Sports
Players, Coaches, Teams Added to ETHS Hall of Fame
The school's first African-American quarterback and a wrestling coach who led the Wildkits for 4+ decades among newest Hall of Famers.
Six individuals and two legendary teams have earned spots in the Evanston Township High School Athletic Hall of Fame, according to an ETHS athletics news release.
A selection committee comprised of school administrators, coaches and community members voted in Richie Gilbert (wrestling/football), Tim McGonagle (soccer/baseball), Jerry Noyce (tennis), and Jesse Opdycke (soccer/volleyball) along with coaches Elias George (wrestling) and Ron Helberg (track and field).
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Gilbert (‘51) was ETHS’ first-ever state champion in wrestling and is believed to have been the school’s first African-American starting quarterback, leading the Wildkits to a 7-1 campaign in 1950.
McGonagle (‘71) joins his legendary father Ken, a 2013 inductee as a coach, making them the first father-son combination to reach the ETHS Hall. The younger McGonagle was a three-sport standout in soccer, basketball and baseball who won both the Noyes Trophy (outstanding male athlete) and Oliver Beaty Cunningham (outstanding ETHS male) his senior year.
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Noyce (‘62) won an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state doubles championship in tennis.
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Opdycke (‘90) led the Wildkits soccer team in scoring while earning All-Midwest, All-State, All-Sectional and All-Conference honors as a senior and went on to start four years at Miami University (Ohio).
George coached wrestling at ETHS for more than 50 years, including 42 as head coach. He retired from teaching in 1987, but did not step down as head coach until the 1999-2000 season had concluded.
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Helberg led the ETHS Track and Field team to four state championships (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974) in eight seasons as head coach. During that span, the Wildkits won six district titles.
Also chosen for the Hall of Fame were the 1960 football team and the 2003 girls track and field squad.
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