Fast success at new Lincoln-Ways

David Brost remembers the thought well.

A decade ago, he was settling in as the athletic director of the soon-to-open Lincoln-Way East High School. East was splitting off from the original Lincoln-Way, a behemoth of more than 4,600 students in 2000-01, with athletic prowess to match.

"There were a lot of schools licking their chops, thinking they could beat the Lincoln-Ways," Brost recalled. "I thought, ‘Be careful what you wish for.' "

He was right.

In East's first year, the football team made the playoffs - a first in IHSA history - and the softball team won the state Class AA championship.

Not a bad opening act.

"Our other programs looked at what the football team did and went, ‘Wow!' They tried to emulate that," Brost said. "If you have a good football team it just transcends through the whole school."

Fast-forward to fall 2008, and another Lincoln-Way opens - Lincoln-Way North, carved from East's eastern boundary. Last fall, Lincoln-Way West, taking a large part of Lincoln-Way Central's area, opened its doors.

Again, said Brost, came the thought from competitors: "Well, now we've got 'em!"

Not quite.

North's football team won the SouthWest Suburban Red and made the playoffs in 2009, its second season. This year, the Phoenix is 4-0 heading into Saturday's contest at Thornton, a school 109 years older.

Over on the edge of New Lenox, in its second football campaign, Lincoln-Way West also is 4-0, with a road game at Andrew on Friday's docket. Plus, the Warriors' girls volleyball team is 14-1, the only blemish coming in Saturday's Oak Lawn Invitational.

What prompts so much success so soon?

"It starts with the community, the support from it, and the feeder programs," said Matt Lyke, North's athletic director. "And we're fortunate to have great coaches who wanted to be part of a great program."

To say nothing of the players involved.

"The kids are great, too," Lyke said. "We talked to them about building tradition right from the start."

It was more difficult at North and West to win instantly than at East, because they opened with smaller student populations. But with senior classes in the house, the "W's" began piling up, and quickly.

"The first year was not easy," Lyke said. "We told the kids, ‘Get the most out of your opportunities, no matter what the scoreboard says.' "

The Phoenix had state finals qualifiers in some individual sports, including girls track, which got the school noticed. Last year's conference football title campaign included three shutouts, including one of Andrew in Week 9 to win the league gonfalon.

At West, the Warriors would like to emulate that with their first group of seniors. If they beat the Thunderbolts on Friday, West would be 5-0, guaranteed at least a .500 season, virtually assure themselves of a playoff berth and the seniors could crow about a 7-7 career record. (Or 11-11-1, counting a 4-4-1 mark as sophomores in 2008, when West's future seniors played an underclass schedule while attending Central.)

"Obviously, having seniors has helped," football coach Mark Vander Kooi said. "But our coaching staff works extremely hard, including on our weight program and our agility program.

"And we've got a scheme that fits our kids."

Including quarterback Justin Butterfield, quick enough to elude tacklers and able to throw both touch passes and arrows. His 11 touchdown passes in four games lead the Southland.

But there's more to it, and it carries through the Lincoln-Way district.

"It starts at the top," said Vander Kooi, who made Chicago Christian a consistent powerhouse before going West. "Everyone takes great pride in academics and has a work ethic."

Which brings us back to Brost. "Work ethic," rather than crowing about superb facilities or the natural talent of East's best athletes, was mentioned first.

"We have a sign at the football field that says ‘Destination Excellence,' " Brost said. "Our No. 1 priority is academic excellence, and that rigor and work ethic carries over outside our building, to the music program and to athletics."

The Griffins have three state team titles and eight individual championships over their first nine years. That says for the Phoenix and Warriors, the really good days are to come.

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