Hap Belzowski
Staci Landis Otto
Tom King
On Feb. 19, 2010, between the boys JV and varsity basketball games versus Chesterton, LaPorte High School inducted six individuals into the Norm Hubner Athletic Hall of Fame. Here is a biography of each individual inducted:
Bob LeRoy
Bob Le Roy is the only tennis coach in LaPorte High School history to coach a state-champion team (1968) and singles player (Dan Bigg in 1968). He probably also was the first Slicer tennis coach who ever had played the game.
LeRoy was named Indiana Tennis Coach of the Year in 1980 and 1989 and was inducted into the Indiana Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1980 he was nominated for National Tennis Coach of the Year. LeRoy compiled a brilliant 24-year record of 375-92 in boys tennis, winning nine sectionals, six regionals, four semistates and one state title, plus 13 combined titles in the Northern Indiana and Duneland conferences. In addition, he coached the Slicers to fourth place in 1967 – the first year of Indiana’s state tennis tournament – while taking seconds in 1979 and 1989.
When girls sports began to explode in the late 1970s, LeRoy started the girls program. He compiled a superb 208-84 record in 15 years of girls tennis. His Slicer girls teams – paced by standouts Karen Day and Marianne Guiney — placed third in the state in 1977 and fourth in 1978. They won eight sectionals, seven regionals and six Duneland Conference titles.
Bob Strieter
When Bob Strieter was a youngster, he couldn’t properly pronounce the word “yes.” It always came out “utch.” So Utch he was and still is today as one of the greatest football players in LaPorte High history. The nickname was appropriate because it speaks of a toughness that he had as a powerful fullback for the Slicers. In his senior year, 1959, the 5-11, 212-pounder bulled his way to 1,346 yards — which stood as a school record until broken in 2006. He also set school records with a 236-yard game and 17 touchdowns in a season and had a spectacular 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against defending state champion South Bend Central. He was named Slicer MVP and made All-State.
Moving to wrestling, Bob was a dominant heavyweight with a 37-5 career record. As a senior he won 21 consecutive decisions before losing in the state-championship match. He was named Slicer MVP for the second time.
The Slicer star then played four years at the University of Miami (Fla.), where he was a two-way guard at 230 pounds. He played in the Liberty Bowl in 1961 and the Gotham Bowl in 1962. He then spent one and one-half years as a defensive end with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League before launching a long coaching and teaching career. Sons Bobby and John played for him during the eight years (1982-89) that he was the Slicers’ head football coach.
Dick Baumgartner
It’s only fitting that Dick Baumgartner be enshrined in the Norman J. Hubner Athletic Hall of Fame, because Hubner coached “Bummy” in basketball and always listed him among his favorite players. Dick lettered in basketball from 1947-49 and scored 515 points during his career. He led the Slicers with 251 points during a banner senior campaign, after which he was named MVP and Kaminski free throw champion. That 17-9 season (1948-49) marked the last time the Slicers would win a sectional title for 27 years. He also served as student body president as a senior. In addition, he played football and ran track.
While attending Indiana University, he lettered two years in basketball and one in track. He started coaching basketball while in the U.S. Army. He later coached four Indiana All-Stars during a 19-year career and had a combined record of 350-135 at Roachdale, Crawfordsville and Richmond. In 1958 he guided Crawfordsville to a state runner-up finish. Overall he won 17 sectionals, nine regionals and one semistate, plus four North Central Conference titles. A past president of the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, he was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
For over 42 years, the ex-Slicer star has been recognized as one of the nation’s foremost experts on shooting. He invented the “Sure Shot” method, which he has used in his basketball camps for 34 years, has written three books and produced nine videos and DVDs.
Hap Belzowski
Zygmund “Hap” Belzowski was the Slicers’ leading scorer and MVP in the banner 1943-44 basketball campaign during which they went to the state finals before bowing to eventual champion Evansville Bosse, 41-38, in the afternoon round. Despite the tough loss, Belzowski was the leading scorer at the state finals. The six-foot, 155-pounder also led the Slicers with 273 points and was the leading scorer in the strong Northern Indiana Conference with 112 points in 10 games. He finished his career with 365 points.
Belzowski later attended Valparaiso University. He played varsity basketball as a guard-forward for two years and also was a varsity baseball pitcher-second baseman for two years. Both years he led the Crusaders in hitting.
During his career, he coached at Michigan schools Three Oaks and Lakesville before moving to California, where he continued for many years at Santa Fe High in Santa Fe Springs. He posted a three-year record of 70-39 at Three Oaks with three consecutive conference championships.
In 1969, Belzowski was named to Indiana’s Silver Anniversary team, which honored the top basketball players from the 1943-44 campaign.
Staci Landis
It would be no stretch to say that Staci Landis (now Staci Landis Otto) is the best female athlete ever produced by LaPorte High School. Though girls sports really didn’t sprout until the late 1970s, the 6-foot standout left her mark by lettering nine times in a total of four sports – three in volleyball, three in basketball, two in tennis and one in track. She is the first female to be inducted into the Hubner Hall of Fame.
Landis was the Duneland Conference MVP in volleyball as a junior. She missed most of her senior year in volleyball because she suffered a broken neck the previous summer when a girl was thrown into a swimming pool and landed on the Slicer star’s neck. Miraculously – after wearing a halo cast for three months and suffering a slight paralysis in her left arm — she returned to play in the last three regular-season matches, plus the sectional and regional.
In basketball, she set a LaPorte rebounding record as a junior while helping the Slicers notch their first-ever girls sectional title. She then broke her own rebounding record as a senior. In tennis, she teamed with Denise Cains to reach the state finals in doubles as a junior. As a senior she earned MVP honors while posting a 17-6 record at No. 1 singles. Landis then attended the University of Wyoming on a full volleyball scholarship. She was a four-year starter at middle blocker and served as team captain during her junior and senior years. She twice was named all-conference and winner of Wyoming’s mental attitude award.
Her love of sports made coaching an obvious occupational choice. She actually began coaching while attending Purdue University during her fifth year of college. She has been coaching for 25 years – mostly at New York private schools – and has coached at all levels.
Tom King
Tom King has the statistics to support his ranking as the greatest baseball pitcher in LaPorte High history. He had great control for a fire-balling left-hander and paced the Slicers to a state championship in 1971. Though he was not a great hitter, he came through with many clutch hits when the light-hitting Slicers were scratching for runs. King, who graduated in 1972, still ranks among the top 10 in all but seven of the 17 categories listed in the Indiana state record book. He ranks No. 1 with 214 strikeouts in a season. He is tied for No. 1 with 17 victories and 10 shutouts in one season. He is No. 2 in starts in one season (18, tie), career shutouts (21) and innings pitched in a season (132.1). In addition, he ranks No. 3 in complete games in a season (15), No. 4 in career victories (40, tie), No. 7 in career strikeouts (518) and No. 8 in career innings pitched (335.1).
King was chosen as a first-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association as a junior. He also was featured in Letterman Magazine, the first national high school sports magazine. He was a fifth-round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox in 1972. He posted a five-year record of 22-17 in the minor leagues – including a 9-2 MVP year with a 2.41 ERA in 1974 at Appleton, Wis. – before retiring in 1976.
