| Athletics
Fairbury High School faired quite well in the boys sports of basketball, baseball, and track & field. Fairbury High was one of the charter members of the Mid State Conference, which was established in 1949. Fairbury student Margaret Cummins, was given credit for submitting the name for the new conference.
After it’s consolidation with Cropsey, Fairbury-Cropsey won the Mid-State Conference’s sportsmanship award in the 1956-57 school year. The individual accomplishments and best seasons of the kids of Fairbury High as could be researched on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org) are listed below. A blog site also serves as an historical reminder of Fairbury’s athletic history, courtesy of Jim Munz (www.rememberthetartars.blogspot.com).
Boys Baseball
The Fairbury boys baseball team won a total of three District titles. Included was one excellent season in 1939-40 which resulted in a trip to the state playoffs. This was the first state playoffs in Baseball for Illinois! The team record and coach’s name of this team is listed. Unfortunately, the team record and coach’s names of the other two District titlists are not listed.
1936-37 First Season of Baseball Coach’s name needed
1937-38 8- 1 Coach unknown
1939-40 18- 2 District Champions Coach Burdell Smith
Qualified for State Tournament
1941-42 District Champions
1942-43 District Champions
1950-51 6- 3 Mid-State Conf. Champions (6-0) Coach Bob Hainline
Boys Basketball
The Fairbury High School boys had some excellent success on the hardwood as well. The team won two District titles and three Regional titles and also put together a string of four nice seasons before the school was joined by Cropsey. The information as listed on the IHSA web site is listed below, and we invite anyone who has more details about these and other early Tartar teams to contact us.
1920-21 IHSA District Champions Coach Ned Whitesell
District Scores Needed
IHSA State Tourney – Preliminary Round
Lost to Collinsville 21-15
Collinsville lost to Batavia in Elite 8 Round
1921-22 Fairbury District Tournament Coach Ned Whitesell
1st Rd Beat Paxson 27-9
2nd Rd Beat Saunemin 46-19
Semi-final lost to Pontiac 27-24
Pontiac lost to Forrest in title game
Forrest lost to Galesburg in Sectional
1922-23 Postseason scores and record needed. Coach Ned Whitesell
1923-24 Livingston Co. Tourney Champs Coach Ned Whitesell
Postseason scores and record needed.
1924-25 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1925-26
1926-27
1927-28
1928-29
1929-30
1930-31 Livingston Co. Tourney Champs Coach’s name & record needed
Postseason scores needed
1931-32 IHSA District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
District Scores Needed
Danville Sectional Runner-Up
1st Rd Beat Bradley 30-20
Semi-final Beat Fairmount 31-15
Title game lost to Rantoul 15-14
Rantoul lost to Lawrenceville in Elite 8 game
RANTOUL (15): McCulloch 7, Rasmussen 4, Willard 2, Zander 2.
FAIRBURY (14): Hartman 5, King 4, Henderson 3, Bedell 2.
1932-33 Dwight District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Forrest 48-12
2nd Rd beat Flanagan 41-23
Semi-final lost to Pontiac 35-20
Pontiac beat Morris in title game
1933-34 Dwight District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Saunemin 45-14
2nd Rd Beat Cornell 23-19
Semi-final lost to Mazon 26-23
Mazon lost to Dwight in title game
1934-35 Dwight District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Won – Score needed
2nd Rd Beat Reddick 29-26
Semi-final lost to Gardner 19-15
Gardner beat Cullom in title game
1935-36 Gibson City Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Thawville 35-18
Semi-final lost to Paxton 24-20
Paxton beat Strawn in title game
1936-37 Dwight Regional Runner-Up Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Gardner 36-24
Semi-final Beat Kempton 37-25
Title game lost to Dwight 31-20
1937-38 Chenoa Regional Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Early Round Scores Needed
Title Game Beat Normal U-High 30-28
Pontiac Sectional Tournament
1st Rd lost to Toluca 42-29
Toluca lost to Braidwood in semi-final
Braidwood beat Streator in title game
1938-39 Chenoa Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Gridley 19-13
Semi-final lost to Bloomington 24-22
Bloomington beat Normal U-High in title game
Bloomington lost in Sectional
1939-40 Chenoa Regional Runner-Up Coach’s name & record needed
Early Round Scores Needed
Title game lost to Normal 35-27
Normal lost in Sectional
1940-41 Postseason scores, records, and coach’s name needed.
1941-42 Chenoa Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Forrest 36-22
Semi-final lost to Normal U-High 31-29
Normal U-High lost to Normal HS in title game
1942-43 Lexington Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Lexington 46-24
Semi-final lost to Normal32-24
Normal beat Gridley in title game
1943-44 Chenoa Regional Champions Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Gridley 33-26
Semi-final Beat Normal U-High 39-33
Title Game Beat Bloomington Trinity 32-21
Ottawa Sectional Tournament
Semi-final lost to Marseilles 33-30
MARSEILLES (33): R. Coates 15, D. Coates 6, Seaborn 6, Gage 4, Smith 2.
FAIRBURY (30): Wilkin 12, Beckley 9, Dameron 5, Haase 3, Woodward 1.
Marseilles beat Peru St. Bede in title game
Marseilles lost to Anna-Jonesboro in Sweet 16 Rd.
1944-45 26- 5 Corn Belt Conference Co-Champs Coach’s name & record needed
Ranked as high as 13th in State during season
Bob Ziegenhorn, Dale Dameron, Sam Runyon,
Ralph Knopp and Bill Wilken were the starting five.
Lexington Regional Tournament
1st Rd Beat Chenoa 51-20
Semi-final lost to Gridley 38-37
(Gridley hit half court shot at the buzzer for the upset)
Normal U-High beat Gridley in title game
1945-46 Chenoa Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Normal HS 53-32
Normal lost to Normal U-High in title game
1946-47 Lexington Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Chenoa 55-35
Chenoa beat Normal U-High in title game
1947-48 Chenoa Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Chenoa 73-55
Chenoa lost to Normal in title game
1948-49 Lexington Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Normal 48-31
Chenoa beat Normal in title game
1949-50 Lexington Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Normal U-High 70-41
Normal U-High lost to Lexington in title game
1950-51 16-11 Fairbury Regional Tournament Coach Bob Hainline
1st Rd lost to Normal 75-41
Lexington beat Normal in title game
Boys Track & Field
The Fairbury boys could run, jump, and throw as well. The FHS thinclads won one District Championship and brought home six individual medals from the State Track Meet!
1904-05 James B. Walker Shot Put 3rd Place
Standing Broad Jump 2nd Place
1905-06 Harlen B. Bedell Hammer Throw 3rd Place
1925-26 Dean Carter 1 Mile Run 5th Place
1930-31 J. Clifford Henderson 220 Yard Hurdles 2nd Place
1931-32 J. Clifford Henderson 120 Yard Hurdles 5th Place
1931-32 Team Won District Championship
Football
The Faibury High School Tartars won one conference championship before merging with Cropsey. In its final season, the 1950 team was perfect at 9-0 to take the Mid-State Conference title. While it was a member of the Mid-State as either Fairbury or Fairbury-Cropsey, the Tartars sported a conference record of 40-12-2 (.769 winning percentage) from 1949-56!! The better FHS seasons are listed below.
1950-51 9-0 Mid-State Conf. Champs (6-0) Coach Bob Hainline
MEMORIES
from Tom Carter:
“Your basketball records for the 1944-45 Fairbury Township high school Tartars is missing from your records. That team compiled the best record in school history, 26 wins, 5 losses. At one point in the season the team was ranked 13th in the state of Illinois by the Associated Press, which at that time included Chicago schools in the rankings.
“The team tied for first place in the Corn Belt Conference with a 10-2 record. Disaster overtook the team in the regional tournament when they lost 38-37 to Gridley on a last-second shot from center court.
“Bob Ziegenhorn, Dale Dameron, Sam Runyon, Ralph Knopp and Bill Wilken were the starting five. All the above taken from the 1945 school yearbook, The Crier. The figures there-in were supplied by me as kept through the season.”
Need More Information
If you have ANY further information to offer regarding the many accomplishments and achievements made by the students and townspeople of Fairbury and its original High School, please share it with us. School fight song as well as other non-athletic related items are being sought. Photos of teams and prominent individuals tied to Fairbury High’s history would especially be welcome. These items can be e-mailed to us at dr.veeman@gmail.com or real-mailed to us at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva
Chicago, Il. 60631 |
