JOLIET – The Joliet Area Sports Hall of Fame will induct five members as the Class of 2015 in a private ceremony Friday evening in the Hall of Fame Room at Silver Cross Field.

The five are Nick Bromberek, Barb Burk, Oliver Gibson, Mark Ruettiger and Pat Sullivan. They will be on the field at 6:30 p.m. and will be introduced to the crowd awaiting Friday night’s Joliet Slammers vs. River City Rascals game.

A rundown on the Hall of Fame accomplishments of the five inductees for 2015 follows.

NICK BROMBEREK

Nick Bromberek nearly did the unthinkable nearly twice.

After single-handedly tying for the Illinois Elementary School Association track team championship as an eighth-grader at Lemont Central Junior High in 1996, he almost did it again four years later as the lone state qualifier from Lemont at the IHSA Class AA finals.

Bromberek captured individual state titles in the long jump (23 feet, 8 inches), 200-meter dash (21.54 seconds) and 400 (47.5), while being a photo finish away from also winning the 100 (11.01). He totaled 38 points, second to only York’s 70, in his bid to capture Lemont’s first-ever team state championship by himself.

It was the end to an incredible four-year run at Lemont, where Bromberek was a four-time all-state selection in the sport, a conference champion in 16 events, a 15-time sectional medalist (including seven golds) and a conference and school record-holder in each of the previously mentioned four events. And, in football, the two-time all-conference pick returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in one game.

Bromberek continued the two-sport run of football and track and field at the Air Force Academy, where he again made his mark, earning All-Mountain West Conference distinction 12 times and boasting four top-10 program performances highlighted by third-place rankings in the 200, 4x400 relay and spring medley relay. He closed his collegiate career setting a World Military Games record in the 400 in 2004.

BARB BURK

A pioneer not just for Lockport girls athletics, but also on the state and national stages as well.

For two years before Barb Burk started an incredible 30-year run coaching the Porters’ softball team to nearly 700 victories, she was volunteering her time to get girls athletics started at the school. Before retiring in 2002, she was a key figure in the installation of six Porter sports – softball, basketball, bowling, golf, tennis and volleyball – while also serving as the girls’ sports coordinator for 15 years.

It was on the diamond, however, where Burk made her mark, retiring as the winningest coach in Illinois and just 17 wins shy of the national record at the time. The unfathomable .780 winning percentage (685-193) resulted in 19 conference championships, 11 regional titles, seven sectional crowns and seven state finals appearances.

Five times, the Porters advanced to the semifinal round of the state finals with a pair of second-place finishes before outlasting Morton in 15 innings for the coveted state crown in 1997.

A three-time coach of the year recipient, including national honors from the National High School Athletic Coaches Association in 2001, Burk was selected to the Illinois Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and two years later to the Illinois Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

In 2011, she was recognized for her contributions to both girls and women in sports when she was named the Illinois Pathfinder Award winner at the National Association of Girls and Women’s Sports Convention.

OLIVER GIBSON

Hard work and dedication can go a long way, and no one demonstrated that better than Oliver Gibson.

The Romeoville linebacker was wooed by nearly every NCAA I football program in the nation in 1989 after earning USA Today High School Defensive Player of the Year honors and Parade Prep All-America status.

Ranked by many publications as the 15th-best prospect in the nation that year, Gibson eventually settled on University of Notre Dame, where he was a part of five bowl teams between 1990 and 1995. He closed his collegiate career as the Irish’s fourth-leading tackler his senior year with 59 stops leading to the program’s Moose Krause Lineman of the Year award.

That same season, he was named the recipient of Notre Dame’s Nick Pietrosante Award, presented to the Irish player who best exemplifies the courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and pride of the late Irish fullback.

Gibson’s work ethic during his five seasons on the collegiate gridiron ultimately resulted in every football player’s dream, selection in the NFL Draft. His number came up in the fourth round of the 1995 draft when he was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He played four seasons (1995 to 1998) along the defensive line for the Steelers, including being a part of the Super Bowl XXX team in 1996. Gibson went on to play another five years (1999 to 2003) for the Cincinnati Bengals, where he was the team’s 2001 NFL Unsung Hero award winner for exemplifying dedication, commitment and love of football, fans and community.

He closed his nine-year professional career registering 243 tackles, 17.5 sacks and one interception.

MARK RUETTIGER

The Ruettiger name is synonymous with wrestling, but Mark Ruettiger still was able to separate himself from the crowd (six brothers, 13 siblings), not to mention the entire state, doing so in unprecedented fashion.

From 1978 to 1981, Ruettiger dropped only five of 158 decisions on the mat (.968 winning percentage) at Providence Catholic en route to becoming the state’s first four-time high school individual champion. One year before that extraordinary run, he was an Illinois Kids’ Wrestling Federation state champion, while placing in the state kids’ finals the previous three years.

During the amazing ride at Providence, Ruettiger ran off a string of 103 consecutive victories and posted 99 career falls in leading the Celtics to a pair of state titles at the front and back end of his career.

Named an Illinois Outstanding Wrestler in 1980 and 1981 and a USA Wrestling Dream Team member the latter year, Ruettiger went on to twice qualify for the NCAA I National Championships as a member of Eastern Illinois University’s program. He won a regional championship in 1984 before garnering All-America status one year later.

Ruettiger’s success on the mat also translated into the coaching ranks, where he went 274-87-1 with four conference titles and a third-place state team finish in 2008 at Lincoln-Way Central. His accomplishments have earned him induction into three previous halls of fame: Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials, Providence Catholic Athletic and Rudy’s Gym.

PAT SULLIVAN

Joliet and Pat Sullivan. The marriage has been inseparable, with each taking pride in the other.

Joliet’s native son is the essence of the blue-collar work mentality of the region, resulting in more than 600 coaching victories between Providence Catholic and University of St. Francis and a plethora of coaching and community honors.

A coach of the year recipient 13 times and a six-time Hall of Fame inductee, the Joliet Catholic graduate competed in baseball and basketball at then-Lewis College, where he earned valedictorian status for his 1965 graduating class.

A Jaycee Educator of the Year in 1971, Sullivan taught and coached for 11 years at Providence (1965 to 1976) before earning four regional athletic administrator of the year honors during his 35-year run in roles as director of athletics and athletic chairman at St. Francis (1976 to 2010). Sullivan’s community outreach to his hometown has also earned him a Community Leader of America award, Irish American Society of Will County Citizen of the Year honors and the Joliet Chamber of Commerce’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

A noted worldwide basketball clinician and speaker, he was the 2011 recipient of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Buzzy O’Connor Award for Lifetime Contributions to Illinois Basketball.

Sullivan, who penned the book “Attitude – The Cornerstone of Leadership,” received the ultimate honor in 2011, when USF’s Recreation Center was renamed the Pat Sullivan Center for his many years of dedicated service to the institution.