Michael “Mike” Bland
(Graduated from Pana High School - 1967)
Mike Bland was another all-around athlete at Pana High School who could easily be thrust into the conversation of Pana’s best all around athlete. Mike completed the rare feat by lettering for 3 years in 4 different sports. The lone exception being football as a knee injury ended his senior football season. Otherwise, Mike was a fierce competetor in the sports of football, basketball, track & field and baseball. Some of Mike’s accomplishments include:
Basketball:
1966 Paris Holiday Tournament all-tournament selection
1966 1967 All-State honorable mention
1966-1967 School record of 615 points in one year
1965-1967 School record of 978 points in 2 years
1964-1967 School record of 1,192 points in 3 years
1966-1967 Mid-State Conference Player of the Year
1967-1967 Mid-Sate Conference all conference team
1966-1967 Averaged 22.8 points per game
1966-1967 Averaged 16 rebounds per game
1966-1967 Personal bests of 38 points and 19 rebounds in a game
Track & Field:
1967 Bob Blemler MVP in track & field
1967 School record in the pole vault
Football:
1966 Co-captain
Baseball:
Mike was a starting pitcher and first baseman.
Mike played a big part on the following team achievements:
1965-1966 Paris Holiday Champs in basketball
1966-1967 Regional basketball title (first since 1948)
1965-1966 Mid-State Conference champions in baseball
1965 Mid-State Conference champions in football
Mike was also recruited by DePaul University to play basketball