The 2025 Watseka Community High School Athletic Inspiration Award recipients will be honored during the Homecoming/Alumni Reunion weekend of October 3-4. Those honored this year are Catherine (Pew) Casey, Devin (Curry) Lindemann, and the 2014-15 Girls Volleyball Team.
Cathy (Pew) Casey
Cathy (Pew) Casey attended WCHS from 1981-1985, graduating in 1985 as Valedictorian. Besides being an exceptional academic student, she also excelled in sports, especially track and volleyball. During her stellar track career, Cathy simultaneously held seven school records, with her records in the 100m low hurdles (14.7), 200m low hurdles (29.3), and 800m relay (1:50.94) still standing today. Over her four years at the Wauseca Conference Meet, she won nine individual and three relay events. She earned seven individual firsts and a second in a relay in her four Sectional Meets. As a teammate she earned various honors, including Most Improved, Most Valuable Player and team Captain.
Cathy qualified for the State Meet in the individual hurdle events all four years. Her best performance came in 1985, as she finished fourth in the 100m low hurdles (with the same time as the first-place finisher) and third in the 200m low hurdles (with the same time as the second-place finisher). Her total of six State medals ties for the most medals earned at the State Meet by any Watseka athlete. Cathy earned the bronze medal in 1984 and the silver medal in 1985, competing in the 100m low hurdles at the Olympic-style Illinois Prairie State Games. She was invited to compete in the 55m low hurdles at the Pepsi Challenge Classic at the Rosemont Horizon in 1985, being one of only two Class A entrants to be invited.
During her high school volleyball career, Cathy was a Varsity starter for three Regional Championship teams, having led with 16 service points in the team’s 1984 Regional win. Individually, she was named to the Wauseca All-Conference Team, the Daily Journal All-Area Team, and the Watseka All-Tourney Team. She was a team Captain and earned Most Valuable Player honors for Watseka. Cathy went on to run hurdles for Princeton University’s Varsity Track Team and was a team Captain and four-year member of Princeton’s JV Volleyball Team. Cathy graduated with High Honors from Princeton University in 1989 having earned an A.B. degree in Economics with a mathematical concentration. Her senior thesis analysis on the effects of rising costs on college choice was published, and she toured other Ivy League universities to present the results of her analysis. She was awarded a Princeton-in-Asia Fellowship, where she developed a curriculum to teach English to elementary school children in Trang, Thailand, and created a new class and curriculum for adults in Trang using English as a second language.
In 1993, she earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center with Honors. She was awarded the John M. Olin Fellowship in Law and Economics and was editor of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal. Cathy was selected in 2021 as the first General Counsel at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where she also serves as Vice President and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining Shedd Aquarium, Cathy was a Litigation Partner at one of the largest top-tier international law firms, earning awards for her community and pro bono work, and she held General Counsel positions at two of the largest public accounting firms in Chicago.
Devin Curry Lindemann
Devin Curry Lindemann graduated from Watseka High School in 2014 as the all-time leading scorer in Lady Warriors basketball history, amassing 2,205 career points. Upon graduation, she also held school records in career assists (665), assists in a season (205), steals in a game (10), and career three-point field goals made (218). A four-year starter for the Lady Warriors basketball team, Devin led her teams to an impressive 84-21 overall record, including two regional championships (2013 & 2014) and a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2013.
In 2014, Devin was chosen to both the AP and IBCA All-State teams and also participated in the IBCA All-Star game. She capped off her high school career by winning the IHSA Three-Point Competition at the 2014 state tournament, defeating Tyra Buss, who holds the record for points scored in IHSA history.
After graduating from WCHS, Devin continued her basketball career at Millikin University, where she was a four-year letter winner. She scored 1,098 career points and was a 92.2% career free throw shooter (237-257). During the 2016-17 season, she led all NCAA Division III players in free throw percentage (94.6%).
Outside the gym, she lettered two years in track at WCHS and also excelled in softball where she lettered two years and ended with a .398 career batting average. At Millikin, she played three softball seasons concluding her career with a .298 batting average.
2014-15 Watseka Warriors Volleyball Team
The 2014 Watseka Warriors volleyball team brought home the third-place trophy from the IHSA 2A Volleyball State Tournament after a historic 36-4 season. Led by head coach Krista Pufahl, the Warriors spent much of the season winning championships and rewriting the volleyball record books.
The Warriors captured championship trophies from the Cissna Park Tip-Off Tournament, the Watseka Invitational, and the Sangamon Valley Conference Tournament. During the postseason, the Warriors magical run continued when they defeated Bishop McNamara in Kankakee to win the Regional. They then knocked off Westmont at the Beecher Sectional before defeating Elmhurst IC at the Super Sectional held in Chicago.
Watseka made their first volleyball state tournament appearance facing Dakota in the IHSA 2A semifinals. Dakota defeated the Warriors 25-21, 25-18, ending dreams of a state championship. Overcoming a slow start in the third-place game, the Warriors came back to defeat Edwards County 16-25, 25-16, 25-13 to bring the third-place trophy to Watseka.
The 2014 Warriors also had some outstanding individual performances. Senior All-Stater Taylor Bauer (427 kills), senior Maddie Pfingsten (830 assists), and senior Natalie Castonguay (294 digs) – each setting single-season school records.
