Morgan Park Academy Warriors

Standout student-athletes at Morgan Park Academy include (front row, from left) Asia Lamar, Damon Williams, Katie Sheehy, Nolan Bielinski, Julia Panozzo; (back row, from left) Anna Fitzgerald, Eileen Cullina, Milan Tica, JaMichael Jones and Yazin Akkawi.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)

April 28, 2009 BY MIKE CLARK

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TOP SPORTS MOMENTS

Gridiron glory

1. Morgan Park Academy hasn’t fielded a football team in years, but still boasts a distinguished tradition in the sport. Legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg had a stint at the school, while three alumni — Albert Benbrook, former Notre Dame coach Jesse Harper and Wallace Wade — have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Getting their kicks

2. Led by the scoring of Elias Litos, the Warriors had a great two-year run in boys soccer just a few seasons ago. In 2005, they reached the Class A Elite Eight before falling to Quincy Notre Dame. Then they made it back to state the following season and earned a trophy, beating Warrensburg-Latham in the quarterfinals on the way to a fourth-place finish.

Tracking it down

3. The Warriors’ legacy of track and field success goes back nearly a century. Morgan Park Academy finished fourth in the 1916 Class C state meet, with Joe Baker earning individual championships in the shot put and discus. The school’s most recent state medalist was Joe Lindsey, who sprinted to sixth place in the Class A boys 100-meter dash in 1995.

Net gains

4. Despite being one of Illinois’ smallest schools, Morgan Park Academy has had its share of success in the single-class state tennis tournaments. Barb Zidek finished third in the singles draw in 2002, and MPA has won two girls sectional titles and was eighth in the state in 2002. The boys have one sectional crown as well as an eighth-place state finish in 1946.

Stating their case

5. The Warriors’ best finish in a girls team sport came in 2005, when the volleyball squad — coached by Laura Ingram — went 30-2 and reached the Class A Sweet Sixteen. That began a run of four consecutive girls volleyball regional titles for MPA. The Warriors also won regionals in boys (the program’s first) and girls basketball during this school year.

WHAT MORGAN PARK ACADEMY MEANS TO ME

By Richard Duchossis: Arlington Park’s chairman emeritus, Richard Duchossois is a World War II vet and Chicago Sports Hall of Fame member.

I understand now, but I didn’t then, that those are very formative years. They taught me discipline, how to work together.

I was in the ROTC program at Morgan Park Academy. When World War II broke out, they dropped the enlistment age. I had that ROTC certificate, and I went right into the military as a second lieutenant.

The discipline and military training and so forth that I had at the academy just shoved me right up through the ranks. If I didn’t have that from Morgan Park Academy, I would be lost. As far as teachers, everyone remembered Capt. Gray. He was our math instructor. He pounded it into us: ‘‘Either learn or get out.’’

I was small. I played lightweight football my senior year, but I got hurt and couldn’t move up to the varsity. But I got a letter.

I also ran track, the 100 and 220. You sort of went out for the sports that you could fit into whatever time period you had available. Baseball and track were at the same time. I wasn’t very good at baseball; I was better at track.

In a smaller school like Morgan Park Academy, you have many friends you know well. In a larger school, you have many acquaintances, but few friends.

A private military academy, or any small private school, you would take in a lot more than in any larger school — particularly for a guy like me, who needed to be pushed. The school was just part of our whole life, military and athletic.

One thing about the academy, they teach you to be an American citizen, so you know what’s going on. I see college kids who don’t know what we had at Morgan Park Academy.

NOTABLE ALUMNI

• Albert Benbrook: Two-time All-American, member of College Football Hall of Fame.

• Patrick Bertoletti: Internationally ranked competitive eater.

• Richard Duchossois: Arlington Park chairman emeritus, member of Chi-cago Sports Hall of Fame.

• Edward C. Eicher: Member of Congress, U.S. district judge.

• Jesse Harper: Notre Dame football and basketball coach, College Football Hall of Famer.

• Maestro Harrell: Professional singer and actor.

• Don Hayner: Sun-Times editor in chief.

• Arthur Hummel Sr.: Noted missionary to China.

• Steven Rosengard: Fashion designer who was on ‘‘Project Runway.’’

• Wallace Wade: Coached Alabama football to three national titles, namesake of Duke’s Wade Stadium, member of College Football Hall of Fame.

MORGAN PARK ACADEMY BY THE NUMBERS