Corpus Christi School offered athletics to their young men. Basketball, Baseball, Football and Golf were for sure
offered. Track and Field and Cross Country may have also been offered. Information is limited on the history of Corpus Christi
(and St. Joseph) athletics. Corpus Christi was a member of the Illinois High School Association.
Boys Basketball
Boys Basketball was offered at Corpus Christi. Evidence of the earliest teams can date back to 1925. Two of the games
that year were played against Kewanee High School. In the first games, Kewanee won 18-10, but in the second game later that
season, Corpus Christi came back to score a close win against the Boilermakers, 21-20.
Coach Jim Murphy left his mark as a basketball coach at CCHS, taking three consecutive teams to
the National Catholic (Prep) Basketball Tournament in 1938-39-40, after finishing second in the state Catholic school tourney
(mind you, the IHSA didn't allow private or parochial schools into their organization until 1941). These games were played
in Chicago, hosted by either Loyola or DePaul.
Previously in 1934, the Irish (as they were called prior to 1938) were Catholic State Champs, and
won their first two games at the National Catholic tournament. Coach Harry Bell directed that team to a 27-2 finish.
Several of the key players for the '34 squad include Carl "Red" Thielbert (who was all-tournament at both
the state and national tournaments), his brother Ralph, Bill Foley, Marv Seastedt,
and Bill Bowen. An excellent artilcle on this team written by Tom Wison of the Galesburg Register
newspaper can be read at:
In 1953-54, the Friars won their only basketball Regional (
www.ihsa.org), defeating Cambridge 61-55, Galesburg 51-48, and Oneida ROVA 53-52 to take home the regional plaque. Coach
Bob Drolet's
team was led by captain
George Bednarcik, Tom Belezos, Joe Mills, Gene Mellican, Chuck McGeary, and Dan Foley.
The win over Galesburg was the first-ever in 13 meetings (at that point) for Corpus Christi, and all three victories came
on consecutive nights...from behind each time!
(Source of ALL of this information is courtesy of "Joe's Back with
Sports Memories" by former Galesburg Register-Mail
sports editor (and Corpus Christi grad) Joe Morrissey...book was published in 1993).
1953-54
N.R.A. Galesburg Regional Champions Coach Bob Drolet
1st Rd Beat Knoxville 76-40
Semi-final Beat Galesburg 51-48
Title Game Beat ROVA 53-52
CORPUS CHRISTI (53): Bednarcik 19, Belezos 11, Mills 9, Mellican 8, McGeary 4, Foley 2.
ONEIDA ROVA (52): W. Cree 18, Rednour 10, G. Cree 8, Turner 6, Harpman 6, King 2, Murdock 2.
Macomb Sectional Tournament
Semi-Final lost to Monmouth 73-45
Monmouth lost to Bowen in title game
MONMOUTH (73): McLoskey 22, Simonsen 17, McKee 14, Galusha 13, McBride 3, Olson
2, Haase 1, Spiker 1.
CORPUS CHRISTI (45): Bednarcik 13, Mills 10, Belazos 7, McGeary 5, Milligan 4,
Foley 2, Soule 2, Ringheim 1, Hund 1.
1963-64
Knox Co, Tourney Champs Coach Rex Davis
