It has been 24 years since Patty Griffith Langanis earned her 12th and final varsity letter at Sturgis High School, and now the former multi-sport star will be enshrined in the Trojans’ Hall of Fame.
Langanis, along with Marcia Dresser Inman (1980), Chuck Darby (1954), Teresa Wood Horn (1986), Patty Griffith Langanis (1989) and Erika Melchi (1988), will be recognized for her prep athletic achievements on Oct. 5 as part of the 2013 Hall of Fame Class. The ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the high school.
Suiting up for the volleyball, tennis, basketball and softball squads, Langanis, the daughter of longtime Sturgis teacher, coach and 2011 HOF inductee Carol Griffith, Langanis was a three-sport all-conference athlete who excelled in volleyball. She was a team captain for two years and MVP as a senior, a three-time all-state honoree and Dream Team member (1989). As a junior, she helped propel the Trojans to a Class B state championship.
“When I see the list of people I am humbled,” Langanis said. “Dick Maher was the Athletic Director at Sturgis when I was a kid running around school wasting time while my mom was coaching one of her numerous sports. I remember, as a kid, admiring him as a great leader and a kind person. This is truly evident, as one day, as I sat under some Evergreen trees outside the school I decided to see how many pebbles I could stick in my ear. When I fit too many little stones in my ear, I got scared and went right to Dick Maher’s office. He proceeded to get tweezers and remove the stones from my ear. What a great man.”
Langanis went on to attend the University of Iowa on a volleyball scholarship. She played setter for four years. She parlayed that into a coaching career and is currently at Cary-Grove High School in Cary, Ill., where she has spent the last 15 years. Her record at Cary-Grove is 516-167, including six conference championships, five regional titles, a pair of state runner-up finishes and a state championship in 2009.
In 2010, her program was ranked No. 1 in the nation according to ESPN, Prep Volleyball and Max Preps. Since 1995, 42 of Patty’s high school players have received scholarships to play college volleyball.
“Harley Peirce was my youth tennis coach, and because of his great tutelage, he instilled a lifetime love of tennis into me and I still remember the great technique drills that he taught,” she said. “He was intelligent, kind and motivating. So many of the coaches at Sturgis, including my mother, molded me into the athlete that I was, and the coach that I have developed into.”