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Nick
Profancik had a choice when it came to
sports. He
played tennis well enough to take second in
the South Seven Conference tournament in
singles as a senior at Centralia High.
He also played AAU basketball while
attending St. Mary's School. And his
dad, Marc, was head soccer coach at CHS. But
golf won out - and in more ways than one for
the 2005 Centralia High School graduate who
will enter the Centralia Sports hall of
Fame. "I
was involved in a lot of things when I was
younger," said Nick Profancik.
"My dad kept us active." "I
had grandparents who were very much into
golf and took me out to the course when I
was about 10 years old and it just
stuck. I stayed interested in it and
things went on from there." That
transpired into a standout career at CHS
during which time he became the first Orphan
golfer in two decades to reach the Illinois
High School Association finals.
Following that was a stellar four years at
Maryville University where he received
national accolades as an All-American in
both golf and academics. And
he still plays today. "With
my job I actually still get to go out a fair
amount," said Profancik who is an
account manager in St. Louis for Arthur J
Gallagher & Company the third-largest
insurance broker in the world. "Golf
has helped me in my professional career and
it's something you can take with you for the
rest of your life. Sometimes I have to
remind myself that I'm not playing
competitively anymore, but it's still a lot
of fun to play." While
being involved in other sports - he was a
starting guard on the St. Mary's basketball
squad that placed in the final four of the
Southern Illinois Junior High School
Athletic Association in 2001 - he made an
immediate impact with the Orphans golf team
as a freshman. He
took sixth place with a 79 in the South
Seven Tourney at Governors Run in Carlyle
for the first of his four honors as an
all-conference selection and was part of a
Centralia team that qualified for the Class
AA sectional. He
was also part of a sectional-qualifying team
as a sophomore and his junior season had a
seven-birdie round in the regional at
Governors Run to advance to the sectional as
an individual before a windy day at Spencer
T. Olin GC in Alton left him just shy of a
state berth. But
as a senior Nick broke a hex that had
stretched back to 1985 when be became the
first CHS player to qualify for the state
finals. Following
a busy summer of traveling and top-flight
junior tournaments Profancik had a banner
senior year. Among the highlights was
his helping Centralia capture its first
South Seven title since 1981 at Governors
Run. An eagle on the par-5 No. 18 drew
him into a tie and a playoff for he
individual title. The
Orphans qualified for the sectional as a
team behind a 77 by Nick Profancik in the
regional at Greenview GC and from there it
was on to Piper Glen at Springfield where a
late charge with a birdie on 17 and par on
18 gave him a 74 and a state berth as an
individual. "I
was lucky my first couple of years to have
guys like Josh Roetemeyer and Kyle Gansauer
lead the way and show me how to do
things," said Profancik.
"And it felt great to break through and
get to state for coach [John] Sallee." In
the state finals at The Den in Bloomington
he was in sixth place after an opening round
74 before a bitterly cold wind on the second
day hampered play and Nick finished 28th
after an 84. Following
high school he opted for Maryville
University, but not before setting a course
record at Greenview the summer before his
first collegiate season. Playing
in the club championship he fired up a
12-under 58 with 12 birdies, six pars and
only 23 putts to surpass the previous mark
of 61. At
Maryville Nick Profancik continued his
outstanding work. In addition to being
a PING second-team All-American he twice
received All-American Scholar honors from
the Golf Coaches association of America
while also being named a second team
Academic-All American by ESPN/College Sports
Information Directors of America. He
was the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference Player of the Year in 2009, a
four-time all-conference selection and the
league's Newcomer of the Year.
Maryville was both a conference champion and
NCAA Tournament qualifier while he was there
in 2007 and 2009, and his mark of 75.51
still holds as the school's career scoring
average. He's also the record-holder
for low 36-hole score (137), 54-hole (215)
and 72-hole (296) and has helped out with
the program as an assistant coach." "Maryville
was a great fit for me," said Nick
Profancik who was twice named the
university's Male Athlete of the Year. In
2014 Nick was inducted into the Maryville
University Athletics Hall of Fame. "That
was an honor but when Mike [McManus] told me
I'd been chosen for the Centralia Sports
Hall of Fame it was a different
reaction," said Nick Profancik.
"I get back home ever once in awhile
and it's always great to see the people who
supported you through the years. My
mom and dad missed one tournament through
college and high school and that's something
you'll always remember." list@morningsentinel.com
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