Nick Egnatz, M.D.

(St. John resident)
This 1935 Hammond High graduate competed 4 years on Wildcat golf and basketball squads. He played on the ’34 ‘Cat state finalist basketball team and the ’35 state finalist golf squad. He continued to excel at golf during his professional life as a Hammond physician, surgeon and cancer specialist. He won numerous Lake County Medical Golf Tournaments and the 36-hole U.S. Olympic Tournament at Puerto Rico in 1973. While playing during his 70s, he frequently shot his age. For his medical work in cancer, he received the Hammond Jaycees’ Man of the Year Award in 1947. He also was an owner of Lake Hills Golf & Country Club for some 50 years. He is retired.

Godfrey J. Labda
(Whiting resident)
He starred in basketball and baseball for Clark High School before graduating in 1944. He also went on to play baseball professionally in the Chicago Cubs farm system. As a 3-year Pioneer basketball standout, he was his team’s top scorer, a 2-year captain, and, typically, drew defensive assignments against opponents’ top scoring guards. He helped lead the 1943-44 Clark team to a 22-1 record and a #2 state ranking. An upset sectional loss to East Chicago Washington ended any state championship hopes. On the baseball diamond, where he was a skilled shortstop who caught the attention of the Cubs. He also received Indiana’s highest civilian award, the Sagamore of the Wabash. He is retired.

David Mudd
(deceased)
Teaming with his brother, Daniel, he helped lead Hammond High to Indiana high school wrestling championships in 1962 & ’63. In ’63, he won an individual state title at 133 pounds. He also joined his brother in receiving a full wrestling scholarship from Indiana University. There, he earned 3 varsity letters and captained the ’66-67 Hoosiers squad before graduating. He went on to become DePauw University’s first wrestling coach. He also coached and taught at nearby TF North High School.

Rich Neely
(Munster resident)
This bruising, 3-sport standout was voted Hammond High’s Most Valuable Athlete in 1957-58. On the football field, he earned all-state, all-conference and all-region honors as a tackle and was a team captain his senior year. He continued his grid career at Northwestern University, from which he graduated in ‘62. He also starred in high school on the baseball diamond as a pitcher and captained the Wildcat wrestling team while competing as a heavyweight. He went on to coach wrestling and football at East Chicago Roosevelt during a 37-year teaching and coaching career. He is retired.

Ed Schoenfelt
(Marceline, Mo. resident)
This 1974 Gavit High School graduate earned 1973 all-state football honors on both sides of the ball—as an offensive tackle and defensive nose guard. He also was named to the PREP All American Team by Coach & Athlete Magazine while helping lead the ’73 Gladiators to a 10-0 regular season record and a berth in Indiana’s first state football playoff series. He went on to play at Culver-Stockton (Mo.) College, earning NAIA All-District 16 honors and serving as team captain in ’76 and ’77. Also, at Gavit, he was a school record-setting swimmer and Indiana Lake Shore Conference runner-up discus thrower. He is employed as superintendent of schools in Marceline, Mo.

Bill Strater
(Albion, Ill. resident)
This long time coach and athletic administrator directed the Hammond High baseball program for 25 years (1960-84). He also coached in the Wildcat football and basketball programs and served as athletic director for eight years. Additionally, he was named Hammond Teacher of the Year in 1988. As a high school athlete, the Illinois native earned 12 varsity letters as a versatile, multi-sport participant. He also competed in baseball, football and wrestling at Eastern Illinois University. He is retired.

Bob Stryzinski
(Hernando, Fla. resident)
This 1956 Morton High School graduate earned honorable mention all-state football honors as a quarterback and also played guard on the basketball team. In college, he quarterbacked Butler’s Bulldogs to their first unbeaten/untied season as a senior in ’59 and earned team MVP honors. He also played on Butler basketball and baseball teams as a guard and 1st baseman, respectively, before graduating in ’60. He followed his playing days with a successful and much honored career in postsecondary education as a senior administrator at Vincennes University. He is retired.

Richard J. Valavicius
(Owens Cross Roads, Ala. resident)
He starred in basketball at Hammond High during the 1970s, gaining all-state recognition as a forward during the 1974-75 season for the 22-2 Wildcats. As a 3-year varsity starter, he earned all-Indiana Lake Shore Conference, all-sectional and all-regional honors, scored 1,312 career points and compiled a career scoring average of 17.7. He accepted a basketball scholarship to Indiana University and played on the Hoosiers’ ‘75-76 unbeaten national championship squad. After the ’76-77 season he transferred to Auburn University, where he starred for 2 years as a double-figure scorer and served as team captain. He was a 7th round draft pick of the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets and Washington Bullets after his junior and senior seasons, respectively. He is a schoolteacher and retired basketball coach in Huntsville, Ala.

Amy Jo Wadas-Hogge
(Munster resident)
As a talented middle distance and distance runner at Bishop Noll, she claimed numerous Indiana Lake Shore Conference titles in 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter races during her career from 1984 through ’88. She also was a 3-time state qualifier in the 1600 and qualified once in the 3200. Additionally, she set a BNI record in the 1600. She also qualified for state in cross country and was an academic all-state basketball selection as a point guard in ’88. She is the first student-athlete to have graduated from BNI having earned 12 varsity letters. She continued her running career at Chicago’s Loyola University on an academic/athletic scholarship, claiming indoor conference track titles in the 1000-meter and mile runs. As a senior before graduating in ‘92, she helped lead Loyola’s women’s cross country team to its first conference championship. She is employed as a dentist.

Walter Viellieu
(Munster resident)
He served as Hammond’s school system athletic director for 31 years (1966-97). Previously, he was an outstanding football coach at Hammond Tech and a standout athlete. After competing at Indianapolis Cathedral High School, he went on to star in football and wrestling at Purdue University. On the gridiron, he was a starting defensive tackle for the Boilermakers’ 1952 co-Big Ten title squad. He also captained the wrestling squad and placed third as a heavyweight in the conference tournament. In 1955, he embarked on a teaching/coaching career that brought him to Hammond and Hammond Tech in 1961 as head football coach and assistant wrestling coach. He led a Tigers football squad that had won just 2 games in 3 years to 5 straight winning seasons and the Northwest Indiana High School Conference championship in ’65. As the school city athletic director, his numerous accomplishments included supervising sports programs for all of Hammond’s high schools and middle schools, including the initiation of girls sports, and helping organize the Lake 12 Athletic Conference and its predecessor, the Indiana Lake Shore Conference. He is retired.