BOYS BASKETBALL
The team won three District Championships coming in back to back seasons in the mid 1940s.
According to Biggsville Township High School student (Class of 1949) William Lyle Slagle the basketball
program had great success in the mid to late 1940s:
"The boys' basketball coach during the successes of the team at least from 1945 through 1949 was Coach
Stephen F. (Steve) Ingold. He also coached all other sports (football, softball, track).
The basketball team of 1946-1947 won the District and Regional basketball tournaments and advanced to Sectional
and were defeated at the Rock Island H.S. field house by Sherrard High School in the first game. Members of that team were
Phillip Law, James Smith, Hauer Noble, Daryl (Ozzie) Baylor, Paul Allen, and Karl Henry."
1944-45 District
Champions Coach Steve Ingold
1945-46 District
Champions Coach Steve Ingold
1946-47 25 - 5 District Champions
Coach Steve Ingold
Regional
Champions
Lost to Sherrard in 1st Rd.
of Sectional
Regarding the team of 1946-47:
Check out the information provided by Lyle Slagle regarding Biggsville Township HSs great team. The names are provided
in reference to the photo above to the right.
Varsity and Subs:
Front row (l to r) Karl Henry, forward; James (Jim) Smith, center; Paul Allen, guard; Phillip Law, forward; Daryl (Ozzie)
Baylor, guard; Hauer Noble, forward/center.
Back row (l to r) Vernon Blake, manager; Lee Maxwell, James (Jim)
Armstrong, Lyle Slagle, Harold Barry, Coach S. F.
(Steve) Ingold
Cheerleaders: (l to r) Mary Rose Smith, Lorena Downes, Carita Martin, Marcia Downes, Shirley Gibson
This team had a record of 25 wins and 5 losses.
Points scored by individuals: J. Smith (323), P. Law (266), K. Henry (279), P. Allen (166), D. Baylor (130), H.
Noble (101).
Game Scores were as follows:
BHS 42 Seaton 24
BHS 46 Kirkwood 43
BHS 32 Terre Haute36 BHS 43 Little York 38
BHS 34 Kirkwood 24
BHS 68 Alexis 41
BHS 42 Gladstone 25 BHS 38 Stronghurst40
BHS 31 Abingdon 36
BHS 66 Keithsburg 26
BHS 65 Keithsburg 24 BHS 65 Seaton 35
BHS 44 Stronghurst29
BHS 49 LaHarpe 31
BHS 35 Media 28 BHS 45 Oquawka
41
BHS 46 Gladstone 10 BHS 66 Alexis 32
BHS 26 Roseville 32
BHS 51 Oquawka 28
BHS 25 Media 19 BHS 55 Wataga
36
BHS 42 Terre Haute20 BHS 52 Dallas City 48
BHS 31 Media 25
BHS 91 Alexis 29
BHS 31 Oquawka 30 BHS 35 Sherrard 38
BHS 46 Stronghurst28
BHS 25 ALUMNI 15
BOY'S TRACK & FIELD
Move over Milan and Hebron, this may be an even more incredible accomplishment when you consider all of the facts.
The Biggsville boys track team won back to back state championships in 1899 and 1900. They followed this up
with a 8th place finish in 1909. This was accomplished under a one-class system!! One
might wish to think that the competition must have been sparse for Biggsville to accomplish this so long ago. Take
a look at the list of schools they had to defeat in order to win the title. Track was set up in 1899 as it is
today, with one great athlete being able to dominate and bring home a team title by himself. However Biggsville's
two titles came with the great athleticism of four different athletes. Without a doubt the "stud" of the group was Cliff
Bell, who brought home a total of six gold medals in three different events. Also bringing home gold
was Dave Daugherty, James Stewart, and Herman Dixon. Coach of the 1899 team was J.A. Strong,
and of the 1900 team was Honey Stuart. The great accomplishments, which have not
been nearly enough written or talked about (in my opinion) are listed below.
1898-99 Illinois State Track Meet Team Champions!!!
Coach J. A. Strong
Individual Winners
Cliff Bell
50 Yard Dash 1st
Place
Cliff Bell 100
Yard Dash 1st Place
Cliff Bell
220 Yard Dash 1st Place
Dave Daugherty
Standing Broad Jump 1st Place
Dave Daugherty
High Jump 2nd
Place
Final Team Standings
Biggsville
- 23
Aurora West
- 21
Chicago Hyde Pk. -
19
Chicago Englewood - 15
Taylorville
- 9
Peoria HS
- 7
Pontiac
- 7
Decatur
- 7
Charleston
- 6
Chicago Lakeview, Chicago English, Rantoul,
Lagrange all tied with 4 points.
1899-1900 Illinois State Track Meet Champions!!!
Coach Honey Stuart
Individual Winners
Cliff Bell
50 Yard Dash 1st Place
Cliff Bell 100
Yard Dash 1st Place
Cliff Bell
220 Yard Dash 1st Place
Dave Daugherty Standing
Broad Jump 1st Place
Dave Daugherty
High Jump
1st Place
James Stewart
880 Yard Walk 1st Place
Ralph Cowden
880 Yard Run 2nd Place
Final Team Standings
Biggsville
- 33
Chicago Englewood -
22
Decatur
- 17
Taylorville - 15
Aurora West
- 12
Charleston
- 8
Aurora East -
6
Chicago West District, Duquoin, and Pontiac
tied with 5 points
*Oscar Clifford Bell was born on 03-15-1880. He went on to attend the University of Illinois
on a track scholarship after leaving Biggsville. He earned his degree from the U of I in 1902. He began law school
at the age of 36 and later became an attorney and ultimately a judge in Cleveland, Ohio. Two of his medals are still
in the possession of his daughter Thalia. Cliff Bell passed away in 1943.
O. C. Bell
By William Urban
Professor of History and International Studies
Monmouth College, Monmouth IL
Oscar Clifford Bell did not have to come far to make an impact on Monmouth College. Born
in Biggsville March 15, 1880, to William and Sarah
Martha Bell, he attended the local one-class school. In 1899 and 1990 little Biggsville won the state track championships,
stunning the larger schools—Bell bought back gold in the 50 yard, 100 yard and 200 yard dashes each year.
The success of tiny Biggsville was attributed to the two star trackmen being 23 and 24 years of age, though
a quick check of census records shows that this was merely jealousy on the part of the city schools. Bell
was, of course, twenty in 1900, his companion twenty-one—not that unusual in an age when boys worked in the fields spring,
summer and fall, and probably in his father’s store in the winter. But the athletes beaten in 1899 were so angry—according
to the Chicago Tribune—that they tore up the railroad cars they were riding in, and an investigation was launched.
He accepted a track scholarship to the University of Illinois in the fall of 1900, playing football, too,
as a reserve halfback for one season—the Chicago Tribune referred to him as the Biggsville sprinter; according to the
Tribune, he was elected captain of the track team after the 1901 season and was the only Illinois
sprinter to win races in 1902 against Michigan and was out with illness during the big match with the University of Chicago. He apparently returned home after graduation in 1902, then two years later
applied for a coaching position at Monmouth College—then the largest private college in the state. (Not that big, of
course—they were all tiny.) This application is not surprising. His sister Olive (born 1878, teaching
music in 1900) was in the class ’06 (she later married John Burnside)
and Pansy, ’03 (born 1882) was still living with Cliff and Olive
from 1903 to 1906 at 416 S. Fifth, but later became a music teacher at Bethany College in Kansas.
“O.C.” Bell’s 1905-06 teams had an 18-1 record. Assisted by A.
J. Taft, his football teams swept to the championship of Illinois in 1905, then lost to the University of Iowa. Most of the opposing teams were from high schools, but this was unavoidable—most
colleges did not field teams. Even then, because Knox and another opponent had dropped the sport for the year, 1906 was a
short season. Only Milliken managed to score points (losing 25-9), and the team concluded the season by drubbing the champion
of Wisconsin and Michigan, Beloit College, 10-0 in the final game.
His specialty, of course, was track. And he coached baseball as well. The 1908 Ravelings commented that
“no one in the history of the college has put forth more effort, been attended by more success, or raised athletics
to a higher standard.” It helped that Monmouth was the largest college in Illinois, but the secret was that “he
exercised rigid discipline and got more from his men than they thought possible.” Introducing the forward pass and the on-side kick, he went on to coach at Missouri State Normal (now Truman State)
for two years."
1908-09 Team Finished 8th at Illinois State Track Meet!
Individual Medal Winner
Herman Dixon Pole
Vault 1st Place
Herman Dixon High
Jump 4th Place
Other Individual Medal Winner in Biggsville High School History.
1938-39 Glen Dean Rankin 880 Yard Run 4th
Place
FOOTBALL
The boys of Biggsville were, according to our good friend Tom Sickorski, always a football force to be reckoned with
in the old Valley conference in the 1950's, Biggsville finished no lower than 2nd for 6 straight seasons under veteran
coach
Doc Evans.
1953 4-2 2nd place (tie) Valley Conference Coach Doc Evans
1954 6-1 2nd place Valley Conference
Coach Doc Evans
1955 4-3 2nd place (tie) Valley Conference Coach Doc Evans
1956 6-1 2nd place Valley Conference
Coach Doc Evans
1957 6-1 Valley Conference Co-Champs Coach Doc Evans
1958 5-2 2nd place Valley Conference
Coach Doc Evans
1959 3-4 (last team as Biggsville)
Coach Sherman Stevenson
Seeking Further Information
We are seeking further information on any other sports offered at Biggsville High. It would also be interesting
to know what happened to the great athletes such as Cliff Bell and Dave Daugherty. Did they pursue track in college?
Where are the medals and trophies that they won?
If you would like to supply us with this information please complete a School Submission Form or Guest Commentary
Form. we especially enjoy photos of the school buildings, teams, coaches, and athletes that excelled at Biggsville
High School. You may e-mail us a
eganann@sbcglobal.net or write us at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631
