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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
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| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Lori Blade on the
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| 4 | occasion of her retirement from Edwardsville High School | ||||||
| 5 | (EHS),
where she has served as the girls basketball and | ||||||
| 6 | softball
head coach for many years; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Coach Blade was first hired as the girls | ||||||
| 8 | basketball coach at
EHS in March 2002; she joined the softball
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| 9 | program as an assistant coach the following spring before | ||||||
| 10 | stepping up
to lead the team in June 2003; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Prior to coaching at EHS, Coach Blade served as | ||||||
| 12 | the
softball coach for Carrollton High School for eight | ||||||
| 13 | seasons; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, After a combined 1,529 basketball and softball | ||||||
| 15 | wins over her
career, Coach Blade announced her retirement | ||||||
| 16 | from coaching in June 2022; and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, In 18 seasons with EHS's softball program,
Coach | ||||||
| 18 | Blade won 13 Southwestern Conference championships, 15 | ||||||
| 19 | regional
championships, and six sectionals and placed in the | ||||||
| 20 | state tournament three times;
as a coach for Carrollton High | ||||||
| 21 | School, she led her teams to an additional eight regional
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| 1 | championships, six sectional championships, and six | ||||||
| 2 | appearances in
the state tournament; and | ||||||
| 3 | WHEREAS, Coach Blade had similar success with the EHS | ||||||
| 4 | girls basketball program,
winning 13 Southwestern Conference | ||||||
| 5 | championships, 17
regional championships, and 13 sectional | ||||||
| 6 | championships and making six
appearances in the state | ||||||
| 7 | tournament; at Carrollton High School, she won an additional
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| 8 | seven regional championships and five sectional championships; | ||||||
| 9 | and | ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, Coach Blade is the only head coach in Illinois | ||||||
| 11 | High School Association
History to retire with over 700 wins | ||||||
| 12 | in two different sports; she has a record of 786 wins and 131 | ||||||
| 13 | losses in softball and 743 wins and 92 losses in basketball | ||||||
| 14 | over 26 seasons
of each; she is ranked fourth in all-time wins | ||||||
| 15 | for softball and eighth in all-time
wins for girls basketball | ||||||
| 16 | in Illinois history; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Coach Blade is a member of multiple halls of | ||||||
| 18 | fame, including the National High
School Athletic Coaches | ||||||
| 19 | Association Hall of Fame, the Illinois Softball Coaches
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| 20 | Association Hall of Fame, the Illinois Basketball Coaches | ||||||
| 21 | Association Hall of Fame,
and the Southern Illinois University | ||||||
| 22 | Edwardsville Hall of Fame; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Coach Blade's time and dedication to the | ||||||
| 2 | mentorship of hundreds of students,
encouraging them to do | ||||||
| 3 | their best in both their sport and their community,
has had a | ||||||
| 4 | lasting impact on those students and their futures; therefore, | ||||||
| 5 | be it
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| 6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 7 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 8 | we congratulate Lori Blade on her
retirement from Edwardsville | ||||||
| 9 | High School, and we recognize her commitment to the community | ||||||
| 10 | and the
mentoring of its students; and be it further
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| 11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
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| 12 | presented to Coach Blade as an expression of our esteem and
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| 13 | respect.
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