Pounder

1978-81 Coach Larry Loven

1981-82 Coach Dawn Fulsa

1982-83 Coach Pete Lira

1983-85 Coach Bill Tucker

1985-88 Coach Patty Schmipf

1988-94 Coach Lisa Freedman

BOYS TENNIS

Bloom Trail was competitive in the spring around the tennis courts, giving its’ student body a choice as to what sport they wanted to go out for (along with baseball and track). The IHSA website shows that the Trail Blazers’ best win-loss record was 5-8 during the spring of 1990, with a pair of four-win seasons in 1983 and 1984.

1977-78 First seasons Coach Ralph Kwilosz

1979-80 Coach Norm Pounder

1981-94 Coach Ralph Kwilosz

WE NEED TO FIND OUT MORE

Can you help us find further information about the history of Bloom Trail High School? If so, we invite you to complete the School Submission form located in the left column of this site. Win-loss records, pictures of the school, great teams, and the words/music to the school song are greatly appreciated. You can also send more to dr.veeman@gmail.com or by regular mail to:

Illinois High School Glory Days

6439 N. Neva

Chicago, IL 60631

Chicago Heights Bloom Trail “Trail Blazers”

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