2009 LHSAA-LHSCA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
For Immediate Release: Nov. 2, 2008
BATON ROUGE – Four coaches, two administrators, an official and a competitor highlight a large, but distinguished group of individuals who will be inducted into the 2009 class of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association/Louisiana High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The impact and contributions of LHSAA Assistant Commissioner Douglas “Mac” Chauvin, LaGrange High School Principal Jimmy Anderson, Loreauville High School coach Kirk Crochet, East Ascension High School coach John Barrett Murphy, Brother Martin High School coach John “Jack” Schommer, Downsville High School coach Larry Stegal, and Hanson Memorial High School wrestler Patrick Luke, and Covington High School coach Alfred V. “Allie” Smith not only left a lasting impression on their individual communities, but on the state as well.
The induction ceremony-banquet is set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Crowne Plaza, formerly the Holiday Inn Select, in Baton Rouge. The ceremony will be held in conjunction with the LHSAA's annual convention. With the addition of the eight inductees, the LHSAA-LHSCA Hall of Fame grows to 235 members.
Chauvin is best known for his 25 years as Assistant Commissioner with the LHSAA and is set to retire late this year. Chauvin also worked a combined total of 44 years in high school sports and was a well-known official on the high school and collegic levels.
Anderson, the former principal of LaGrange in Lake Charles, served on the Executive Committee and was elected president of the LHSAA in 1998.
Crochet posted a 201-122 record in 28 seasons as head football coach at Loreauville High. His teams won 12 district championships and made 18 playoffs appearances. In 1994, Crochet also served at the LHSCA president.
Murphy, host of a Baton Rouge radio show about high school sports, had an impressive career in the area serving as head football coach at Catholic High, Belaire and East Ascension. He was an innovative weight-lifting coach and was instrumental in the popularization of wrestling in Baton Rouge.
Known as the “Father of Cross Country in Louisiana,” Schommer coached at St. Aloysius and Brother Martin in New Orleans. His teams won 19 city, 17 district, and three state titles before his retirement in 1990. Schommer died in 2000.
Downsville’s Stegal won more than 1,300 games in basketball and baseball. He accumulated a 722-239 record in boys’ basketball and 603-192 in baseball. Stegal’s baseball teams won five state titles and advanced to the at least the quarterfinals in 18 of 20 seasons, also posting a 41-game winning streak at one point.
Luke was a three-sport letterman at Hanson Memorial, of Franklin, but is best known as a wrestler. He won 28 of the 32 tournaments, set state records for points with 872 and career falls with 83. Luke was also a three-time state champion.
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Click the pdf link below to see the biographies on individual inductees
