Evanston Athletic Spotlight: Shannyn Gillespie

by Paul Harris-Hertel

Since he was 14 years old, wrestling has been an integral part of Evanston native Shannyn Gillespie's life.  After winning a state title his senior year of high school and wrestling in college at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, Gillespie coached  the Black Kats Wrestling Club in Evanston.  Currently,  he is the women's wrestling coach at the U.S. Olympic Education Center, located at Northern Michigan University.

Upon entering Evanston Township High School in 1985, he weighed just 94 pounds.  By his senior year Gillespie was a state champion in the 119-pound weight class.  His first-place finish in 1989 was the last  state title in ETHS wrestling  history.

"I'd always thought of myself as an athlete," said Gillespie, "but I was small, and wrestling was one of the few sports that gave me an opportunity to compete against guys my size."

Gillespie credited Elias George, the former wrestling coach at Evanston, with helping him achieve success not only on the mat, but in life as well.

"If you're a good coach, you teach things to your athletes that they use in real life, and he definitely did that," said Gillespie.  "He instilled in me the value of persistence, dedication and hard work."

Gillespie's success at the high school level earned him a scholarship to Lock Haven University, where he was an NCAA All-American and took third place at the 1993 NCAA Wrestling Championships.  After graduating, he spent two years living and training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  He confessed he did not perform quite as well as he wanted there, due in part to a severe knee injury.  Despite the difficulties he faced at the USOC, he still feels the experience was worthwhile.

"To say it was easy wouldn't be true," Gillespie admitted.  "But to say I learned a lot about myself would be accurate."

While working as a stockbroker in Chicago, Gillespie was also executive director and general manager of the Black Kats Wrestling Club, which uses wrestling, along with academic tutoring, to help combat juvenile delinquency and academic failure among disadvantaged youth.

"I wanted to help children learn things through wrestling that they could carry into the classroom and in life," he said.

Gillespie said the organization works mostly with kids from 6 to 13 years old, although he added that high school kids work out with the club when they are not in season.  In his tenure at BKWC, Gillespie took part in both coaching and fundraising.  He was particularly successful in the latter area, raising over $20,000 to help the not-for-profit group cover expenses.  He added he still gives information and advice to the BKWC regarding business and marketing aspects.

But Gillespie missed the day-to-day competition of wrestling.  So two years ago he jumped at the opportunity to coach female wrestlers at the USOEC in Marquette, Mich.

"As a stockbroker, you can still stoke the competitive fire a little bit and get your adrenaline going," he explained.  "But it was more stressful [than I wanted]."

The USOEC is an affiliation between Northern Michigan, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and USA Wrestling.  All of the athletes at the USOEC are students at Northern Michigan, which gives them the ability to balance academics with athletics.  However, the wrestlers technically are not Northern Michigan interscholastic competitors. Five of the wrestlers on the 2006 U.S. Women's National Team are current or former USOEC resident-athletes.  In total, Gillespie had 16 women on this past year's team.  Next year, he hopes to have as many as 30 athletes: 16 full-scholarship wrestlers, eight partial-scholarship wrestlers, and eight walk-ons.  With the likelihood of injuries occurring during the season, Gillespie wants to have as many bodies as possible.

"Realistically, if we have 30 athletes, by the end of the year the number could be down to 20," he said.

Gillespie sees the rise in the number of prospective wrestlers at the USOEC as an indication of a nationwide rise in the popularity of women's wrestling.  The sport's growth in popularity was aided by its debut as an Olympic sport in the 2004 Summer Games.  He admitted the sport is not growing as fast as he would like.  Currently, only Texas and Hawaii offer wrestling for girls as a high school sport, although California is considering being the third state to do so.

Still, Gillespie said, "Steady growth [of the sport] with a solid foundation in place is the most important thing.  That's better than if it were to grow too fast."

For Gillespie, the solid foundation he considers so vital began in Evanston.  Reflecting on what growing up and going to school here meant for him, he singled out the chances the community, and especially the high school, offered him and many others.

"Evanston has a lot of opportunities and lots of things to take advantage of," Gillespie said, mentioning that ETHS had better athletic facilities and equipment than the college he attended. 
"It's just a wonderful place to live and grow," he continued.  "[Growing up in Evanston] really helped me to seize opportunities when you have them, because you don't see the opportunities you do in Evanston everywhere you go."

Evanston Bicycle Club Still Riding in its Third Decade

By Paul Harris-Hertel

For the more than 25 years it has been in existence, the Evanston Bicycle Club's goal has been "to promote cycling as a fitness activity and as an environmentally sound form of transportation, and to promote bike safety," said Neal Ney, the current EBC president.

The EBC's riding season runs from the beginning of March through the end of October.  The club offers rides for people of all abilities and interests, from slow-paced day trips around Chicago and the North Shore to tours around the state or into Indiana and Wisconsin over the course of a weekend.  The number of cyclists varies from trip to trip.  Some rides have as many as 25 riders, while others have as few as two or three.

One of the more popular trips is the one to Forest Home Cemetery in Oak Park, where the Haymarket Square anarchists are buried.  The Slow Century, another ride that brings out a lot of people, is a 100-mile ride that allows the riders who are unable or unaccustomed to going at high speeds to complete a century ride. 

One of the more recent cycling expeditions was a  picnic trip to Lighthouse Beach.  The trip consisted of slow, moderate and fast rides, which altogether brought 50 cyclists to the lakefront for lunch.

In addition to the plethora of rides led by EBC members, the club holds its annual fundraiser, the North Shore Century (NSC), on the third Sunday of September.

"Over the last 10 years, we've given away 73 percent of the money [generated by the NSC] to 36 different groups," said JoAnn Budde, EBC treasurer.

Those groups include several police departments, including Evanston's, that have bike patrols and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, which received a $3,000 grant last year.  Some of the money from last year's NSC was also used to purchase a hand-operated cycle for a non-profit organization that leads bicycle trips for the disabled.  A not-for-profit organization itself, the EBC uses the money it does not give away to help underwrite the costs of its fundraisers. About 1600 riders participated in the NSC last year, and the EBC gave away more than $12,000.

Some EBC members ride in events like the National 24-Hour Challenge in Michigan, in which the goal is to ride as far as possible in 24 hours - as much as 300-400 miles in all.  Mr. Ney said that although four or five EBC members compete in this event every year, he is not among them. "I have a problem with sleep deprivation as a part of athletics," he explained, "so it's not my cup of tea."

Mr. Ney emphasized that the club is open to anyone who wants to join - even to those for whom staying awake through the night to bike more than 300 miles is not the definition of a good time.  Individual memberships cost $15 a year; family memberships,  $20.  Meetings are at 7:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at the Ladd Arboretum.  For information on rides or events, call the EBC 24-hour events, 847-604-1225.