Congratulations goes out to Stillman Valley Head Football Coach Mike Lalor as he won the Illinois portion of the top coach in the state in the USA Today contest.
Lalor was 1 of 51 winners from each state plus Washington D.C.. People could vote on the internet between September 30th and October 8th. Lalor received 78,004 votes. There were a total of 8 coaches people in the state could vote for.
2nd in the contest was Frank Lenti of Chicago Mt. Carmel with 69,806 votes. Derek Leonard of Rochester was 3rd with 15,229.
Lalor is in his 16th year as Head Football Coach at Stillman Valley High School with 4 State Championships and 1 2nd place finish.
He now moves on to the regional round. There are 8 regions of 6 to 7 coaches apiece. Voting for this round begins at 11 this morning and ends on October 18th at 11am.
The 8 regional winners move into the national round with voting between October 21st and October 29th.
The champion is crowned based on most votes in the final round.
