Lew Flinn PRINCETON Accomplishments ● A three-sport all-state
athlete at PHS, Flinn earned 10 varsity letters and was a member of the state-placing 1955 PHS boys basketball team ● At NIU, he earned nine varsity letters (football 3, basketball 3, track and field 3) but found most success in football as NIU’s starting quarterback ● Longtime track and field coach, including at Princeton where coached numerous pole vaulters to the state meet, including 2009 Class 1A State Champion Alyssa Donner
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
By Bobby Narang
L
WHERE are they NOW
ew Flinn’s competitive nature was legendary. Flinn is widely considered one of the best athletes in the history of Princeton High School, where he earned 10 varsity letters. He then received nine varsity letters in a storied three-sport career at Northern Illinois University. But Flinn’s strong desire to win also led to a few problems. Winning, for Flinn, also led to sometimes losing. His son, Jeff, recalls a time when his father’s extraordinary talent and competitiveness got the best of him. Several years ago, Lew Flinn was working for Spartan Tool. He was invited to golf in Arizona with his friend and Spartan Tool President, Pete Petkoff. “Pete, his neighbor from two doors down, told my father that, ‘If you beat me, I’m going to send you to do inventory in Buffalo,’” Jeff Flinn recalled. “My dad had not picked up a club in three years. But losing wasn’t his nature. He wasn’t going to throw (the game).
See Flinn Page 32
A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | June 2022 31
