Golfer, Pole Vaulter, Geneva Family: New GHS Hall Of Fame Inductions

GENEVA, IL — A two-time, first-team All-Big Ten golfer, a state champion pole vaulter, and a local family that has made athletic and community contributions to Geneva will be inducted into the Geneva High School Athletic Hall of Fame in January.

Michael O’Neal, Allie Pace McCoy and the Bashaw family will be recognized during the 22nd annual induction ceremony taking place Jan. 13 at the high school, 416 McKinley Ave. The event takes place during the halftime of a varsity boys' basketball game against Belvidere North High School.

Following the game, all ticket holders have a chance to meet the inductees during a coffee-and-cake reception that will be held on the north balcony of the school's contest gymnasium.

This year's inductees were chosen by a committee of former Geneva sports journalists, athletic alumni and coaches. Read more about their careers below.

Michael O'Neal

Michael O'Neal, a 2001 graduate, is considered among the best Big Ten golfers of his generation, Geneva School District 304 officials said. He's the first individual golfer to be inducted in the school's Hall of Fame.

Each year in high school, the golfer made all-conference in the old Suburban Prairie League and led the Vikings to the conference championship. O'Neal was named Conference Player of the Year his junior and senior years and was named to the all-state team as a junior in 1999.

As a senior in fall 2000, O'Neal broke a Viking scoring record — which remains 22 years later — when he shot a 10-under-par 62 at the 6,800-yard Links of Carillon in Plainfield.

O'Neal went on to play golf on a scholarship at the University of Illinois. He was named to the all-academic Big Ten Conference team in 2002, 2003 and 2004, the year he graduated with a finance degree.

The Geneva native lives in south-suburban Nashville, Tennessee, with their two sons. He works as senior vice president for promotions at a Chicago-based sports marketing firm.

Allie Pace McCoy

A 2010 alumna, Allie Pace McCoy was the Western Sun Conference and Kane County pole vault champion who placed third in the Illinois High School Association sectional meet as a sophomore in spring 2008. Officials said she "stepped up to help the Geneva track team as needed in sprinting events — and as a senior she ran on the state-qualifying 4-by-4 relay team — but her laser focus was the pole vault."

A year later, she again ran the table of local pole vault championships and won the sectional championship before her 12-foot vault placed her second in the state — coming in just 3 inches short of the year's champion — at the state meet.

By spring 2010, she captured the IHSA state track championship with a vault of 12 feet.

Pace McCoy chose to attend Harvard University after being recruited by a number of schools. At the Ivy League school, she set a number of records, ultimately reaching a vault of 12 feet, 9.5 inches.

Officials said Pace McCoy "soared as high in the classroom as she did on the track. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in human evolutionary biology and started her career in corporate research and strategy, applying psychology and social science to help evolve Fortune 500 companies. She works as a senior director of client experience for ADP and lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

The Bashaw family

The Bashaw family's induction is the first time since the Hall of Fame's founding in 2001 that a family's legacy of athletic achievement and community service is recognized.

"The Bashaw family will always be remembered for their kindness, humility, hard work and good-natured participation. The Bashaws were part of the fabric of the community, and either through teaching or coaching or team sports, they touched the lives of just about every student who attended Geneva schools in the '60s, '70s and '80s," district officials said.

Chuck Bashaw taught history and physical education, first at Sixth Street School and later at Coultrap Junior High School. He also coached junior high football and basketball, managed the Geneva Memorial Swimming pool for 25 summers and served as an announcer for almost every sophomore football and basketball game.

Jean, Chuck's wife, is equally well-known in the community, officials said, as she worked as a substitute teacher at every school in District 304, ultimately teaching full-time at Geneva High School.

Bruce, the couple's oldest son and a 1972 alum, was a unanimous all-conference and special-mention all-state running back for Geneva’s fourth-consecutive Little Seven title team. He was the starting point guard in basketball as a junior and senior and won special-mention all-conference honors his senior year. Bruce set the school track and field records in the low hurdles and on the mile medley relay team.

Dave, the second oldest and a 1973 alum, concentrated on cross country. As a senior, he went undefeated during regular season and finished first in every dual and three-school cross country meet he competed in. At Waubonsee Community College, he won all-conference and all-region awards. As a senior at Naperville's North Central College in 1976, he finished 19th in the nation in the Division III national meet and helped the school win its second consecutive D-III national title.

Tom, a 1976 alum, was a flanker on the football team's offense and was a unanimous all-conference selection in the defensive backfield in fall 1975 — the year the Vikings tallied eight shutouts and went all the way to that year’s state championship game. He also played forward on the varsity basketball team and lettered in track all four years.

Don, a 1980 alum, started as a tight end on the football team and made special mention all-conference. He was also a defensive end for the 7-2 Vikings.

Barb Bashaw, a 1982 alumna, was a cheerleader and pom pom team member.

"Bruce, Tom and Don Bashaw will accept the award at the Jan. 13 induction ceremony, which affirms the value of sports and family and honors the memories of Chuck, Jean, Dave and Barb," District 304 officials said in a news release.