Inductees Until Bergan High School won its second consecutive boys cross country title in 1981, no Class A program had successfully defended its state championship.
And the `81 Trojans did it with a lineup that included four state-finals newcomers among the seven individuals coach Mike Sullivan called on to compete at Detweiller Park.
Returnees Richard Spring and Dan Ray placed third and fourth individually. But it gets better.
For team-scoring purposes, seniors Spring and Ray were first and second because the individual winner and runner-up were from schools that didn't figure in the team race.
Then came the state-finals newcomers.
Sophomores John Stein and Craig Ray and junior Mark Cummings were Bergan's third, fourth and fifth scorers, with team places of 19, 29 and 41.
The reloaded Trojans wound up with 92 points compared to 111 for runner-up Trenton Wesclin.
In 1982, Bergan and Trenton Wesclin traded places.
| 2013 Tri-County Male Athlete of the Year COLE HENDERSON With three individual state championships to his credit, Henderson's 31 points at the 2013 IHSA 3A Boy's Track and Field Championship gave Pekin Community High School a third-place team finish. Henderson won state titles in the long jump, 100 meters and 200 meters. An all-conference wide receiver on the grid iron, Henderson returned from a hip injury to help the Dragons football team win its final three regular-season games to earn a playoff berth.
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