How many times per day do Benet students walk past the school trophy case? Located in the St. Ronald Gym lobby, this shelf of awards is tucked into the walls of Benet and surrounded by the noise of passing students. Few stop to browse the trophies, certificates, and medals housed in the case, but inside lies a treasure trove of Benet history. Among the dozens of accolades that honor Benet students is the oldest honor in the case: an award from 1978 honoring Chris Geyer, the winner of the All American Award in Interscholastic Swimming. He was given this honor by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches of America for his record-breaking 100-yard breaststroke race of 0:59:78.
Geyer was more than just a swimming athlete: the 1978 Benet Yearbook describes him as the Band President of the Redwing Varsity Concert Band, a baseball player, and a runner on the Benet Varsity Cross Country Team (the team finished with a 15-1 record that year!). He went on to attend The Ohio State University. While at OSU, Geyer competed in the breaststroke race, as featured in The Lantern, OSU’s student newspaper.
Many years have passed since Geyer won his award – 48 years, in fact – but somehow the spirit of Benet has remained the same. It’s hard to imagine that today’s Redwings have much in common with those who graduated in 1978, but many of the events held in the 1970s continue today. Students in Geyer’s graduation class enjoyed the annual Christmas Drive, collecting money to support members of St. Procopius Parish (now The Abbey). They hosted a “Casino Night” and turned the Benet cafeteria into a mini-Las Vegas, complete with poker and blackjack tables, a roulette wheel, and a DJ booth. At the Christmas assembly that year, students enjoyed activities such as root beer chugging, leapfrogging, ping-pong matches, and pie-eating contests. 1978 saw the first annual senior-faculty tug of war, an event that has been seen recently at Benet’s Christmas Drive assemblies. The 1970s also saw construction at Benet: St. Thomas Hall, named in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas and Abbot Thomas Havlik, the school’s first principal, was built to house the science department and media art center. Additionally, Benet’s AV department created its own TV studio and control room.
The 1977-1978 Benet school year marked the first time there was a girls’ basketball team. With 135 girls trying out for a team of only 21 players, it is no surprise that yearbook writers in the ‘70s were optimistic about the team’s future. Considering that the 2025-2026 Benet Girls Varsity Basketball Team went to the IHSA Class 4A Sectional Final, it seems that the writers of the past were correct.
The Benet of the 1970s contained traditions that Benet students no longer participate in. Freshmen no longer have to recite the “freshman pledge,” which entailed promising to “bow low in homage” to seniors and praying to “reach the plateau of excellence” that seniors had already achieved. Freshmen were also required to “kneel and kiss a senior’s ring,” wear a beanie while on campus, and sport one white sock and one red sock during Spirit Week. “Gangsters and Flappers Day” also died out, but you never quite know what memories of the past might resurface in the halls of Benet Academy.
Time continues to march on at Benet, but Benet students and Benet traditions will always remain. As students come and go and the years pass by, the trophy case is there to remind future Redwings of Benet’s legacy. And what about the current Benet Boys’ Swim Team? According to sophomore Tim Warren, the swim team continues to be an integral part of the Benet community. He shared that his favorite part of being on the swim team is that “we spend so much time together with meets, weights, and dinners. It really helps the team get to know each other and brings everyone closer.” One can hope that somewhere out there, Chris Geyer is proud of current Benet swimmers carrying on his legacy in the pool.
Bibliography:
Benet Academy, www.benet.org/.
Benet Yearbook, Class of 1978. Benet Academy. https://bbk12e1-cdn.myschoolcdn.com/ftpimages/2396/misc/misc_160291.pdf
“Swimming & Diving Year-by-Year Record Book.” Illinois High School Association, www.ihsa.org/data/swb/records/ybyyr4.htm.
“1978 All-Americans.” Swimming World, July 1978, pp. 22–24. Archbishop Wood Swimming, https://www.woodswimming.org/aa/1978/1978-NISCA-All-American.pdf.
