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Lane Tech Stories  
Welcome to the Lane Tech team stories page. The purpose of this page is to
help document the great history of Lane Tech sports. What is a better way to do
that than to tell the stories of past teams and individuals of Lane Tech. Do you
have a story to tell of past Lane Tech teams or individuals? Then click the
following button for details on how to submit.
Signed softball from city
Lane Tech grad, Fritz
Old Lane Tech
championship team 2005 Pollard (NFL hall of Prep magazine
fame.)
Lane
Tech Varsity Football Team 2004
This was another
special season for Lane Tech Football. This team more than any in recent memory
had a air of confidence bordering on cockiness. That is how they felt about
themselves. Much of it had to do with the talent on the field, starting out with
quarterback Couri Benz. Benz was a pure passer in a Lane Tech football
program that traditionally liked to run the ball. But that year, in addition to
a quarterback that loved to pass, we also we’re blessed with a plethora of
talented receivers. The main receivers that year included Tiff Hamilton,
Dwayne Pillow, Xavier Torres, and Deon Flowers. All were dangerous big time
receivers capable of making big plays. So coach Rich Rio opened up the
passing game starting in 2003 and let Benz pass to receivers who we’re more than happy
to grab his passes. Benz had 18 Touchdown passes in 2004 and 41 for his career.
City Championship 2004 team picture
  The
combination of Benz and the receivers we’re lethal to opponents. Most games
versus weak Public League opponents were over by the first quarter. By half time
it was often a running clock. In Illinois high school football that year a
running clock was instituted if a team led by 40 or more points after half time.
There were games where Lane would get the ball on their side of the field with
less than a minute left and score with a big pass in one or two plays. It was
great times for Lane tech football that year.
Quarterback Couri Benz threw a record 18 TD passes in 2004. He was named
all-state
in some publications. In December 2006 he signed to play baseball for Long
Island
University.
First year with
temporary lights
That year was also
the first year that temporary lights were played at Lane stadium. The lights
went so well that temporary lights were used several times that year. Within 2
years lights we’re permanently installed at Lane. Lane Tech won city that year
over Harper in a game played at Hansen stadium.
City
Championship
Lane
Tech won conference after losing conference for the first time in a long time to
Steinmetz in 2003. In 2003 a
Justin Anderson led Steinmetz team edged out Lane Tech in classic
game on a cold blustery final game of the regular season. Steinmetz, had a
huge contingent of fans that day and after thee game, hoards of Steinmetz fans,
rioted outside the stadium by fighting and harassing each other and passersbys.
Lane also beat a good York high school football team in the first round of the
playoffs in 2004. A win over a quality suburban team is a rare feat for a Chicago Public
League team, but that year, Lane was able to do it. Lane’s luck ran out in the
second round of the playoffs when they ran into the eventual state champion Downers Grove North team led by
super lineman Cody Cielensky (a Western Michigan University recruit).
Downers Grove North had an amazing pass rush that forced Benz into making rushed
plays and then used a stellar ground game to beat Lane Tech 40-14 that day. Lane
Tech grad and Chicago Tribune sports writer Bob Sakomoto was in
attendance that game to cover the game. Lane Tech ended up an incredible 2004
season with a loss to a good Brother Rice Football team in a game played at the
newly renovated Soldier Field.
Xavier
Torres was one of the top targets for QB
Couri Benz in 2004.
Lane Tech Chess
Team 1988,
State Runner-Up
1988 was a magical year in Lane Tech chess team history. The chess team finished 2nd in the state that year.
That is the highest state finish any Lane Tech team has finished
since then.
I don’t remember all the names of the players but 1st
board was a guy named Eddie Ortiz 2nd
board was Brent Yurchak, third was Chris Carpenter (I
think), and then we had the other guys. That year, our biggest
adversary was Kenwood Academy of the Chicago Public League. They had one of
the best chess player’s in the state playing first board by a
guy named Rodenberg. Lane Tech ended up playing Kenwood
Academy in the final game of the state tournament for the state championship.
However, Kenwood was just too much for Lane and Lane lost despite our
best efforts. I remember our coach Ken Carpenter, who had
previously coached a state championship team for Lane Tech said
that 9 out of 10 years we had enough talent on that 1988 team to
win the state championship. It’s just that year there happen to
be another team (Kenwood Academy) to have just a little bit
more. It was a great effort by everyone that year and I’m very
proud to be part of a team that took second in the state for
Lane Tech.
Kenwood Academy defeated Lane Tech for the
1988 state championship in chess. The 1988 chess team was last time Lane Tech has finished in the top 2 in the state for any sport.
The Publisher of
www.LaneTechFan.com was a state alternate on the 1988 chess
team.
Lane Tech Cross Country
Team 1987
Phil Kopinski was the teams #2 runner in
the city championship 1987 team. Phil ran cross country at the University of
Illinois at Chicago and is now the head cross country coach at the Illinois
Institute of Technology.
In that year we had 3 runners running 3.0 mile races in 15’s.
That means, we had 3 runners running 3 miles in an average pace of less than
5:20/mile. The three runners were Victor Gonzalez, Phil Kopinski, and Dave
Fiorito. What was even more amazing was that they were all juniors. As it
turned out, all three ran in the same college UIC. The 4th-7th
runners still ran respectable times that year but were generally well behind
our top 3. The 4th-7th runners ran in the high 16’s to low
18:00’s. That year the 4th through seventh runners were usually one of the
following runners: Neil Hernandez, Ricardo Toledo, Bral Spight, Howard Moy,
Eddie Salas, or Dylan Eret. Our team that year won the Public League
championship over Whitney Young and CVS and ended up running in the state meet
with CVS. Back then the Public League received two automatic bids to the state
meet and we we’re one of them. At state, the surprise runner of the year was CVS
Senior Aaron Rodgers who finished 2nd place in the state with
a blistering time of 14:25 in two miles. No Public League Runner Girl or Boy has
finished in the top 25 since Aaron Rodgers did it in 1987. We ended up
finishing in the bottom 7-8 teams out of the 25-26 teams that ran the state meet
that year. Our coach was Jesse Sibert who taught Geometry at Lane Tech.
Lane Tech
State Championship Boys Track
Team 1974
1974 Daily
Herald Newspaper Article that mentions the 1974 Lane Tech boys state
championship track team. Daily Herald photo.
The last
time a team sport won a state championship at Lane Tech was the
1974 boys state track team.
Here's a
brief excerpt from Mike Morgan, a member of the 1974 track team:
"Louis Carr
(Drake University), Dennis Kern (college?) and Kevin Newell
(Kansas University) are Lane grads who competed in track and
field on the college level. They were part of the mile relay
team that set a indoor national record in 1973 or 74. I can't
recall who the 4th member of the team was. It was either Arneson
or Klein. We were part of the team that won the Illinois High
School Track and Field Championship in spring 1974."
It's been
reported that the state championship trophy is not in Public
display at Lane Tech. Part of the reason may be that the trophy
supposedly cannot be found.
1974 Lane Tech
State Championship Boys Track Team
Head Coach William Lewis
Team points 27
complete results and article
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