Both North Division and Waller had plenty to offer to its student body. As a charter member of the Cook County League in 1890, the boys had football, ran track, played basketball, baseball, tennis, and swimming, while also holding their own in rowing. From information complied from www.ihsa.org, the girls completed in basketball and track.

 

Historian Robert Pruter tells us the reason why Waller stayed as North Division to 1910 is because the student body resisted the change of the name to Waller, and newspapers acceded to the wishes of the North Division teams that they be called “North Division” rather than Waller. So all results should show North Division to 1910.

 

 

 

North Division won three outright Cook County League titles and shared a fourth with Englewood during the early 1900's. They also played in one of the first-known interdivision games in 1903 against Brooklyn Boys' High School, winning 75-0. Thru 1939, records do not show that the school (which was by then known as Waller) did not win another title.  

 

               Defeated Brooklyn Boys' High 75-0 in interdivision game

1906       Cook County League Champions                     coach unknown    

 

 

              F. Nelson                         220-yd hurdles---3rd place

1907  7th in State

          Cook County League Outdoor Champions

          STATE FINAL STANDINGS 

            1   Oak Park-River Forest                 18
            7   Chicago North Division/Waller   5 1/5  
            8   Greenfield                                    5  
                 Normal Community                       5  
                 Joliet Township                            5  
                 Chicago McKinley                        5  
                 Moline HS                                   5                  

                 Chicago Phillips                           5

            Individual Medalists

              Boynton Rogers                      High Jump---3rd place 
                                                             Pole Vault---2nd place
              Gregory Vigeant                     880-yd run---2nd place 
1910   Nelson Norgren                          Shotput---2nd place

1926   Tied for 9th in State

            STATE FINAL STANDINGS
              1  Chicago Senn                           17.5
              9  Macomb                                    6              

                  Chicago Waller                        6 

            Individual Medalists

             William Labant                       Long Jump---2nd place

             J. Labant                                Long Jump---4th place              

1927   Individual Medalist

             William Labant                        Long Jump---3rd place

EXCELLENT JOB BY THE NORTH DIVISION/WALLER THINCLADS!!!

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

 

North Division/Waller had success as a cage team, competiting in three championship games of the Cook County League tournament, and taking two titles during the early 1900’s. The school actually was one of the first in the city that began playing other teams, starting as far back as 1896 against YMCA and other club teams, then was involved in the inaugural season of the CCL's boys'  basketball action in 1900-01 before losing in the title game

 

1901      Lost to Hyde Park in overtime,  23-22 
1903      Beat Medill, 41-14
1904      Downed Austin, 26-19

 

BOYS’ TENNIS

 

As early as the spring of 1894, North Division had a team that played against other schools, including those that were members of the Cook County High School Lawn Tennis Association. The organization held a tournament in 1894.

 

BOYS’ SWIMMING

 

Here’s a first for the trivia buffs: in 1902, North Division/Waller along with Armour Academy and Lewis Institute competed in the first-known interscholastic swimming competition among Illinois high schools. No other records have been found on the IHSA website to show if the school had any swimmers that placed at the state meet.

 

BASEBALL 

 

Another first for Illinois prep sports history happened with North Division’s help. On May 14, 1884, Hyde Park and North Division hooked up on the baseball diamond in what was the first-ever game with two Illinois public high schools, which was won by Hyde Park, 15-7. North Division won the Cook County League in 1886.

 

INDOOR BASEBALL/SOFTBALL

 

North Division was one of the first schools in Chicago to play this sport during the winter months, which amounted to a version of today’s softball, using thinner bats and a ball that was 14 to 17 inches thick. The school joined the Cook County League in 1896, and won the league titles in 1903 as well as 1905.

 

ROWING

 

Given its close location to Lake Michigan, Waller competed in this sport, beginning in 1939. It won the Senior Eight division in 1941 and competed in the Central States Schoolboy Rowing Association Regatta, which led into the Central States Regatta after the city championship was held.

 

 

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

 

There was girls’ hoops played around the turn of the 20th century as North Division did have a team. The IHSA website states that North Division was involved in a game with one of the lowest amount of points scored by two teams. On March 15, 1901. Austin (3) and North Division (1) combined for just four points in an overtime contest, just two points shy of the state record. The school continued to play up thru 1910 when Chicago Schools Superintendent Edwin Cooley banned all girls' interscholastic sports.

 

GIRLS' TRACK

 

One athlete went to the state finals and came back a medal to honor the long history of track at Waller as girls' sports were just getting started at the state level in the 1970's.

 

1976    Individual Medalist

            Dorthea Patterson            Long Jump----4th place  

FAMOUS ALUMNI

 

--H. Jamison Handy (class of 1902)— Although Handy never swam on the North Division swimming team, his subsequent career led him to be elected to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In the 1904 Olympic Games at St. Louis, he took third in the 100-yard breast, and helped the USA take third in the 440-yard free relay. He was an alternate member on the United States Olympic water polo team in 1924, and became manufacturer of swimming-related products and innovator in underwater camera technology.

 

--Walter Steffen (class of 1904)— after serving as captain and quarterback for North Division’s intersectional champs over Brooklyn Boys in 1903, he starred on the University of Chicago team, where he made Walter Camp’s all-American third team in 1907 and first team in 1908. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

 

--Nelson Norgren (class of 1910) – became an all-American basketball player at the University of Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago, IL  60631