Thornridge High School
Encyclopedia
Thornridge High School is a public high school located in Dolton
, Illinois
. It was built as part of Thornton Township High Schools District 205
. It is sometimes confused with the similar sounding schools in the same district: Thornton Township High School
and Thornwood High School
.
. These teams also compete in state championship series sponsored by the Illinois High School Association
(IHSA).
The school sponsors teams for both men and women in basketball
, cross country
, soccer, tennis
, and track & field. Men may also compete in baseball
, football
, swimming
& diving
, and wrestling
. Women may compete in cheerleading
, softball
, and volleyball
.
The following athletic teams placed in the top four of their respective class in their respective sports in IHSA sponsored state championship series.
Dolton, Illinois
Dolton is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,614 at the 2000 census. Dolton is located just west of the expressway Interstate 94 and immediately south of the city limits of Chicago. Its most common ZIP code is 60419....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. It was built as part of Thornton Township High Schools District 205
Thornton Township High Schools District 205
Thornton Township High Schools District 205 is a consolidated high school district based in Harvey, Cook County, Illinois that serves much of Cook County's Thornton Township. The district is located due south of the city of Chicago; the township's northern border matches up with the southern border...
. It is sometimes confused with the similar sounding schools in the same district: Thornton Township High School
Thornton Township High School
Thornton Township High School, often simply referred to as Thornton is a public high school founded in 1899. The school is located in Harvey, Illinois one of the south suburbs of the city of Chicago, Illinois. The school is one of three schools administered by Thornton Township High Schools...
and Thornwood High School
Thornwood High School
Thornwood High School is a public high school located in South Holland, Illinois. It was built as part of Thornton Township High Schools District 205.-History:...
.
Athletics
Teams from Thornridge are nicknamed the "Falcons". The school colors are Columbia blue, grey, and navy blue. The school's teams compete as a member of the South Inter-Conference Association or SICASICA (high school sports)
The South Inter-Athletic Association Conference is a former conference on the south side of Chicago and the predecessor of the current South Suburban Conference, Southwest Suburban Conference, and Southland Athletic Conference. At one point it was the largest conference in Illinois. -Former...
. These teams also compete in state championship series sponsored by the Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
(IHSA).
The school sponsors teams for both men and women in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, soccer, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, and track & field. Men may also compete in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, and wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
. Women may compete in cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
.
The following athletic teams placed in the top four of their respective class in their respective sports in IHSA sponsored state championship series.
- basketball (boys): State Champions (1970–71, 71–72)
- cross country (boys): 3rd place (1978–79, 79–80)
- cross country (girls): 3rd place (1983–84)
- swimming & diving (boys): 4th place (1966–67, 67–68, 68–69); 3rd place (1969–70)
- track & field (boys): 3rd place (1979–80)
Activities
Thornridge has had an extensive history of success in the performing arts and competitive public speaking. The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective state championship competitions sponsored by the IHSA.- DebateDebateDebate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
: State Champions (1975–76); 2nd place (1972–73, 77–78) - DramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
: State Champions (1971–72, 89–90, 2003–04, 04–05, 07–08); 2nd place (1969–70, 73–74, 75–76, 81–82, 84–85, 88–89, 2005–06); 3rd place (1976–77, 78–79, 82–83); 4th place (2001–02) - Group Interpretation: State Champions (1974–75, 93–94, 2002–03); 2nd place (1980–81, 97–98, 2000–01, 03–04); 4th place (1996–97, 99–2000)
- Individual Events: State Champions (1967–68, 68–69, 69–70, 70–71); 3rd place (1984–85, 93–94); 4th place (1964–65, 80–81, 82–83, 89–90)
- SpeechPublic speakingPublic speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
(sweepstakes): State Champions (1967–68, 69–70); 2nd place (1970–71, 71–72), 4th place (1968–69)
Notable alumni
- Quinn BucknerQuinn BucknerWilliam Quinn Buckner, commonly known as Quinn Buckner is a former American professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiately at Indiana University, and was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 7th pick of the 1976 NBA Draft...
was a basketball player and later coach, broadcaster and executive. He led Thornridge to the 1972 IHSAIllinois High School AssociationThe Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
state basketball championship, was co-captain of the 19761976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1976, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
national champion Indiana HoosiersIndiana Hoosiers men's basketballThe Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Indiana University . The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the NCAA. The Hoosiers play on Branch McCracken Court at the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana on the IU...
, won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, and had a ten year NBA career, including membership on the 1984 NBA Champion1984 NBA FinalsThe 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1983-84 NBA season. In 1984, the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game Finals, winning Game 7 111-102. Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the award of...
Boston CelticsBoston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
. His Indiana Pacers biography claims he is one of three people in history to claim championships at all of these levels of basketball competition. - Kevin DuckworthKevin DuckworthKevin Jerome Duckworth was an American professional basketball player at center in the National Basketball Association. A native of Illinois, he played college basketball at Eastern Illinois University before being drafted in 1986 in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs...
was a two–time All-StarAll-starAll-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...
NBA centerCenter (basketball)The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...
(1986–97). - Nelsan EllisNelsan EllisNelsan Ellis is an award-winning American film and television actor and playwright. He is well known for his role as Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO series True Blood, which he has been playing since 2008.-Early and personal life:...
is a JuilliardJuilliard SchoolThe Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
trained actor, best known for his roles on the television series The InsideThe InsideThe Inside is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Minear and Howard Gordon and produced by Imagine Television. The Inside follows the work of the FBI's Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit , a division dedicated to investigating particularly dangerous crimes. The Inside initially...
and True BloodTrue BloodTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
. - Jane LynchJane LynchJane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...
is an actress, comedianComedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, and singer, perhaps best known for her role as Sue Sylvester in the television series GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
and various roles in the Christopher GuestChristopher GuestChristopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
directed films A Mighty WindA Mighty WindA Mighty Wind is a 2003 mockumentary about a folk music reunion concert in which three folk bands must reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. It was directed by Christopher Guest...
, and Best in ShowBest in Show (film)Best in Show is a 2000 independent film that follows five entrants in a prestigious dog show. The film focuses on the slightly surreal interactions among the various owners and handlers as they travel to the show and compete. Much of the dialogue was improvised.Christopher Guest directed; he also...
. - Sam MackSam MackSam Mack is a retired American professional basketball player, formerly of the NBA.The 6'7" shooting guard from Iowa State University, Tyler Junior College and the University of Houston played with five different NBA teams over a 10-year span...
was an NBA guard. - Richard RoeperRichard RoeperRichard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
is a writer and film critic, perhaps best known for co-hosting At the Movies with Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
for a time.