Minooka Community High School (MCHS) committee for the Athletic Hall of Fame is happy to announce the Class of 2024. The MCHS Hall of Fame Committee appreciates all the time taken by community members to be part of the process in submitting names for the second induction class.
The 1962 baseball team will be inducted as a team. They were the first team in MCHS history to qualify for the IHSA State Finals, finishing in the Elite Eight. They went 16-7 during the school year, winning the Coal Valley Conference tournament. They won the District, Regional, and Sectional tournaments before advancing to the State Finals. That year, they were the smallest team at the state finals, back when there was only a one-class system. Minooka’s high school only had an enrollment of 205 at the time. They lost to LaGrange, which had an enrollment of approximately 4,000, in the first round of the IHSA State Finals.
Tom Clennon, Class of 1978, will be inducted as an individual athlete. Clennon set the standard for distance runners at MCHS. His junior year, he finished third as an individual in cross country at the IHSA 1A State Finals. That spring in track, he was the state champion in both the 1-mile run and the 2-mile run at the IHSA 1A State Finals, leading Minooka to a third- place finish and the first state trophy in school history. As a senior at the cross country IHSA 1A State Finals, he ran with the flu and an accompanying 103-degree fever. He still managed to finish 11th, helping Minooka bring home another third-place state trophy. His senior year in track and field Minooka was competing in the 2A class for the first time. There he finished 3rd in the 880-yard run and 4th in the 1-mile run.
Cyndi Norman Kiper, Class of 2000, will be inducted as an individual athlete. She was a first team all-state volleyball player. A captain on the 1999 MCHS volleyball team that was the first girls’ team to qualify for state, she set a school record for assists. She was all-conference and all-area her sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. At Valparaiso University, she was the Mid-Continent Conference Setter of the Year during her senior year, where she also led the team to its first NCAA tournament appearance. She was inducted into the Valparaiso University Hall of Fame in 2009.
Jenna Hall, Class of 2002, will be inducted as an individual athlete. She made historic contributions in three different sports at MCHS. In basketball, she became a member of the 1,000-point club her senior year, while also being named the conference MVP. In tennis, she twice qualified for the IHSA State Finals in the doubles competition. In softball, she earned various all-state state honors three different years. At the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, she set records in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs, RBI, total bases, and walks. She was an NFCA First Team All-American her senior year, and she was named First Team All Big Ten all four years. She was inducted into the University of Illinois Hall of Fame in 2019. She played three years professionally for the Philadelphia Force. She is now the head softball coach at Ohio University.
Russ Weil, Class of 2004, will be inducted as an individual athlete. Weil dominated both sides of the ball in football as a running back and linebacker. He rushed for 2,500 yards in his career at Minooka and scored 32 touchdowns. He was named an all-state running back his senior year, and he won all-conference honors three years. In wrestling, he was a two-time IHSA state champion at 215 lbs., winning both his junior and senior years. He played football at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, playing in 44 games over four seasons. He played in the Rose Bowl in 2008. He started his career focusing at linebacker before changing that focus to running back in 2005. After college, he played on practice squads for a couple years in the NFL.
Wayne Greenbeck, Class of 1963, will be inducted as a coach. Greenbeck spent most of his life at Minooka, either as an athlete, teacher, or coach. He was a key member of the 1962 baseball team that was the first Minooka team to qualify for the IHSA State Finals. He also played on the 1962-63 basketball team that had a 25-3 record and won both the Fox Valley and Coal Valley conferences. He returned to Minooka in 1969 as a teacher and coach. In 1971 he began a 15-year tenure as the head boys’ basketball coach. He would win one regional championship and four conference titles while compiling a 195-189 record. He later became head coach of the girls’ basketball team where he won a conference title in his first year. In addition, Greenbeck served as the athletic director from 1989-1995, during which Minooka would add five sports to its athletic program. Throughout his career, he also served as an assistant coach in various sports.
Ron Lehman will be inducted for Special Merit. He began his career at Minooka in 1961 as the head boys’ basketball coach. During his 10 years as head coach, he won two conference championships and a regional title, compiling a record of 133-114. He also started the cross country program at MCHS in 1967 and hosted the first Minooka Flight Invitational. He became athletic director and principal at MCHS, presiding over the start of girls’ athletics program in 1973. He has been a long-time supporter of MCHS and the community, including being a charter member of the Channahon-Minooka Rotary Club. He was instrumental in the growth of the Channahon Park District, which he began serving as commissioner of in 1972. Today, the Minooka Flight Invitational is run at a park named for him.
This is the second class to be inducted into the MCHS Athletic Hall of Fame. The first class was inducted in 2019. The committee regrouped after COVID-19 and began meeting again this past school year. They reached out to the community through social media, and via a variety of other marketing outlets, and asked for community members to submit nominees. From those nominees, the Class of 2024 was selected. Nominees not chosen for this year’s class will automatically be considered next year when nominations open again.
The 2nd Annual Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be introduced on Friday, September 27, 2024 at the conclusion of the sophomore football game vs. Oswego East High School. Sophomore game starts at 4:30 p.m. and will end approximately at 6:30 p.m. The Varsity game begins at 7 p.m.
The Minooka Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will honor the Class of 2024 and their families at a dinner on Saturday, September 28, 2024 at Dollinger’s Family Farm in Channahon. More information can be found on the Athletics web page at www.mchs.net/page/athletics.
Questions? Contact AthleticHallofFame@mchs.net.