East Peoria, Ill. - The Illinois Central College Athletic Department is proud to announce the 2024 Hall of Fame Class, which again includes another stellar list of inductees. They are: the 1982 National Champion Softball Team, 1984 National Runner-Up Volleyball Team, Cindy Stein (WBB), Karen Guthmiller (VB/SB), Tonya Gilles-Koch (SB), and Kim Wells-Lauwers (VB). The group will be recognized at half-time of the ICC Men's Basketball game (3pm) on Saturday, February 3rd, then formally inducted later that day at 5:30pm.
1982 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SOFTBALL TEAM
Starting off the list of inductees is one of ICC's nine National Championship-winning teams, coached by Hall-of-Famer Lorene Ramsey.
The Cougars were perhaps overlooked going into the tournament, despite having already accumulated a State and Region Championship. ICC had played a schedule that featured a large number of state/four-year institutions so while the Cougars did not have a glitzy record, they were prepared for tournament time.
Powered by ace pitcher Deanna Hacker, who went on to play at Indiana, the Cougars shut out every Nationals' opponent, including a 1-0 victory over #1 Central Arizona in the National Championship Game. Hacker also didn't walk a single batter over the course of the tournament, leading to her National Tournament MVP selection.
Hacker was largely helped by her high school (Washington) catcher, Leslie Miller, who went on to play at Florida State. Ramsey largely credits the chemistry of those two players as a difference maker in the team's ultimate success.
The roster was largely composed of inter-area players. The team also featured Paula Buscher, Cyndi Hoffman, Leslie Miller, Julie Compton, Jan Christiansen, Julie Micheletti, Caryl Moehring, Stacy King, Lisa Cantor, Julie Conway, Keri Hanson, and Laurie McDonough.
Ramsey's coaching staff also featured 2024 ICC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Karen Guthmiller.
1984 NATIONAL RUNNER-UP VOLLEYBALL TEAM
In sunny Miami, Florida, the ICC Volleyball Team finished as NJCAA Division I Runners-Up in 1984 for (at the time) the best finish in program history.
With a roster that had six players eventually move on to NCAA Division-I volleyball programs, this level of success seemed to be destiny.
The Cougars and 2024 ICC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Karen Guthmiller had two players named to the National Tournament All-Tournament team - Carla Hale, and 2024 inductee (as a player) Kim Wells. Wells was also named MVP of the tournament.
The six aforementioned players having moved on included Kim Anderson (Southwest Texas State), Sue Driscoll (Southwestern University of Texas), Carla Hale (Iowa), Patti Kiesewetter (Iowa), Vicki Schussele (Wisconsin-Parkside), and Kim Wells (Southwest Texas State). A unique touch to this roster is assistant coach Trish Guinee, who has been an assistant coach at some point in time for every head coach in ICC volleyball history.
It should also be noted that this Cougar squad was able to accomplish what they did in the pre-scholarship era.
CINDY STEIN (WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, SOFTBALL)
Regarded as one of the most impactful players in the storied history of ICC's Women's Basketball program, Cindy Stein joins the group of Athletic Hall of Fame inductees for 2024.
A two-sport athlete at ICC, Stein, who hailed from nearby Richwoods High School, was an NJCAA All-American in both basketball (2nd Team) and softball (1st Team). On the hardwood, Stein was a two-time team MVP and as a freshman, was second on the team in scoring (432 points) and led the team in assists with 167. With her running the controls, the Cougars qualified for the National Tournament in both seasons, finishing 6th in 1979-80 and 5th in 1980-81. For her career, she finished with 963 points and 461 assists.
On the softball field, Stein was the starting center fielder for teams that finished in third place in the nation twice. Carrying the previously mentioned All-American honor, she held softball scholarship offers from Northwestern, Nebraska, and Wichita State.
Ultimately, Stein would move on to play basketball at the University of Illinois. While with the Fighting Illini, Stein collected a trophy case worth of honors, including being the Team Captain her senior year, Big Ten Player of the Week in 1983, 323 career assists, and 170 assists in a season (still 2nd all-time). Her 13 assists against Bradley in 1982 are still 4th all-time. Her 6.1 assists per game in 1982-83 are 0.1 from still being the program's all-time record.
While also serving as an assistant coach for the Illini and at Bradley, Stein also made coaching stops at Emporia State (1995-1998; NCAA D2 Runner-Up) and Missouri (1998-2010; 2001 Sweet 16) before returning 'home' to Ramsey Gym to serve as the ICC Women's Basketball Coach for the 2012-2013 season. In that season, she led the Cougars to a 3rd Place Trophy on their home floor at Nationals and a (32-4) overall record.
She then moved on to coach the Southern Illinois Salukis from 2013-2022, winning the Missouri Valley Conference's Regular Season Championship in 2021-22.
Now retired and residing in Florida, Stein still makes occasional color commentary appearances on various broadcasts to provide her basketball insight from over the years.
KAREN GUTHMILLER (VOLLEYBALL, SOFTBALL)
After Coach Lorene Ramsey coached the first season of ICC Volleyball, Karen Guthmiller took the reins in 1974 and coached until 1990, leading Cougar volleyball to 13 NJCAA Top 10 finishes and laying the foundation for ICC to be a national power.
Guthmiller's 13 seasons of 10th place or better for NJCAA Volleyball are already impressive, but especially when she led the program for 16 seasons, adding up to 81% of the time. That run includes the 1984 National Runner-Up team which is also being inducted this year. Other top five teams include the 1983 3rd Place Team and 1985 3rd Place Team. On the volleyball court, a stout number of 47 players went on to pursue academics at a four-year institution.
On the softball field, Guthmiller was highly regarded as Coach Ramsey's right-hand assistant. With Guthmiller on staff, the Cougars made the National Championship Game three times: 1982 (National Champions and also 2024 ICC HOF Inductees), 1987 (Runners-Up), and 1989 (Runners-Up). She coached 16 All-Americans during her time with the program. She was inducted into the NJCAA's inaugural Hall of Fame in 1998.
After ICC, Guthmiller served as the assistant coach for Illinois State Volleyball (1990-1993), and was also the Tennis Coach (1993-1998) and Athletic Director (1993-2007) at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, where she still resides today. She has stayed involved with Lee College, serving such roles as the Division Chair (1993-2007), Faculty Assembly President (2015-2017, 2019-2021), and the Co-Director of the Empirical Education Center (2020).
Affectionately known as "Miss G", she now can add ICC Athletics Hall of Fame member to the list.
KIM WELLS-LAUWERS (VOLLEYBALL)
The setter for ICC's 3rd Place and National Runner-Up Volleyball teams in 1983 and 1984, Kim Wells-Lauwers joins the list of inductees for the 2024 ICC Athletics Hall of Fame.
Wells-Lauwers would gather quite the list of accomplishments while at ICC, including 1st Team All-American, All-Region, and All-District. Despite not having won the 1984 National Championship, for her successes, Wells-Lauwers was still selected as the 1984 NJCAA National Tournament MVP, the first such distinction within the NJCAA. In 2002, she was inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Wells-Lauwers went on to play after ICC at what's now known as NCAA D1 Texas State. For the Bobcats, Wells-Lauwers was the team captain and helped them to a 1986 NCAA Tournament appearance. In her senior year, she gathered 1356 assists, 312 digs, and hit .294 with 185 kills to be named her conference's Player of the Year. At the time, she was second in the NCAA in assists percentage.
As accomplished as she was as a player, her coaching career is just as impressive. She has coached at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (1998-2004), and for the Dimond High School Lynx in Alaska, where she is still the Lynx's head coach. Her coaching accomplishments include 11 State Championships, 16 Championship Game appearances, the 2013 AVCA National High School Co-Coach of the Year, and the 2018 All-Region AVCA Coach of the Year.
TONYA GILLES-KOCH (SOFTBALL)
One of the most decorated pitchers in the history of ICC Softball, Tonya Gilles-Koch joins the group as a 2024 ICC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee.
While at ICC, Gilles-Koch was a two-time NJCAA All-American in the circle, including a 1st team nod as a freshman. In her two years, Gilles-Koch not only led ICC to a pair of NJCAA 3rd Place finishes, but she did it while beating a combined six NCAA Division-I opponents during the regular season, just part of her total 23 wins as a pitcher for the Cougars. Her sophomore season, she pitched 129 innings and whittled her earned run average all the way down to an impressive 0.87. At one point, she was rated as the #2 pitcher in all of the NJCAA with a 0.51 ERA.
After garnering athletic scholarship offers from 24 institutions, Gilles-Koch ultimately chose Illinois State. While with the Redbirds, she went (25-5) and finished in 9th place at the Women's College World Series as a junior. Academically at Illinois State, she was also named to the Dean's List.
Post-college, Gilles-Koch played for the nationally renowned Pekin Lettes for eight seasons. She also appeared as a player in the famed 1992 film "A League of Their Own," which has since been announced to be preserved in the United States' National Film Registry.
Gilles-Koch has also been an important piece to the area softball coaching community. She has taught pitching at ICC, Bradley University, and Millikin University. She has given pitching lessons to girls for 45 years, leading to her students garnering a rough estimate of 500 scholarships to college. Her students include ICC's three-player pitching staff of the 1988 National Championship team and nine Peoria Journal Star Players of the Year.
Gilles-Koch has proven herself to be a winner, with Coach Lorene Ramsey saying "every time you took the field with Tonya, you knew you had a very good chance of winning, no matter who you were playing."
Congratulations to all the inductees!
