Lincoln-Way East High School’s main gym
The Griffins might be the most well-known middle child when it comes to school districts who have split into multiple high schools. Going from being the place where underclassmen went from 1977 to 2001 for Lincoln-Way High, now Lincoln-Way Central, to holder of several state titles & runner-up trophies.
East is probably most regarded for its football prowess, but ironically if you talk to the folks in the athletic department they’ll tell you the big secret is they’re actually more of a cheerleading school. The school is 7-for-7 when it reaches the final four in cheerleading and has qualified for the playoffs 18 of 19 years since its inception.
East’s gym is a standard two-tier gym. It has retractable bleachers on both levels along the side of the court and no seating along the baseline. The upper level wraps all the way around the court, with walkways along the baseline. The railings along the walkway are lined with banners and signs. It’s wide enough that there is some exercise equipment on one side, but no seating.
The upper level bleacher are retractable and appear to be moveable as well. When retracted they typically are against the railings, allowing for practice space behind them, while also acting as a shield for wayward balls.
The current bleachers are all plastic bench-like seating with butt-grooves. When closed or open they spell out “LW” in the upper sections and “East” in the lower sections. These bleachers were put in sometime in the late 2010s. The railings in the upper level have glass in-between posts about every 5-6 feet, so viewing the court is fairly unobstructed.
The sound system in this gym is very good.
Former Home of State Finals Gymnastics
From roughly 2009 to 2014 Lincoln-Way East hosted the boys state finals for gymnastics. From 2005 to 2012 East took home the title or runner-up trophy 7 of those 8 years. Sadly the 2023 state finals were the last for boys gymnastics as an IHSA competition after 71 years. School participation fell from a high of 79 in 1977 to 40 across the entire state.
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