Five former U-High athletes will be inducted into the Lab Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 14. The reception and ceremony will take place for its fifth year in Upper Kovler gym at 6 p.m. The entire Lab community is invited and encouraged to attend.
The Lab Athletics Hall of Fame was established as a way to “honor and celebrate alumni athletes, outstanding contributions to the Lab athletics program, and the Schools’ rich athletics history,” according to the Lab Athletics Hall of Fame website.
The alumni inducted this year include:
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- Rebecca Diamond, 2003: Ms. Diamond played as a member of the starting volleyball team, winning the ISL four years in a row. She won ISL Player of the Year for two of the championships. Her demonstrations of determination, perseverance and grace as she led the team to victory were apparent both on and off the field as she demonstrated what it means to be an exceptional student athlete.
- Jef Fish, 1976: Mr. Fish played as a three-sport athlete, participating in a varsity sport for every athletic season of the school year. He competed as a four-year varsity swimmer leading the team to three ISL championships, a four-year varsity tennis player winning two ISL championships, as well as a three-year varsity soccer player, named all-conference two years in a row, leading the team to three ISL championships.
- James Fleming, 1975: Mr. Fleming played as a four-year varsity basketball player, and earned the title of Top 50 Chicagoland basketball player twice in his four years on the team. He was named all-conference three times and was awarded Conference Player of the Year. During his time as the team captain, they only lost six games in three years. He later returned to the team as a coach, mentoring future Hall of Fame inductees.
- Lars Nelson, 1995: Mr. Nelson was a four-year varsity tennis player in addition to playing soccer and basketball. He was named ISL Player of the Year and placed fourth in singles in the Illinois State Championships his senior year. He continued his tennis career at Santa Clara University. At SCU, Lars ranked No. 1 in singles and helped the team in achieving their national ranking of No. 57.
- John Oxtoby, 2003: Mr. Oxtoby participated on both soccer and baseball teams. Playing soccer, he was a two-time ISL Conference Player of the Year, four-time ISL all-conference, two-time captain, and won IHSA all-state honors his senior year. His total career goals was the fifth-highest all-time in IHSA boys soccer history. He was captain of the baseball team in 2003, four-time ISL all-conference. He continued to play soccer at Harvard for four years.
Athletics Director Matthew Manley said, “It’s a way to highlight all the great things that have happened here, but also all the great history. So many really exciting things have happened in our history, and you know if you’ve just come in you might not know them.”
Mr. Manley explained that the hall of fame is designed to not only carry on the legacy of athletes who thrived during their years at U-High, but also to inspire the current generation.
