IHSA

Girls Track & Field Honorary Referees -- 2006-07

Three individuals who have been great friends to girls track and field and to the IHSA have been named Honorary Referees for 2007. Together they have a combined 82 years of service at the girls state meet.

Named Honorary Referees for 2007 are: Geza Ehrentrou of Rockford, Nancy Grant of Eastern Illinois University, and Tony Thorsen of Dwight.

Geza Ehrentrou has been a licensed IHSA track official for 30 years. During that time, he has worked both the girls and boys state meets, serving as discus judge, pole vault judge, umpire, anemometer judge, and in recent years as field event referee, conflict referee, meet referee, assistant starter, starter, and coordinator of officials.

Geza has also worked at the state cross country meet for over 30 years, most recently as coordinator of officials, a mantle he passed on in November. He was recognized as the honorary meet referee of the cross country meet in 2002. He's also had the honor to serve as the meet referee for NCAA cross country and indoor track national meets, as well as numerous regional meets.

Off the field, Geza continues to contribute to the sport. He is a member and former president of the Illinois Track and Cross Country Officials Association, a group he helped found. He currently serves the IHSA as a track and field rules interpreter, head clinician for both track and cross country, and as a member of the Track and Field Advisory Committee.

A resident of the Peoria area for 40 years, Geza and his wife Joann moved in 2005 to Rockford, where Geza is the Vice President of Operations and Water Resources for a chemical company.

Nancy Grant retired recently from Eastern Illinois University, where she served as athletic business and ticket manager for 27 years.

Throughout those 27 years, and continuing in her retirement, she has been involved with the planning and implementation of EIU's duties as host of the IHSA boys and girls track meets. She has also served as ticket manager for the Class A boys basketball super-sectional, and is one of the assistant directors for the IHSA girls badminton state championship, which EIU has hosted the past two years.

Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastern Illinois. Prior to joining the Panther staff in 1976, she taught and was a guidance counselor at Tower Hill High School.

Nancy has also been deeply involved with the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville, serving a four-year term on the Illinois State Advisory Council for the Education of Children with Disabilities.

Tony Thorsen started his love affair with track and field as an athlete at Harlem High School in Loves Park.

He later became a licensed IHSA official and over the past 25 years has worked at the girls state meet as assistant and head field referee, assistant starter, head starter, and assistant referee. At the boys state meet, he has served as field referee, assistant starter, and assistant referee, and at sectionals for both boys and girls has performed the duties of starter and referee many times.

In addition, Tony has served as cross country official for 25 years. He has served the Illinois Elementary School Association at its track and cross country meets for many years and has also had the privilege of working NCAA and USA track.

In 2004, in recognition of his efforts, Tony was honored by the National High Federation of High School Associations as Girls Track and Field Official of the Year in Illinois.