Colleen took her swimming prowess to great lengths during high school and college. At CFHS, she was a 4-time state qualifier and member of relay teams which placed in the top three at the state meet. At the University of Iowa, she set school records in the 50 yard freestyle and the 200 yard free relay. She was All Big Ten Conference during her junior and senior years and qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 50 yard freestyle. Colleen was also a fine track and field athlete at Cd

Dave earned a place as one of the best track athletes in CFHS history. His 400 meter school record of 48.1, set in 1980, hasn’t been seriously challenged. He set several track records at Chagrin, placing second in the 400 meters at the state meet in Columbus during his senior year. He went on to earn NCAA All American honors in track at the University of Virginia. At Virginia, he set a school record in the 400 meter hurdles and was inducted into the University of Virginia Hall of Fame. Dave also ran cross country and played soccer at Chagrin.

Brett Rudolph was one of the most powerful runners to ever wear a Tiger football uniform. It didn’t hurt that he was also the fastest runner in the league. As a senior, he rushed for more than 1300 yards and scored 21 touchdowns, earning him the Most Valuable Player Award for the Chagrin Valley Conference and also Geauga County, He was an All-Ohio selection and recipient of the Cleveland Touchdown Club Award. Brett was a 4-year letterman in track and field. In 1983, he was the Chagrin Valley Conference’s 100 meter dash champion. He qualified for the State Track Meet in the 100 meters and 400 relay. At the University of North Carolina, he played linebacker, lettering all four years. In 1987, Brett was chosen First Team All Atlantic Conference and Honorable Mention All American.

While she was an outstanding athlete in volleyball and track, it’s the basketball wizardry of Jane Phend that few will forget. She dominates the CFHS record books as she once did her opponents. Among her career records are total points, assists, and steals. She scored 43 points in a single game and 39 points in a state tournament game, also school records. During the 1983 season, when the Lady Tigers were State Runners-up, Jane averaged 24.9 points a game and 27.0 in tournament play. As a senior, she was UPI First Team All-State and Player of the Year AA. She was also AP First Team All-State. Jane played in the McDonald’s All Star Classic and was invited to try out the for Pan American Games in 1983. She went on to star in basketball at the University of Cincinnati, where she was a 4-year letter winner. In 1987, she won the Helen Norman Smith Award for her college’s Most Outstanding Senior Female Athlete. Also during her senior year, she was First Team All Metro Conference.

If a coach’s record speaks for itself, then another word need not be spoken for John Piai. John’s Tiger football teams were the toasts of this town for so many seasons that the electricity they generated still burns brightly in our collective memory. The number “29” flashes before us. John was Head Football Coach at CFHS for 29 seasons (1962-1990). He was an assistant coach for the first season and Head Coach for the next three of a 29-game undefeated streak from 1961 through the first game of the 1964 season. Then, there was the 29-game win streak from 1970 through 1973. All told his teams won 175 games. Included were eight conference championships and four undefeated seasons. He was Conference Coach of the Year eight times, and in 1972 he was selected the Greater Cleveland Coach of the Year. In 1987, his team reached the Division IV State Playoffs, and John received the Lee Tressel Award from the Cleveland Touchdown Club. An all-around athlete at Thiel College, he was elected to that college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.