Highland Park

Top athletes at Highland Park include (front row, from left) Lauren Evans, Emily Tresley, Diane Santallano, Emily Feldman, (back row, from left) AJ Nathan, Anthony Kopp, Eric Manpearl and Leah Holtzman.

Tom Cruze/Sun-Times

June 18, 2009 BY BEN MEYER-ABBOTT

Font Size

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

TOP SPORTS MOMENTS

From down to Downstate

1. Two years after finishing 7-20, coach Paul Harris and guard Joey Paul turned the 2001-02 boys basketball team into state quarterfinalists. Highland Park went 25-6 and had three victories by three points in the state playoffs, including a 41-38 supersectional victory over Barrington. Jason Vismantis, Andy Linton, Matt Greenberg and Scott Schaff also were featured.

Weinert’s fleet feet

2. Jim Weinert won the 1961 boys cross-country individual state championship and paced the Giants to a one-point victory over Glenbard West to claim the state team title. The win came on the heels of Weinert’s state title in the 1961 boys track 1-mile run, a feat he would repeat in 1962. Weinert’s 1961 time (4:16.2) was the fastest for a state final to that point.

First on the fairway

3. In 1940, Manuel de la Torre became the school’s fourth individual state golf champion, and he led the Giants to the school’s first state team title. The Giants won four more state titles between 1947 and 1958, including back-to-back crowns in 1951 and 1952. Before that, brothers Harold (1922) and Richard Martin (1924, 1925) won three individual titles in four years.

Before they were stars

4. Current DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright coached the 1982 boys basketball team to a 20-10 record and its first sectional title. The team was led by Devoine Gibson (13.9 ppg), Bruce Mordini (12.1) and Tom Ivey (11.5). Ivey was recruited by Rick Pitino to Boston University, and sophomore Veltra Dawson eventually became a member of Villanova’s 1985 national championship team.

Advantage Horwitch

5. After losing in the state finals in three sets as a sophomore, Matt Horwitch claimed back-to-back boys tennis singles state titles in 1976 and 1977 — winning each in straight sets. Horwitch went on to play professionally after he won four Big Ten team championships at Michigan and was named an All-American his junior and senior years in college.

WHAT HIGHLAND PARK MEANS TO ME

By Matt Horwitch: A 1977 graduate, he is the chief operating officer for AON Global. He also played college and professional tennis.

I have very fond memories of my time at Highland Park. Whether it was the challenges in the classroom or on the tennis court, the teachers and coaches were willing to give so much of themselves and demanded, in return, that students do the same. During my time at HPHS, I also played in junior tournaments across the country and internationally, and my teachers always made sure I took my books with me. They were genuinely interested in and supportive of me and other students.

John Scornavacco, who would become principal at Highland Park, business teacher Jim Boss, tennis coach Bill Ratliff and teammates Jon Powell, Mike Barr, Jay Warren and Ron Levin all had an incredible impact on me.

Bill was like a second dad to me in high school. He taught me many life lessons — especially that I was always going to be a member of a team. Whether it be your family, at your job or in sports, rarely can someone become successful on his own. There are so many people you have to interact and work with as a team member to achieve success. I took this lesson with me when I played at Michigan, where I was fortunate to be part of four Big Ten title teams and was an All-American my junior and senior years.

Bill was also there to teach me another important lesson after one of my toughest losses. During my sophomore year, I was in position to win the state singles title but blew the match. Afterward, I was sitting on the bench with my head down, and Bill told me that I walked on the court like a winner and that I needed to walk off the same way — with gracious integrity and my head held high.

My junior year, I overcame four match points to win the state title. I repeated as state champion as a senior and owe much of that success to Bill and everyone else within the HPHS community who were so supportive.

NOTABLE ALUMNI

• Follett Bradley: Army major general.

• David Crane: Former United Nations undersecretary general.

• Stephen Glass: Discredited journalist.

• Eric Engberg: Journalist.

• William Goldman: Author, two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter.

• John Grunsfeld: Astronaut, NASA chief scientist.

• Karen Nussbaum: Former women’s bureau director for U.S. Labor Department.

• Jeff Perry: Co-founder of the Steppenwolf Theater.

• Christina Ramberg: Artist.

• Brian Ross: Chief investigative reporter for ABC News.

• David Rudman: Sesame Street puppeteer.