The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is proud to announce its 10th class of recipients of the IHSA Distinguished Media Service Award.
The 2024-25 honorees encompass three active media members who include Western Illinois newspaper staple Shelby Burget, veteran Chicagoland prep writer Mike Clark, and the sports editor of the Mendota Reporter since 1984, Kip Cheek. In addition, two retired prep sports legends will also be honored in Taylor Bell and Barry Temkin, who enjoyed decorated careers with the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, respectively.
The IHSA Distinguished Media Service Award was created to recognize media members who have covered high school sports and activities in Illinois for a significant period of time, while maintaining perspective on the amateur events they report on.
“Congratulations to each of these gentlemen on this well-deserved honor,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Their contributions to high school sports in Illinois, and to their communities, is immeasurable. We know they are beloved figures within the areas and communities they provide coverage and look forward to having a special moment to honor each during the 2024-25 school year.”
IHSA member school personnel and veteran media members in the state are eligible to nominate individuals for the award. Beginning in 2024, the IHSA is seeking to honor at least one retired media member as a part of what is traditionally a class of four honorees.
“The IHSA Distinguished Media Service Award is only 10 years old, so we recognize that there are many deserving individuals who were retired by the time it came into existence,” said IHSA Assistant Executive Director Matt Troha. “We wanted to start the process of trying to recognize at least one of those individuals each year. Barry and Taylor actually tied in the voting, so we felt there was no reason to wait any longer and look forward to honoring both this year.”
The IHSA’s media advisory committee, and a select committee of veteran media members in the state voted on the nominees. Each winner will be honored at a high school event of their choosing during the 2024-25 school year.
“A vital element of this award is the recognition within the community,” said Troha. “We look forward to seeing this year’s winners being recognized in front of the students, coaches, and communities they have impacted with their exceptional work.”
A bio on each of the honorees is below:
TAYLOR BELL
Throughout his career, Taylor Bell was honored for combining his love of sports with his ability to write hard-hitting enterprise stories. The Chicago native graduated from St. Patrick High School in Chicago and then went on to study at the University of Notre Dame. After college, Bell got his start at the Champaign-Urbana Courier and went on to work for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1966-68, Chicago Daily News, 1968-78, and the Chicago Sun-Times, 1978-2001. In 1974, Bell won Associated Press and United Press International awards for a recruiting story on Marquette University basketball star Bo Ellis. In 1979, UPI named him Illinois Sportswriter of the Year. In 1982, Bell’s story on basketball star Efrem Winters won the Jacob Scher Award as the best investigating reporting of the year in Chicago in any media. Bell was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 2001, when he retired from the Sun-Times. He was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. Bell also received the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association’s Buzzy O’Connor Award for contributions to high school basketball in 2002. He has written two books on Illinois high school sports, including Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe: High School Basketball in Illinois and Glory Days of Illinois High School Basketball.
Award Presentation: TBD
SHELBY BURGET
Shelby grew up in Astoria, where he participated in football, basketball, track & field, was a team manager, and also found time to play tuba in the band at Astoria High School. After high school, he went on to attend Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State), where he had his eyes set on remaining involved with sports. “I have always enjoyed sports, but I was not a good athlete. I originally planned to be in broadcasting, but ended up in print media. Working with the Astoria High football program in 1991, I wrote football game stories for the Astoria South Fulton Argus and enjoyed it. I applied at the Macomb Journal the following May.” Shelby spent seven years at the Macomb Journal, before moving across the state to work at the Danville Commercial-News. He eventually made his way back to Western Illinois, spending time at the Macomb Journal/McDonough County Voice (2000-2011), Tri-State Sports Report, Fulton County Democrat, McDonough County Voice (2014-2016) and the Canton Daily Ledger (2016-2019) along the way. Asked his favorite part of covering prep sports, he says, “Watching young people use the power of athletics to grow in every way and to be able to share stories of their respective journeys.” Shelby currently works at the Rushville Times and The Community News Brief In Macomb. He reflects on what has kept him passionate about covering high school sports throughout his career, saying, “In my time I’ve seen state champions, winless teams and a lot in between – I’ve been privileged to document sports history for Macomb High School and surrounding schools during some of the best – and worst – of times. All are unique in their own ways. Great teams are always remembered, but those teams that defy the odds and succeed, that’s part of what makes this profession special.”
Award Presentation: Tuesday, December 10 varsity boys basketball game at Macomb High School (Farmington vs. Macomb).
KIP CHEEK
Kip Cheek was lucky to find his calling as a teenager while attending Olympia High School in Central Illinois, where he played four years of baseball to go along with one year of basketball. Kip started covering sporting events for the high school newspaper and realized he had found his passion, saying “I loved playing sports, but realized I wasn’t going to be a professional, so writing about sports was the best way I knew to stay close to the games.” While attending Illinois State University, he found a part-time job covering high school sports for the Panatgraph Newspaper, thanks in part to fellow Olympia alum and Pantagraph writer Randy Kindred. Kip graduated from ISU in 1983 and was hired by the Mendota Reporter one year later. In an amazing display of loyalty and longevity, he has served as the sports editor, news editor, and publisher of The Mendota Reporter ever since. Kip says that the “purity and innocence” of the competition is what draws him to high school sports. He reflected on a football game where Mendota High School trailed by 40 points, but after recovering a fumble, “the entire defensive unit leapt in the air with joy and excitement. That moment to me is what personifies high school sports.” Some standout moments thus far from Kip’s career covering Mendota athletics include the 1987 football team that advanced to the semifinals before falling to the eventual state champs. He’s covered the Lady Trojans decorated volleyball program through several state final state runs, including finishing second in 1992. The 1995-96 school year was also unforgettable, as the Trojan boys basketball team reached the state finals in March and then played in the baseball state championship game a few months later. He also fondly recalls covering Jaci Bice, as she scored over 2,000 points in leading the Mendota girls basketball team to back-to-back state trips in the late 1990’s. Of the many individual state champions he was able to cover, Sherry Hoffman was the most notable, as she was a two-time state long jump champion (1987, 1989). Kip has been supported by his wife Deobrah throughout his career and adds, “I am truly humbled to be the recipient of such a prestigious award for doing something that I have loved for more than 40 years. Covering high school sports is an honor and a privilege that I wouldn’t trade for any other career. Thank you to those who deemed me worthy of the IHSA Distinguished Media Award.”
Award Presentation: Tuesday, December 17 varsity boys basketball game at Mendota High School (Rock Falls vs. Mendota).
MIKE CLARK
In the mid-1970’s, a reader of the Manteno News sent a letter to the editor asking why there was no coverage of high school sports in the paper. The editor replied that they would gladly print stories if anyone was willing to write them. A then 15-year old Mike Clark raised his hand, and the rest is history. Asked what the best part of covering high school sports is, Mike simply states that “you never run of great stories to tell.” As a student at Manteno High School, Mike also wrote for the Kankakee Daily Journal, the school newspaper, and was a manager for the wrestling team. After graduating from the University of Illinois, his first full-time job was at the Kankakee Daily Journal, with stops at the Macomb Journal, Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune suburban papers along the way. His career has included stops in California, Indiana, Lexuington, Memphis, and Texas. Since December of 2022, Mike has covered prep sports as a freelancer for a variety of outlets, including the Sun-Times, The Lansing Journal, and after a break of over 35 years, a return to the Kankakee Daily Journal. Asked to reflect on a career that has included covering countless state champions and future pros, Mount Carmel High School’s talented trio of wrestling Williams brothers (Joe, TJ, Steve) immediately stand out to him, as do the talented SICA East boys basketball rivalries of the 1980’s and 1990’s that included vaunted teams from Thornton, Thornridge, Bloom, Bloom Trail, and Thornwood. He also fondly recalls covering future World Series winner Cliff Floyd at Thornwood, multiple Mt. Carmel football state title runs, and a variety of sports in the Chicago Public League. Mike attributes his love of journalism to is parents who always had newspaper around the house. A massive music fan, Mike first saw Bruce Springsteen live in 1979 and continues to attend his live shows whenever possible.
Award Presentation: 2025 Chicago Public League Baseball Championship game (likely week of May 19, 2025).
BARRY TEMKIN
A native of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Barry attended Wayland Academy for high school, where he participated in football, swimming, and wrote for the school newspaper. He “loved sports and newspapers growing up”, so his career path was fairly clear after attending the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He broke into the newspaper business in 1974 as an editor for a small chain of weekly papers, then joined the Chicago Tribune Company in 1976, covering small-college sports and writing features for its Suburban Trib before moving to the Chicago Tribune in 1983. He was the Tribune’s prep sports editor from 1986 to 1988 and then spent the final 20 years of his career as the Tribune’s prep sports columnist. The award-winning writer recalls that his favorite part of covering high school sports was “the incredible amount and variety of great stories I was privileged to tell”. Reminiscing on unforgettable moments from his career, he mentions Proviso East’s “Three Amigos” state title team in 1991, the father-son combo of Wayne and Sergio McClain leading Manual to four straight boys basketball titles, Richards going back-to-back in football in the late 80’s, and Candace Parker guiding Naperville Central to a perfect season in girls basketball in 2003. Barry covered countless future professional athletes, and fondly recalls getting to cover Kevin Garnett (Farragut), Jon Scheyer (Glenbrook North), Jamie Brandon (King), Cappie Pondexter (Chicago Marshall), Erin Lawless (Fenwick), Jon Beutjer (Wheaton Warrenville South), Rashard Mendenhall (Niles West), and Alexandria Anderson (Morgan Park) in the prep ranks. He also covered myriad hall of fame coaches, counting Frank Lenti (Mount Carmel), Robert Shannon (East St. Louis Senior), Gary Korhonen (Richards), Roy Curry (Robeson), Gene Pingatore (St. Joseph), Dorothy Gaters (Chicago Marshall), Luther Bedford (Chicago Marshall), Landon “Sonny” Cox (King), Bennie Lewis (East St. Louis Lincoln), Steve Pappas (Gordon Tech/Deerfield), Ron Nikcevich (Lyons), Joe Newton (York), and Jack Kaiser (OPRF) among the most memorable. In terms of the great games, he’ll never forget East. St. Louis Lincoln knocking off Peoria Central in triple OT in the 1989 Class AA boys basketball state championship, Schamburg upsetting Thornwood in the 2001 Class AA boys basketball title game, and Wheaton Warrenville South outlasting Joliet Catholic 40-34 in double OT in the 1992 Class 5A football championship game. Throughout this career, Barry was supported by his wife Jody and their three children Matt, Allie, and Jenna. They continue to reside in Chicagoland and have welcomed grandchildren Olive and Zoe along the way.
Award Presentation: 2025 Chicago Public League Basketball Championships (TBD in March)
