Valparaiso High School Hall of Fame 2012 inductees

Amy Shurr Agema

A 1997 graduate, Agema is one of the most versatile athletes in school history. She was the state diving champion her sophomore and senior years. She is the only diver to win four consecutive Duneland Athletic Conference titles. She was inducted to the Indiana High School Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 2007. Agema also earned three varsity letters in basketball and four in track and field. She had an outstanding junior year, placing third in the state diving finals in the fall, leading the basketball team in minutes played on its way to the state championship game in the winter and leading the 3,200 relay team to a third-place finish at the track state finals in the spring. That led to her winning Times Athlete of the Year. During her senior year, Shurr won the state diving title in the fall and led the 3,200 relay team to a state championship in the spring.

Mark Allen

A 1976 grad, Allen is considered one of the best ball carriers in school history. He played tailback on two of the schools' best football teams, including the undefeated Class 3A state championship team in 1975. In the 14-13 championship game victory over Carmel, Allen scored Valpo's first touchdown on a 64-yard punt return. Allen helped Valpo win 19 consecutive games beginning with the second game of the 1974 season. He also played basketball, first earning varsity time as a sophomore. He finished with 164 career points. Allen went on to play football in college at Cincinnati and Arizona State, and played professionally in the USFL. He lived in Valparaiso before his death in 2008.

Charles E. "Skip" Bird

After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees from Valparaiso University, he returned to his alma mater (Class of 1958) to teach English in 1963. He became varsity swim coach in 1967, a position he held through the 1998 season. His teams won more than 300 dual meets, 19 Duneland Conference championships and 18 sectional championships, and produced 17 All-American champions. Bird was named Indiana State Coach of the Year in 1980 and again in his final season. During his more than 30 years of teaching and coaching, he received many academic and athletic awards including Sagamore of the Wabash presented by Indiana governor Evan Bayh and the Disney Teacher Award in 1992. Bird was inducted to the Indiana High School Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 2007. He also received the "Doc" Counsilman Award for his lifetime of coaching and mentoring swimmers. He died in February, 2011, at age 70.

Ellison Tipton Carter

A 2000 grad, Carter earned 11 letters in gymnastics, soccer and track and field. Ellison was the Vikings' third individual all-around state champ for gymnastics coach Lorie Cook. As a junior in 1999, she won the all-around as well as the uneven bars and balance beam to lead the Vikings to a second-place team finish. As a freshman, she placed second all-around and in the floor exercise and balance beam to lead the Vikings to the state title. She won the floor exercise and was fourth all-around as a sophomore, when the team repeated its state title.

Sue Watts Collins

A 1980 grad, Collins is the first basketball player in school history to be named an Indiana All-Star for the annual Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series. She scored a record 469 points as a senior, a school record 26.1 per game. She was named Player of the Year in Northwest Indiana and voted MVP of the Duneland Conference. She averaged 13 rebounds per game and finished her career with a 17.2 scoring average. Collins played four years at Indiana University, where she helped the Hoosiers win their only Big Ten title in 1983 and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Shannon Swanson Domico

A 1994 grad, Domico was a key performer on state championship gymnastics teams in 1991 and 1994. She was named team MVP as a senior and went on to win a silver medal in a national gymnastics meet in Michigan. As a freshman, she placed fifth in floor exercise and eighth on beam in the state meet and was named the team's most improved gymnast. She also participated in cross country for three years, running in the state meet as a sophomore.

Tom Hampson

A 1966 grad, Hampson was a dominant basketball player on three mid-1960s teams. The 6-foot-7 center finished his career with 911 rebounds, 349 more than any other player in school history. His two best single-season totals of 387 (1965-66) and 306 (1964-65) rank 1-2 on the school single-season list, while his 212 rebounds as a sophomore rank sixth. Valpo won sectional titles all three years Hampson played on the varsity, a streak that reached 10 in a row his senior year when the Vikings went 20-5 and also won the Northwest Conference title. He helped lead the 1964 team to a regional title, when Valpo reached the final eight of the state tournament.

Collette Douglas Huffman

A 1991 grad, Huffman is one of the best runners in school history who continued as a professional until her 30s. As a high school senior, she won state titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Huffman set seven Duneland Conference records and was the Keebler Invitational National Champion in the 3,200 in 1991.

Adolph (Adie) Jankowski

A 1937 graduate, Jankowski was one of the school's premier athletes of the mid-1930s. He was voted Best Boy Athlete as a senior, after successful seasons in football, basketball and golf. Jankowski was the leading rusher on the football team as a junior and a senior. He played varsity basketball for three years, scoring 255 career points during an era when scores rarely reached the 30s. He was on the 1935 team that finished 18-9 and won a sectional title. He was also a top golfer.

Greg Kirby

Making the switch from coaching boys basketball, Kirby took an already successful VHS girls basketball program to the next level. Beginning in 1990-91, he coached the Vikings for 16 seasons. His first team finished 24-2, and he exited with a 324-58 record (.848). Kirby's teams won 13 Duneland Conference titles, including eight in a row. The Vikings won 13 sectionals, nine regionals and four semistates. VHS advanced to the state finals in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 2000, finishing as state runners-up in 1996 and 2000. The 1991-92 team finished 26-2, which is still the best in school history. Kirby was named the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Coach of the Year three times, coached two first-team all-state players and four Indiana All-Stars. He left VHS after the 2006 season to become an assistant coach at Valparaiso University.

Sarrah Stricklett Mosher

A 1996 grad, Mosher was the leading scorer on the Vikings' team that advanced to the state title game against Center Grove her senior year. She hit a last-second game-winning shot against Lake Central in the Lafayette Semistate to give the Vikings a berth in the state Final Four. A 6-foot-1 post player, Stricklett averaged 18.7 points and 7.8 rebounds as a senior and 10 points and six rebounds as a junior. She was named an Indiana All-Star after her senior season. The Vikings won a school-record 21 consecutive games her senior year and finished with a 23-4 record. She also won a Duneland title in the high jump as a senior. Mosher went on to play at Valparaiso University and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2006.

Rebekah Porter Peterson

One of the most decorated gymnasts in school history, Peterson graduated in 2004 with six individual and one team state championship. As a senior, Porter scored a school-record 9.9 to win the individual vault title, won the floor exercise and captured the all-around title with a score of 38.025, leading the Vikings to the team championship. She was also named the Mental Attitude Award winner at the state meet. As a junior, she won the state all-around championship with a score of 38.05, capturing individual titles in the floor exercise and vault as the Vikings placed third.

Reggie Family

For more than five decades, the Reggie family has been involved in VHS sports and academics. Father Sid Reggie began teaching social studies at VHS in 1964, when he also started a successful career as a varsity assistant and head junior varsity football coach. Through 1980, his JV teams posted a 103-25-2 record with undefeated seasons in 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1979. He was a key member of coach Tom Stokes' staff when the Vikings won the Class 3A state football title. Daughter Erica, a 1981 grad, was a member of the first VHS team to win a state championship in gymnastics. Son John, a 1984 grad, was a key contributor on Valpo's 1983 state cross country title team. He was an all-DAC runner and also won his team's mental attitude award. Daughter Lisa was a two-year varsity basketball player before graduating in 1985. Son Peter, a 1989 grad, played football. Mother Maredith helped Sid organize athletic banquets, including designing unique programs featuring a poem or crossword puzzle.

!~ Bios and photos courtesy of Valparaiso High School