The Tower Hill High School Tigers were very competitive, though their small enrollment limited the number of sports they could offer. The boys competed in basketball, track, and probably baseball.  The girls competed in volleyball, track, and probably basketball at one point.  It is also possible that Tower Hill High entered into a co-op effort with nearby Pana or Shelbyville at some point before its closure.  Conference affiliation and the records of someof the better teams are being sought.

 

Lee Connelly provided the following information regarding Tower Hill High School's conference affiliation for the 1967-68 school year:

 

*Note:  Only Lovington High School has remained as a solo high school and unchanged in name since 1968.

 

 

One male athlete carried the banner for the Tower Hill Tigers for many, many years.  In the 1930s track & field was a one-class sport.  Dale Dilley showed he belonged with the best of them.  Taking on all comers, Dale won the IHSA State Championship in the 220 Yard Dash in 1939!  His efforts resulted in a 10th place finish for the Tigers overall.

 

 

                1.)  Elmhurst York HS                   22

                2.)  New Trier HS                          17

                3.)  Morton HS                             13

                4.)  Rockford HS                          12.5

                5.)  Proviso HS                            10

                6.)  East St. Louis Senior HS         9

                6.)  Sterling HS                             9

                8.)  Wheaton HS                           6

                8.)  Evanston HS                           6

              10.)  TOWER HILL HIGH SCHOOL  5

                      Highland Park, Mendota, Paris, Springfield HS all tied with 5 pts. also.

 

 

The Lady Tigers had some real nice volleyball success in the 1980s.  Coach Sharon (Christian) Rincker led the lady netters to an overall record of 114 - 106 during her ten seasons at the helm. This included five straight winning seasons.  Unfortunately this is the only era of volleyball covered on the IHSA website.

 

1980-81     10 - 10         Coach Sharon Rincker

1982-83     14 - 11         Coach Sharon Rincker

1983-84     14 - 10         Coach Sharon Rincker

1984-85     17 - 6           Coach Sharon Rincker

1985-86     17 - 7           Coach Sharon Rincker

1986-87     16 - 11         Coach Sharon Rincker

 

 

The Tower Hill Tigers had some good, competitive seasons on the hardwood court as well. The Tigers won two District Championships.  There are only three seasons listed on the IHSA website regarding the boys basketball program.  The last season listed is of the 2002-03 school year when the Tigers, coached by Travis Reider, finsihed the year with a 3 - 22 record.  Unfortunately the records of the other great Tower Hill teams are not available.

 

 

 

From former Tower Hill HS teacher Andy Kerley:

 

"I taught at Tower Hill HS the last year it existed, 2003.  The top photo on your website is the HS building that was used as the last HS in Tower Hill.  It is still standing and serves as the main building in the Pana grade school located there.  There was talk they were going to use it as an alternative school or shop/trade building, but I don't know if that ever came to be. 

We were annexed in 03 by Pana and now all Tower Hill students attend Pana schools.  The last year we were there we still had a girls volleyball team and a boys basketball team.  All other athletes went to Pana to participate in other sports like FB, baseball, track, girls basketball, softball etc as we had a co-op in place with them.  We were not very successful in either sport as we only had 43 enrolled total students on the first day of school in August of 2002. 

At one point in their history, Tower Hill offered football, basketball, baseball and track to the male athletes.  Girls were able to compete in volleyball, basketball, track and maybe softball.  There was while I was still there, a photo of one of their football teams in the trophy case.  At one point I think they were still pretty competitive in baseball to.

I left after 03, I taught social studies at Tower Hill HS (actually, I was THE social studies dept.  :) ).  I moved on to Shelbyville after.  I drive by the old school every chance I get, but it's not very often since I'm now teaching in Clinton."

 

 

If you have any more information regarding the many successes of Tower Hill High School, especially a photo of the most recent high school building, please write to us via e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.  You can also write to us at the old fashioned way at:

 

Chicago, Il.       60631