LHS Athletic Hall of Fame to Induct Newest Members Sunday

The Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome its newest members Sunday with an induction ceremony and reception at .

Basketball standout J.P. Bruzek ('65), Ron Urick ('86) and the 1979-1980 girls basketball team have been selected as the eighth class of inductees for the Hall of Fame, which was established in 2004.

Nominations are accepted every year in three categories: Athlete, Coach and Parent/Community Member. Nominees "must be of good character, reflecting the qualities and ideals set forth in the school's Athletic Code of Conduct," according to the school's website.

were longtime coach Bill Bozue, "super fan" Bob Nona, and athletes Tim Duda ('86), Jeff Festin ('80) and George McDevitt ('83).

Lemont High School provided the following information about this year's honorees:

J.P. Bruzek, Class of 1965

Basketball standout J.P. Bruzek played for Lemont for three seasons (1962-1965), earning numerous accolades along the way. He was named to the All-Fox Valley Conference team as both a junior and senior, and was an honorable mention Little All-State selection and Joliet Herald News all-suburban pick in 1965. He also ranked among the state's top 10 percent in field goal shooting by a post player.

Bruzek also played three seasons of football (1962-1964), catching 25 passes for 307 yards to earn All-Fox Valley Conference and Joliet Herald News all-suburban honors as a tight end. 

He was named "Most Athletic" in his graduating class, and earned a basketball scholarship to Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA, where we played for four seasons. He was a member of the 1968-1969 squad that went 24-5 and a earned a No. 1 national ranking, as well as a NCAA Division II Regional Championship. He was also inducted to the Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ron Urick, Class of 1986

Ron Urick was a member of the United States canoe/kayak team from 1985-1989, and is one of two Lemont High School alumni to represent the United States in the Olympic Games (the other being professional cyclist Christian Vande Velde, who was inducted to the Lemont High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009).

Urick earned several medals during his time on the team, including the silver medal in the 1,000-meter event at the 1986 Canoe/Kayak Pan American Games.

Following his competitive career, Urick attended Northern Michigan University and was part of the United States Olympic Education Center. While at Northern Michigan, he served as a mentor for aspiring Olympians.

Since 1988, he has served on the United States Olympic Committee and Olympic Alumni Association. He was a member of the organization that put together Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics, and currently promotes Olympic sports locally through World Sports Chicago.

1979-1980 Girls Basketball Team

The 1979-1980 girls basketball team finished third in the IHSA Class A tournament—the best in school history. They set a single-season school record for wins (since broken), compiling a 23-6 record while going 8-2 in the Northeast Conference.

The team won regional and sectional titles, becoming the first program in school history to win an IHSA State Series trophy.

The team was coached by future Illinois High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Bill Bozue. Players Brenda Holford, Cheryl Paxson and Marge Sniegowski were all named to the IHSA All-Tournament Second Team. Sniegowski earned Joliet Herald News first-team all-area honors, while Holford was named to the second team, and Paxson and Rita Schulz were cited on the third team.