The towns of Rossville (population 1,217) and Alvin (population 316) are located in far eastern Illinois in eastern and northeastern Vermillion County. Both towns are located along the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. You can read the history and educational past of each individual town and its high school on this site.
The townspeople of both towns began consolidation talks in the late 1940s. In 1948 Alvin began sending their high school aged children to Rossville via a tuition agreement to complete high school. the two towns agreed to a consolidation effort between their school districts in 1951. The two districts would form what would be known as the Rossville-Alvin School District. The high school for Rossville-Alvin was located in Rossville.
Inscription Above Rossville-Alvin School Entrance
Rossville-Alvin HS Entrance 2020
The school district served both communities proudly until the early 2000s. Financial problems and falling enrollment led to the demise of Rossville-Alvin High School. It was decided in 2005 to close the Rossville-Alvin High School. The high school-aged students, upon graduating from Rossville-Alvin Grade School, originally had their choice of attending Hoopeston Area or Bismarck-Henning high schools. In 2018 Rossville-Alvin residents reached an agreement with Bismarck-Henning High School to create a cooperative high school. Today all high school-aged students of Rossville-Alvin attend the Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin Cooperative High School in Bismarck.
The fate of the Rossville-Alvin High School building has been provided to us by Penny Lithgow:
“As of Feb. 27, 2009 the former high school building still has an office for a secretary for the Rossville-Alvin Elementary School. The high school Agriculture class still holds classes there as well as FFA meetings and functions for both Hoopeston and Bismarck high school students.
Also, the former high school building is the home of non-for-profit Mustard Seed Christian Daycare that has approximately 25-30 students enrolled with 6 staff members.
The elementary grade school students still eat lunch and breakfast in the high school building cafeteria. C.A.R.E. holds classes for pre-kindergarden children in the north part of the building. There’s open gym for basketball playing for anyone who wishes one day a week in the winter months.
An exciting fact is that the Hoopeston Area Cornjerkers high school boys basketball team, which has former Rossville-Alvin students on the team, came out in Bobcat black, red and white uniforms and played a game against Schlarman on Feb 10, 2009 in the former Rossville-Alvin high school gym!
My daughter is the Director of the Mustard Seed Christian Daycare who also attended and graduated from Rossville-Alvin HS. My son was a Freshman when the school closed. My other son attended and graduated from R-AHS.”
In 2020 the former Rossville-Alvin high school building serves as the Rossville-Alvin Grade School.
Rossville-Alvin High School Quick Facts
Year opened: 1951
Year closed: 2005
School nickname: the “Bobcats”
School colors: Red, Black, & White
School Fight Song: “On Rossville-Alvin”
Sung to “On Wisconsin”
ATHLETICS
Rossville-Alvin High School offered many sports for both boys and girls. The girls competed in golf, cross country, volleyball, basketball, softball, and track. The boys competed in golf, cross country, baseball, basketball, football, and track.
The Bobcats competed in the following conferences, in historical order:
Red Warrior
East Central
East Okaw
Sangamon Valley
Vermilion Valley
Special Thanks to former R-AHS Coach Kevin Thomas for providing this information!!
FOOTBALL
Rossville-Alvin Football Field 2016
Rossville-Alvin HS Football Scoreboard
The Rossville-Alvin football team has the most extensive history listed on the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org). Season by season coverage is available for every team from 1965 until the end of the school’s existence in the spring of 2005. There were some great ones at RAHS as well. The 1989-90 team sticks out as the most successful. This group followed an 8 – 1 regular season with two wins in the playoffs before losing in the quarterfinals (an Elite 8 appearance!). The best of the Rossville-Alvin HIgh School grid iron seasons are listed below.
1968-69 5 – 3 Coach Clinton Goodin
1969-70 6 – 3 Coach Bill Spencer
1970-71 5 – 4 Coach Norton Spencer
1973-74 6 – 3 Coach Mike Whitaker
1974-75 6 – 3 Coach Mike Whitaker
1975-76 5 – 4 Coach Mike Whitaker
1982-83 6 – 3 Coach Dave McDonald
1983-84 6 – 3 Coach Dave McDonald
1986-87 5 – 4 Coach Dave McDonald
1987-88 6 – 3 Coach Dave McDonald
1989-90 10 – 2 IHSA Class 1A Playoff Qualifier Coach Dave McDonald
ELITE 8 FINALIST
Beat Atwood-Hammond 36 – 6
Beat Bement 20 – 6
Lost to Arcola 30 – 6
1994-95 6 – 3 Coach Dave McDonald
Some of the great football players at Rossville-Alvin include Scott Dunavan and Ryan Cox. Dunavan set a school record with a receiving average (per reception) of 27.7, and in the process caught 13 passes for 300 yards. Cox set a school record with four interceptions in their second round playoff game on November 4, 1989 against Bement.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball program is well recorded but only for the years of 1976-77 through 1987-88. Nancy Cox led the lady netters to a twelve year record of 114 – 91, a .556 winning %!. Coach Cox’ best seasons are listed below.
1976-77 3 – 3 Coach Nancy Cox
1977-78 8 – 8 Coach Nancy Cox
1979-80 13 – 5 Coach Nancy Cox
1980-81 14 – 3 Coach Nancy Cox
1985-86 17 – 7 Coach Nancy Cox
1986-87 17 – 6 Coach Nancy Cox
Rossville-Alvin Gym Side View 2020
Rossville-Alvin Gym Entrance 2020
Boys Basketball
The Rossville-Alvin boys basketball team brought nome some hardware from the State Tournament. The boys won Regional titles in 1960 and 1969 in the old one-class system. Unfortunately the records of these two teams are not currently available. They also had some nice seasons recorded along the way. Some of the great Rossville-Alvin players in the late 1980’s to the early 2000’s were Joshua Sroufek, Dylan Alt, Ryan Cox and Todd Becicka.
1951-52 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to East Lynn 66-44
East Lynn beat Armstrong in title game.
1952-53 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston 55-51
Cissna Park beat Watseka in title game
1953-54 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Armstrong 52-38
Semi-final lost to Watseka 71-62
Hoopeston beat Watseka in title game
1954-55 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Armstrong 66-42
Semi-final lost to Potomac 67-53
Potomac beat Cissna Park in title game
1955-56 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Watseka 82-48
Potomac beat Armstrong in title game
1956-57 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston 46-42
Cissna Park beat Watseka in title game
1957-58 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Bismarck 42-40
Cissna Park beat Watseka in title game
1958-59 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Bismarck 47-40
Semi-final lost to Watseka 55-54
Watseka beat Armstrong in title game
1959-60 Hoopeston Regional Champs Coach Max Swinford
1960-61 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Watseka 42-40
Semi-final lost to Hoopeston 50-42
Sheldon beat Hoopeston in title game.
1961-62 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Cissna Park 51-49
Sheldon beat Watseka in title game
1962-63 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Cissna Park 66-48
Watseka beat Cissna Park in title game
1963-64 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston 85-41
Hoopeston beat Milford in title game
1964-65 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Sheldon 57-51
Semi-final lost to Milford 54-49
Hoopeston beat Milford in title game.
1965-66 Rossville Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Watseka 110-78
Armstrong beat Watseka in title game
1966-67 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to St. Anne 83-62
St. Anne beat Hoopeston in title game
1967-68 Watseka Regional Runner-Up Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Armstrong 59-57
Semi-final Beat Donovan 56-44
Title Game lost to Bismarck-Henning 57-54
1968-69 Rossville Regional Champs Coach Keith Baldwin
1st Rd Beat Donovan 84-36
Semi-Final Beat Potomac 60-35
Title Game Beat Bismarck-Henning 42-38
Urbana Sectional Tournament
1st Rd lost to Champaign Central 63-37
Champaign Central beat Clifton Central in title game
1969-70 Hoopeston Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Hoopeston 35-33
Semi-final lost to St. Anne 68-66
St. Anne Beat Bismarck-Henning in title game.
1970-71 Watseka Regional Tourney Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Watseka 71-63
Cissna Park beat Bismarck-Henning in title game
1971-72 Bismarck Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Danville Schlarman 93-38
Schlarman beat Potomac in title game.
1972-73 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Armstrong 77-67
Schlarman beat Hoopeston in title game.
1973-74 Bismarck Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Armstrong 62-56
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Schlarman in title game.
1974-75 Hoopeston Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Armstrong 73-59
Oakwood beat Hoopeston-East Lynn in title game
1975-76 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost (score needed)
Oakwood beat Hoopeston in title game
1976-77 Bismarck Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Oakwood 77-54
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Schlarman in title game
1977-78 Hoopeston Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Oakwood 88-62
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Schlarman in title game
1978-79 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 83-58
Oakwood beat Bismarck-Henning in title game
1979-80 17 – 11 Bismarck ‘A’ Reg. Runner-Up Coach Ken Crawford
1st Rd Beat Wellington 59-47
Semi-Final Beat Hoopeston 75-51
Title Game lost to Schlarman 75-57
1980-81 15 – 9 Danville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach Ken Crawford
1st Rd Beat Armstrong 57-54
Semi-Final lost to SCHLARMAN 59-52
Schlarman beat Hoopeston-East Lynn in title game
1981-82 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 75-44
Schlarman beat Hoopeston-East Lynn in title game
1982-83 Hoopeston Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 60-48
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Schlarman in title game
1983-84 Armstrong Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Wellington 45-41
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Schlarman in title game
1984-85 Bismarck Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Bismarck-Henning 65-61 (3 O/Ts)
Semi-Final lost to Schlarman 58-48
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Schlarman in title game
1985-86 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Schlarman 65-47
Semi-Final lost to Hoopeston-East Lynn 65-43
Hoopeston-East Lynn beat Armstrong in title game
1986-87 Danville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston-East Lynn 79-61
Oakwood beat Hoopeston-East Lynn in title game
1987-88 Hoopeston Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 90-60
Schlarman beat Bismarck-Henning in title game
1988-89 Armstrong Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd Beat Potomac 94-58
Semi-Final lost to Schlarman 96-67
Schlarman beat Armstrong in title game
1989-90 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 96-65
Oakwood beat Hoopeston-East Lynn in title game
1990-91 Danville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost (score needed)
Armstrong beat Oakwood in title game.
1991-92 Hoopeston Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston-East Lynn 89-54
Armstrong-Potomac beat Bismarck-Henning in title game
1992-93 Bismarck Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 52-48
Bismarck-Henning beat Oakwood in title game
1993-94 Armstrong Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed.
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston Area 93-41
Armstrong-Potomac beat Oakwood in title game
1994-95 15 – 12 Rossville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach Kevin Thomas
1st Rd Beat Cissna Park 54-47
Semi-Final lost to Milford 76-37
Bismarck-Henning beat Milford in title game
1995-96 Danville Class ‘A’ Regional Coach Kevin Thomas
1st Rd lost to Hoopeston Area 57-51
Bismarck-Henning beat Schlarman in title game
1996-97 Bismarck Class ‘A’ Regional Coach Kevin Thomas
1st Rd lost to Schlarman 61-52
Milford beat Schlarman in title game
1999-00 15 – 13 Coach Kevin Thomas
Rossville-Alvin Basketball Statistics “By The Numbers”
545 – School record for most three-point shots attempted, held by Dylan Alt.
210 – School record for most three-point shots made, also held by Dylan.
162 – Consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal made. This streak lasted from the eighth game of the 1994 season until the eighth game of the 2002 season.
28 – Free throw attempts by Todd Becicka in a game against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley on January 16, 2004. He made 24 of 28.
16 – Three-point shots attempted by Dylan Alt in a January 3, 1996 game against Donovan. He was 10 of 16 from behind the arc.
9 – Three-point shots made by Ryan Cox in a December 5, 1989 game against Urbana University, a record he would hold until Alt’s 10 made in 1996.
.561 – The field goal percentage put forth by Joshua Sroufek from 1997-2001, the best in school history. He was 472 of 842 overall.
Coach Ken Crawford coached R-AHS from the 1977-78 season through the 1980-81 season. He then went to Teutopolis and retired after the 2006-07 school year, becoming a Hall of Fame coach. At Teutopolis and has a career record of 490-158 through the 1999-2000 school year.
Another RAHS coach, Keith Baldwin, began his coaching career at R-AHS and also had success at Ridge Farm and Watseka High Schools, accumulating a record of 476-233.
From Dr. Rodney Merkle:
“Rossville-Alvin High School hosted the holiday (Christmas) tournament from the late 1960s to the 1990s. It was at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s with usually 16 teams playing over a 3 day period. During its era it was one of the premier class A tournaments in the state. Some of the notable players who played in this annual classic included: Rick Schmidt of St. Joseph-Ogden later University of Illinois; John Timmons, Harry Gudeman, and Scott Eells of Hoopeston ( Indiana University (32- 0) national champions); Brian Moore and Monte Hazelbaker of Oakwood; Jeff Slavik and Scott Finet of Westville; Charlie McCloud of Georgetown; John Gooding, Rich Gross, and Ken Laffoon (all four year starters) from Sheldon; Jeff Jacob, Rod and Tim Wyss of Cissna Park (state scoring leader in 1981-1982 later played at Eastern Il. and Northwestern); Kevin Root, Greg Matta and Thad Matta (current Head Coach of the 2005-2006 of The Ohio State Buckeyes) of Hoopeston; Tab Carmien (univ. of Ill. football) and Lance Freeman of St. Joe-Ogden; Stu Selock of Beecher; and David Chandler of Chrisman. There were many other outstanding players that could be mentioned and I encourage others to add the names that I overlooked. There were many Illinois Basketball Coaches who became legends who lead their teams. Some of the Coaches include: Randy Feller-Hoopeston, Jack Hardy-Westville, and Roger Beals-Chrisman. The bottom line is that Rossville-Alvin High School did an outstanding job of hosting this great East-Central Illinois Event. There was tremendous fan support and excitement at a time before cable tv during the holiday season.”
From James E. Bryant:
“I echo Mr. Merckle’s comments regarding the Rossville-Alvin Tournament. I was a regular attendee at many of those prestigious tournaments from my early childhood on until its later demise. In my book Remember Westville, the story of the 1976 Tigers basketball team their hopes, dreams and the season the town can not forget, I talk about how traditional it became for many fans to make the journey north through the wintery Christmas holiday season to watch their beloved Tigers in action against some of the best teams around the east central portion of Illinois. Westville was fortuante to win the 1976 Rossville Tournament that year. The teams that participated in the tournament ranged from as far north as Beecher to as far south as Chrisman. It was regarded in its time as the most competitive Class A tournament in the state of Illinois and was a first class operation that was put together by the people in Rossville. I looked forward every season to this memorable tournament. Its a shame that it had to end.”
To obtain a copy of James Bryant’s book, Remember Westville, go to the web address of www.rememberwestville.com .
Girls Basketball
The Rossville-Alvin Lady Bobcats won a Regional title of their own. Unfortunately the coach’s name and team record of this team is not available. In fact no other team records are available regarding the RAHS girls basketball program. Please e-mail us with any information you might be able to provide.
1994-95 Regional Champions Coach Dave McDonald
Track and Field
The Rossville-Alvin thinclads had some great success on the boys and girls sides. All of the medals won by both the girls and boys teams were won between 1990 and 2002, proving the RAHS talent was strong to the end. Three boys won a total of six medals at the IHSA State Meet while one girl and a girl’s relay team also earned a medal.
Rossville-Alvin Track Curve 2020
Rossville-Alvin Cinder Track Roller 2020
Rossville-Alvin Track Backstretch 2020
Rossville-Alvin Shotput Area 2016
Rossville-Alvin LJ Pit, Goal Post, Scoreboard 2020
Boys Track Medalists
1989-90 Individual Medalist
Tom Gregory 300 Meter Hurdles 6TH Place
1990-91 Individual Medalist
Tom Gregory 110 Meter Hurdles 7TH Place
1996-97 Individual Medalist
David Loschen High Jump 8TH Place
1997-98 Individual Medalist
David Loschen High Jump 5TH Place
1998-99 Individual Medalist
Ryan Andrews 1600 Meter Run 6TH Place
1999-00 Individual Medalist
Ryan Andrews 1600 Meter Run 3RD Place
Girls Track Medalists
1991-92 Individual Medalist
Jane Gregory High Jump 8TH Place
2001-02 Relay Medalists
Relay Team 4 X 200 Meter Relay 3RD Place
Cheerleading
Rossville-Alvin also had an excellent cheerleading program. Kayla Whorrall tells us the girls faired very well in several county-wide competitions. The ladies took first in 2001-02 and again in 2002-03. In 2004-05, the school’s final year, the cheerleading team finished second in the county’s annual competition!
Theatre
The Illinois Theatre Festival is the largest, non-competetive high school theatre festival in the world. It was organized in 1976 by teachers from the Chicago suburbs. This festival is still going strong as they perform at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and Illinois State University every other January. Rossville-Alvin High school participated in this festival in 1989.
Great Teachers
If you went to Rossville-Alvin between the 1970s and 2005, you know who Mr. Ward is. Mr. Ward was not only a great teacher, but an excellent role model for the kids, with a personality that no one could forget!
Searching for More Information
If you have any information regarding the may successes of Rossville-Alvin High School please send us an e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. You can also write to us via real mail at:
