Meet the St. Bede Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023

St. Bede Academy will be inducting its Class of 2023 Hall of Fame introductions during Saturday’s Homecoming activities.

Here’s a look at this year’s honorees from St. Bede’s profile pages:

Emily (Arkins) Balestri

Thinking back on her time at St. Bede Academy, one of Emily (Arkins) Balestri’s fondest memories, was having softball practice up in the former chapel. Those softball practices were what helped her achieve All-Bureau County (BCR) and Tri-County Conference awards in the sport.

In addition to softball, Emily also participated in basketball and tennis while a student at St. Bede, earning both 2nd team All-BCR recognition, as well as TCC All-Conference. Emily was a state qualifier in tennis her junior and senior years, winning the program’s Most Valuable Player in 2001.

Emily’s involvement at St. Bede wasn’t just limited to athletics. She was also nominated for Elks Teen of the month, served on student government, was vice president of Bruinomics, served as a St. Bede student ambassador, was a member of the yearbook committee and was a student rotarian. She also received a number of honors and awards including the Academic All-Conference Award in 2001, the U.S. Army award for female scholar-athlete of the year in 2002 and graduated in the top 10 percent (7th) in her class.

After St. Bede, Emily attended Illinois State University, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a doctorate of physical therapy from St. Ambrose University. Today she is a licensed physical therapist for OSF HealthCare. Emily married Mark Balestri ‘03 in 2010 and they have three wonderful children: Bradyn, 12; Lillian, 10 and Nolan, 4. The Balestris have settled in Peru to be close to their families.

Emily appreciated always being greeted with a big smile and a handshake from Brother George. To this day, she values all the great friendships she made while at the Academy. “I still am lucky enough to have them in my life. I had an amazing class all-around. We had a lot of different personalities, but I enjoyed them all,” she said.

Caitlin (Gidcumb) Colling

As St. Bede moves towards the 50th anniversary of female sports at the academy, one of the most-decorated female athletes enters our Hall Of Fame - Caitlin (Gidcumb) Colling.

Caitlin was a four-sport athlete throughout her high school career, participating in softball, basketball, volleyball and tennis - excelling in both softball and basketball.

She played softball for 2022 SBA Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee Abbot Emeritus Philip Davey. Caitlin was the first freshman to ever be honored as an All-Area Softball Team selection in the News Tribune - an award she eventually received all four years. She was named the program’s Most Valuable Player all four years while attending St. Bede. Caitlin was also recognized as Bureau County Republican’s Area Softball Player of the Year and one of News Tribune’s Top Female Athletes of the decade (2000-2010).

In basketball, Caitlin achieved the highest three-point shooting percentage in St. Bede’s history, up until that time. Her senior year, she received all-state honors and was named News Tribune’s All-Conference Basketball 1st team.

Upon graduation, Caitlin attended Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. where she played NAIA Div. 1 Softball. She earned several awards, including CCAC Conference Freshman of the Year, 2nd Team All-American and National Player Of The Week during her senior season - an award only presented to eight players out of an eligible 3,300 individuals! Caitlin holds Olivet Nazarene records in career runs batted in and doubles.

Caitlin fondly remembers spirit days with her classmates, attending football games with her friends, competing in the postseason with the softball team her senior year, home basketball games and singing on the bus as it drove down St. Bede’s historic tree-lined entry lane. Caitlin currently lives outside of Nashville, Tn with her husband and four children.

Ralph F. Levaccare, 1969 - 1973

As a boarding student, Ralph Levaccare built lifelong friendships with his fellow students and the religious community.

During his time at St. Bede, Ralph played three sports every year, including football, in which he served as one of three captains. Ralph was honored with awards from both the local radio stations and newspaper. He was also named First Team All-State in the Chicago Daily Newspaper.

In college, Ralph started on the junior varsity football team as a freshman at Illinois State University. He transferred and for the next three years he attended Elmhurst College where he started a club soccer team.

Ralph earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Elmhurst College and went on to work for Continental Distributing for 19 years and then Sysco Food Service for 20 years.

Here’s a look at this year’s honorees from St. Bede’s proficago Park District, American Youth Soccer Organization and for the Illinois High School Association. He has been a lifelong parishioner of Saint Ignatius Parish in Chicago. He married the lovely and talented Judy Zander in 1985, and they will celebrate their 38th anniversary this year. The Levaccares have three children; Lauren, Matthew and Mary.

“The camaraderie and good fellowship among my teammates has been very dear to me throughout my life,” Ralph said.

Richard “Dick” Verruchi, 1960-1966

The Verucchi family is well-known in the Illinois Valley thanks to their “Ristorante,” which was first opened by Grandfather Battista and Grandmother Elizabeth. The Ristorante has been a part of the Spring Valley community for nearly 110 years, having been passed down generations.

Much like that restaurant, St. Bede Academy has also stood the test of time thanks to the many students who have graced its halls. One of those being Richard “Dick” Verruchi, who graduated 10th in his class in 1964 while playing football and basketball and running track.

While at St. Bede, he also served as a sports columnist for the Bedan newspaper and participated in two stage plays, “A Hat Full of Rain” and “Billy Budd.”

After high school, Dick went on to earn an associate’s degree through St. Bede’s Junior College in 1966 before going on to Illinois State University where he graduated with a teaching degree in 1970.

Some of Dick’s best memories at St. Bede include beating LaSalle-Peru in football his senior year and qualifying for the state track in the 880-yard relay. He also remembers how the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 - his senior year - stunned the students and the nation and changed the paradigm for years to come.

After St. Bede, Dick retired from playing organized sports and took up drum lessons from well-known area teacher Jimmy Brown. “He influenced and helped create many excellent drummers and musicians in the Illinois Valley area. By 1965, I was playing in up-and-coming rock-and-roll bands - ‘The Vengents’ being a very popular local band, and the idea of putting a band together became my main focus,” he said.

In 1977, Dick married Dawn Marini and they have two children, Carlo ‘80 and Marco, who passed away in 2022. Carlo and his wife, Natilie, have two children, Luca and CiCi. Marco had two children, Mariano and Gianni. Gianni now lives with Dawn and Dick.

Ken Anderson, 1983-1991

Ken Anderson was employed as both a coach and teacher at St. Bede Academy from 1983 to 1991. During his time here, he served as the head boys basketball coach, compiling an overall record of 114 - 97. Over those eight seasons, his teams won regional championships in 1985 and 1990. Ken also assisted with football, baseball and track.

After serving at St. Bede, Ken moved on to coach boys basketball at Maple Park Kaneland. During his overall coaching career, he was regarded as one of the better “big game coaches”. One of his fellow Kaneland High School coaches Ralph Drendel said, “When a big game was on the line, his kids played above their ability. That’s a credit to the coach.”

This ability certainly shined through as one of Ken’s career highlights was winning the 1985 regional championship by defeating Princeton, which was at the time, ranked 3rd in the state. What made this accomplishment more special was that Princeton had defeated St. Bede by 20 or so points just a week or so earlier that season.

Ken tragically passed away at the age of 7 while he was playing volleyball at a graduation party of one of his student-athletes. He was considered a dedicated educator and coach who had great rapport with kids. Jill Holmes, Kaneland’s athletic director, said, “He made his student-athletes feel like they were family.”

Ken’s players at St. Bede witnessed Coach Anderson’s passion for basketball. He relished the process of scouting and developing game plans for opponents, designing defenses to combat their strengths. In a week of 3 games, his team would commonly play 3 different defenses if needed. One former player commented “Coach Anderson loved basketball, he was a basketball lifer, no doubt he would have won hundreds more basketball games had he lived longer.”

In an article from May 19, 1995, Ken said, “The best thing about coaching is the daily interaction with the guys, because that is where you actually teach them things about the game of basketball. Another aspect of coaching that is good is being with the young men and watching them grow, mature and succeed. One of the downfalls is being away from my wife and kids.”

Ken was honored by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association as a Coach of the Year for both his 1990-91 St. Bede Academy and his 1994-95 Kaneland seasons.

Competing during an era of St. Bede Academy powerhouse football programs, the 1972-73 football team compiled a record of seven wins versus two losses - one of the more memorable wins was a 28-6 victory over LaSalle-Peru High School. In fact, senior members of the 1972-73 Bruin football program went undefeated against LP squads during their high school career.

1972 Football Team

During the 1972 football season, St. Bede was not in a conference, so games were scheduled independently. They were placed against a challenging schedule including games in Dubuque, Ia., Rock Island and Peoria.

Many members of the team indicate that the coaching staff, led by head coach John Gaughan, were just “fantastic coaches”. Gaughan would state that football was the greatest man-building sport ever and while that may be, players remember Gaughan as “the person who was the greatest man-builder ever.”

Season Record, 7 wins, 2 losses

SBA Opponents

22 Mendota 6

28 LaSalle-Peru 6

40 Bloomington Catholic 24

30 Kankakee Eastridge 14

50 Marquette 0

14 Dubuque-Wahlert 27

40 Morris 12

22 Streator 6

8 Rock Island Alleman 27