Amanda Gunther Egli will be inducted into the Galesburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 30. The ceremony will be in the GHS Commons at 4:30pm.
Amanda graduated from GHS in 2003, and went onto graduate from Drake University in 2007. She had an extraordinary career at GHS as both a tennis player and as a basketball. Her achievements were so impressive that she could have been selected as either a tennis player or as a basketball. You put her career in the two sports together, and she is one of the most impressive athletes in GHS history.
As a tennis player, she advanced to State as a sophomore and as a senior. The only reason she did not go to State as a junior was that she had torn her ACL in the summer playing basketball, and was not released to participate in tennis that fall.
Both years Amanda advanced to State in doubles with her partner, Julie Felsecker. They were partners as sophomores and as seniors. As seniors, Amanda and Julie won their first two matches vs pairs from Oak Park Fenwick and Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin. This got them to the round of 16. In this round, they lost to a pair from Elmhurst York. Because of bad weather, the IHSA made the tourney a single elimination that year, meaning they had no opportunity to continue in the “play-back rounds.”
Amanda and Julie had finished second at the Sectional. They finished their season with an impressive 28-4 record.
In basketball, Amanda was on the Streaks varsity all four years. During that time, the varsity teams were a combined 125 wins and 22 losses, and in the WB6 36-4. Her teams won 4 Regional titles, 3 Western Big Six titles, 4 Sectional titles, and 3 Super-Sectional titles. She was on two teams that took 4th in State.
As a sophomore, Amanda was a regular on the varsity, one of the first players off the bench. As a junior and as a senior, Amanda was a starter. As an underclassman, she had played primarily a guard, but converted to be a post player as a senior. She was listed as being 5’9”, but was probably closer to 5’7”.
Despite having been a starter and All-Conference as a junior, Amanda was the Streaks “most improved player,” as a senior. As a senior, she was All-Conference, All-State, Streaks Outstanding Player Award, and Captain.
Her senior year, she shot an incredible 57% from the field. She shot 61% on twos and 41% on threes. Amanda averaged 15.4ppg and 5.8rpg, leading GHS to an undefeated WB6 championship and an overall 32-4 record.
Most years when Galesburg advanced to State, it seemed that at least one player elevated their game to another level. When the player who elevates their game is already your best player, it results in great things. That is what happened with Amanda.
When things got tough in the Sectional and Super-Sectional, Amanda Gunther came thru big. Vs Sycamore after GHS got down, Amanda led the charge finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Again in the Sectional Championship game vs Rock Island, Galesburg got down early, but again Amanda poured in 27 points and 10 rebounds. In the Super vs Rockford Boylan, the Streaks blasted the Titans by 26 points, and Amanda had 23 points and 7 rebounds. So on Galesburg’s State run, Amanda had an unbelievable stat line of 25.3ppg and 9.0 rpg. Amanda’s performance in the Sectional and Super-Sectional was the most dominant performance by any Streaks player in the State series- ever!
As impressive as her achievements were, her teammates in both tennis and basketball would say that her greatest attribute was that she was a fantastic teammate. Despite her success, Amanda carried herself with great humility.
It is very exciting to see Amanda Gunther Egli get inducted in the GHS Hall of Fame. She was one of Galesburg High School’s all-time best athletes and an even better person.
Her teammate, Andie Allison-Leibach summed up Amanda this way,”I was so lucky to get to be a teammate of Amanda Gunther. We were daily shooting partners so I got to see, first hand, her commitment to her own individual improvement and her commitment to her team. She was the most humble super star I have witnessed. It was always “team first” with Amanda and she literally did it all on the court for the Streaks. Whether it was guarding a bigger, taller opponent inside or playing offensively on the perimeter, Amanda always gave 100% and then some. She is so deserving of this GHS Hall of Fame honor!
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