Multiple firsts and special events

1 Candace Parker's star shot through the gym roof in December 2001, when she dunked at the Dundee-Crown tournament. In her junior year in 2003, Parker led the Redhawks to a 35-0 record and the Class AA girls basketball state title with a 63-59 overtime victory over Fenwick. She led the Redhawks to another title in 2004 with a victory over New Trier. Clifford's record run

2 Running back Ryan Clifford set the tone for the 1999 football team with a state-record 51 touchdowns. That was just one milestone for the Redhawks, who won the Class 6A state title and finished 14-0. Coached by Joe Bunge, the Redhawks defeated Schaumburg 56-31 in the championship game at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

3 In 2003, senior Elizabeth Lumpkin made history when she defeated Hinsdale South's Bryce Marable 6-3, 6-0 in the girls tennis state singles final. The victory gave Lumpkin her fourth consecutive state championship. Lumpkin, who became the first girl in Illinois to accomplish the feat, went on to play college tennis at UCLA.

4 The baseball team ended the 2005-06 school year with Central's third team state title, beating St. Patrick 2-0 in the Class AA final. Coach Bill Seiple and assistant Phil Lawler both battled cancer during the season, making the school's first-ever baseball title even more special. The team recorded three shutouts during the two-day finals.

5 The girls swim team won its second consecutive state title in 2005, beating Neuqua Valley 131-130. The Redhawks had state champions in the 200-yard medley relay, the 200 individual medley (Amy Prestinario) and the 200 and 500 freestyles (Kelly McNichols). The swim team joined the girls volleyball and baseball teams in winning titles that year.

Conference: DuPage Valley

Naperville Central means a lot to me. Being from Naperville and going to school there from grades K-12 was amazing.

It was about a lot of relationships that I established there and that I continue with the people that I had around me who helped me grow.

I keep in touch with a lot of my high school teammates and my coach [Andy Nussbaum], and I'm also in touch with a few teachers. That's pretty much it, the people that I grew up with. With Facebook, you can keep in touch much better.

[Dunking during the Dundee-Crown tournament sophomore year] was during Christmas break, so we didn't go back to school for a couple weeks, and when we did everyone was excited. There were a lot of times where we had a lot of school support and fan support. It was good for us. We brought [girls] sports to other schools, and overall everyone was interested.

I just remember the moment I realized we were going to win the state tournament [in 2003]. When I got fouled and walked down the court, I was like, ''Oh, my God, we just won the state championship.'' And to give Naperville Central its first title [in girls basketball] was something we all set as a goal. We were undefeated that year [35-0], and that made it even sweeter. We were a close-knit group.

I think senior year was an uphill battle because I blew out my knee and everyone expected us to be so good. We lost two games early on.

It was all about getting my timing back. It was so sweet that we won it because people didn't think I'd recover. We wanted to prove everyone wrong.

I had a lot of favorite teachers. John Cotton in consumer education, who passed away from cancer a couple years ago, was my favorite. He always had a great spirit and attitude about him. Mr. [Steve] Weisbrook and Dave Dillion, and, oh, Mr. [Pat] Keating, too.