Principal Eric Michaelsen was admitted to the Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 18 at Cog Hill for coaching. After being an assistant football coach for five years and a head coach for 12, he is being inducted due to his diligent work and long time dedication to the team.

Michaelsen also coached basketball for a period of time, but was the only one coaching, contrasting to football where he worked alongside several additional coaches that work with the 130+ students involved with the football program. “[This] would have never happened without good players and the other good coaches,” said Michaelsen, thanking his fellow teachers: Howell, Conoset, Gagnon, LaBarbera, Hardy, St. Clair, Leffler, and Hayes.

Michaelsen expects more students to enter the Athletic Hall of Fame in the future because of the talent he sees in Lemont’s students, citing the several championships that various sports teams have won in the past ten years. “[The future] looks bright; these are really good kids that want to do well. You have to have kids that are willing to put in the effort and time; coaches need to do the same. If you get that combination, then good things will happen,” said Michaelsen.

As a member of Lemont’s 1981 graduating class, Michaelsen said that “[he] got the most out of it as he could;” this same advice he gives to the current students: “Do as well as you can; work hard.”

As a student, “[I] wanted to come back and teach and coach. Now, I get to do what I love at the place that I love; that’s a pretty nice combination,” said Michaelsen regarding his current position as principal and newly inducted member of the Athletic Hall of Fame.