By: By Tom Dermody

(Editor’s note: For photos from Monday’s celebratory events, click on “Post Photos” camera icon in the left margin.)

Forty-eight hours after reaching their lofty goals on the same day, the state champion boys soccer and girls cross country teams from Peoria Notre Dame High School climbed high aboard a fire truck on Nov. 8 to share the historic moment with their city and its Catholic community.

“This is a very special occasion — something historic,” said Matt Blackford, athletic director of Peoria Notre Dame, after the teams returned to the school from a victory ride that took them to all five Catholic grade schools in the city.

The athletes entered their own school gym to a standing ovation from the entire Peoria Notre Dame student body and a rousing chorus from the pep band.

“We may or may not end up being the best team in the nation, but we definitely have the best fans,” said senior Cody Gilfillan in expressing the sentiments of the boys soccer team that has earned national respect. The Irish entered the Illinois High School Association Class 2A state finals ranked fourth in the country among 1,500 high school soccer programs.

They solidified that national respect with a record-setting 8-0 title game win over Norridge Ridgewood Saturday at North Central College in Naperville. Gilfillan and fellow senior Vince Cicciarelli each scored twice.
It marked the third consecutive year the Peoria Notre Dame boys soccer team had reached the state title game. The Irish also won the championship in 2008, and finished second last year.

The success led Coach Mike Bare to call the soccer team, “in my eyes . . . the greatest sports team ever to come out of the Peoria area.”

The soccer team’s win was a thunderous echo of a state title won hours earlier in the day by a lightening fast Peoria Notre Dame girls cross country team.

All seven Notre Dame runners ran season-best times in leading the Irish to the top of a 20-team field in the IHSA Class 2A state finals held at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Six posted all-time personal bests, including senior Molly Dahlquist, who finished second individually in the 167-runner field with a time of 17:11 on the three-mile course, and junior Jessie Wynn, who finished fourth at 17:23.

Coach Mike Sullivan said the impact of the accomplishment didn’t hit him till the next day, and he summed it up in two words.

“We won,” he told the cheering students from a podium flanked by the two state trophies. “Pure and simple. We won.”

In a prayer to open the pep assembly, Father Paul Carlson, chaplain at Peoria Notre Dame, noted that the team competed under Mary’s title “and came back to us victorious.”

Speakers repeatedly expressed gratitude to parents, faculty and administration, and fans for their support.

Blackford said the success of the school’s athletic programs — the boys golf team finished fourth in state and the swim team is competing in sectionals — reflects the hard work and sacrifices of the athletes and their coaches.

“That’s what it takes to be a champion,” he said.

While expressing his pride in the athletic accomplishments, Charlie Roy, principal, said the championships are “in a way secondary to the lessons in character these kids have learned through taking part in athletics.” He also credited the strong programs and support of the region’s Catholic grade schools.

Judging from the cheers the team received Monday at those schools, that support seems as solid as the place in school history these teams have earned.