(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College held its Annual Athletic Banquet and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in mid-May. Former baseball player Chuck Day, a long-time supporter of Chiefs' Athletics, along with former baseball player and coach Dan Crawford, were formally enshrined into the college's Athletics Hall of Fame. In addition, Waubonsee student-athletes from the 2023-2024 school year were recognized during the evening for their accomplishments. Softball player Alyssa Perkins was honored as the Freshman Female Athlete of the Year, with baseball player Trey Hernandez being named the Freshman Male Athlete of the Year. Soccer standout Kylie Brazill was chosen the Sophomore Female Athlete of the Year, while soccer player Danny Avila was selected the Sophomore Male Athlete of the Year. Women's basketball and soccer player Ashleigh Wackerlin was named the Vermillion and Gold Award winner, and basketball player Fernando Perez was the S.T.A.R. Award recipient.
Day has been a long-time supporter, advocate and ambassador of Waubonsee Athletics ever since he earned All-Skyway Conference honors in 1979 after batting .458 in league play. A centerfielder and relief pitcher, Day was the winning pitcher in Hall of Fame coach Dave Randall's first career win in 1978. And the Chiefs' "Super Fan" was in Tyler, Texas in 2014 at the NJCAA Division III World Series when Randall collected career win number 895, becoming the only person to witness the first and last wins of the legendary coach's career. As a player/manager he led the Marcley Oil baseball team to eight Aurora Municipal League titles in 10 summer seasons in the late 1970's and early 1980's. An Aurora West High School alumnus, Day returned to Waubonsee and served as the women's and men's basketball official scorer for 23 seasons, covering nearly 700 Chiefs' home games during that time.
Crawford, a former Chiefs' pitcher and coach, was a key piece of the Chiefs' nationally ranked 1992 and 1993 teams which both reached the Region 4 title game. Crawford earned All-Region Second Team as a freshman and All-Region First Team as a sophomore before serving as the Chiefs' Pitching Coach for four straight nationally ranked teams from 1996 through 1999. He helped guide Waubonsee to a National Runner-up finish at the 1996 NJCAA Division III World Series, and another Region 4 title and a Skyway Conference crown in 1998. The Aurora Central Catholic High School product has gone on to coach at nearly every level the last 30 years. He has taught biology and coached baseball at Dixon High School for 25 years, helping guide the Dukes to nearly 250 wins over 15 seasons. He also helped establish the Dixon River Bandits travel baseball program, and coached nine years at Sterling Newman Catholic High School helping direct the Comets to two Regional titles, a Sweet-16 berth and four Regional runner-up finishes.
Perkins narrowly edged out softball teammate Morgan Smardo to be named Freshman Female Athlete of the Year. The Aurora West High School graduate batted .420 on the season with 10 home runs and a team-leading 57 runs batted in, compiling a .756 slugging percentage. The right-hander also won three games in the pitcher's circle, including a 3-hit complete game shutout at Black Hawk College in late April, on the way to tossing 52 and two-thirds innings overall on the season. Perkins was chosen the NJCAA Division II Player of the Week for the third week of April and was selected to the All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) First Team. Hernandez, an Oswego High School alumnus, earned both All-Region First Team and All-ISCC Second Team honors for the Chiefs' baseball team. The freshman batted .331 with a team-leading 31 runs driven in, smacking nine doubles, three triples and a pair of home runs. Hernandez also swiped 10 bases and posted a .473 slugging percentage and a .415 on-base percentage.
Brazill was named the ISCC Women's Soccer Player of the Year and to the All-Region 4 First Team after leading Waubonsee with 18 goals on the season, which tied her for 21st nationally among all NJCAA Division II players. The sophomore forward compiled 37 points tying her for 40th nationally in that category. The Geneva High School graduate also registered three game-winning goals on the season in helping lead the Chiefs to their fourth straight ISCC title. Avila was chosen the ISCC Men's Soccer Player of the Year and was named to the All-Region 4 Second Team. The sophomore from Oswego booked 15 goals to tie for 19th nationally among all NJCAA Division II players. The forward also registered six assists on the season to lead the Chiefs with 36 points, tying him for 25th nationally in that category. Avila was chosen the Division II Player of the Week for the third week of September after he scored seven goals in a pair of Chiefs' wins. In addition, he recorded three game-winning goals during the season. Off the field Avila excelled in the classroom as well, posting a perfect 4.0 grade-point-average. Avila was one of the ISCC's Dick Durrant Academic Award winners which honors the top student-athletes in the conference.
Wackerlin earned All-ISCC First Team recognition on the soccer pitch, booking 10 goals and five assists on the season. The Hinckley-Big Rock graduate finished third on the team with 25 points overall. A 5'11" center, she averaged 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on the basketball court. Wackerlin was Waubonsee's female nominee for the ISCC's Dick Durrant Academic Award after compiling a 3.84 grade-point-average. Perez was chosen All-ISCC Second Team and was named to the Region 4 All-Tournament team after helping the Chiefs reach the title game. A 6'3" forward, Perez averaged 14.6 points-per-game and made a team-leading 135 free throws, shooting 81.8 percent from the line for the season. A tough, physical defender, the sophomore from Elgin's Larkin High School also handed out 91 assists and hauled down 6.5 rebounds-per-game.
Several other student-athletes were recognized throughout the evening for their stellar performances this past school year. Among them was Emily Hurst, who rewrote Waubonsee's softball record book the last two seasons. The sophomore from Rosary High School set a dozen single-season Chiefs' records and 10 career marks. Among the records the slugging shortstop set were home runs, runs batted in, batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, extra base hits, multi-hit games, consecutive hits and total bases. In addition, Hurst tied the career mark for hits and finished second in five other categories in Waubonsee's record book. This spring alone she batted .504 with 12 home runs, 53 runs driven in and .906 slugging percentage. Smardo, a freshman from Rochelle High School, finished the spring with a robust .503 batting average and a team-leading 17 doubles, 74 hits and 61 runs scored. She also stole 19 bases and posted a .529 on-base percentage and a .755 slugging percentage. A right-handed hurler, Smardo also won seven games in the circle while tossing nine complete games. She was recently named Second Team All-American and All-Midwest First Team by the Louisville, Kentucky based National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
Women's Basketball player Annika Bielskis completed her Waubonsee career as the program's all-time leader in three-point baskets with 138, while establishing a new single-season mark as well with 89 treys. The Winnebago High School graduate also set the Chiefs' single-game standard with eight three-point baskets, which she did twice this season on the way to averaging 10.0 points-per-game and earning All-ISCC Honorable Mention status. Sophomore Duane Doss, the point guard on the Men's Basketball team, also set a program single-game record when he nailed 9 of 11 three-points shots in a win at Elgin Community College in early February. The Beecher High School graduate averaged 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 50.3 percent from the floor on the season.
Waubonsee coaches were also honored for leading their teams to successful seasons. Cross Country head coach Eric Baron was recognized for leading his women's team to ISCC and Region 4 titles, and a top-30 finish at the NJCAA Division II National Championship Meet. Women's Soccer coach Brad Schlemmer was selected the ISCC Women's Soccer Coach of the Year after leading the Chiefs to the ISCC title for the fourth straight year. Schlemmer has led Waubonsee to 142 wins in his 12 seasons as head coach, going 51-14-2 in ISCC play alone, a winning percentage of nearly 80 percent in conference matches. Coach Lance Robinson's Men's Basketball squad was also recognized for setting a new Waubonsee regular season mark with 26 wins and finishing with the second most overall wins in a season with 28. Waubonsee's Competitive Co-Ed Cheerleading squad was also recognized for finishing 7th nationally at the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) Championships in Daytona, Florida in April. In addition, two retiring coaches were recognized and thanked for their leadership, Golf head coach Dusty Darnold and Softball head coach Joe Spitzzeri.
The evening's celebration was capped off as Doss, softball player Val Osthoff, men's soccer player Dawid Szeliga, women's soccer player and cheerleader Madison Stevens, and cross-country runner Abbigail Placido, representing the Waubonsee Student-Athlete Council, presented Waubonsee President Dr. Brian Knetl with the ISCC's Dave Rowland All-Sports Trophy. The Chiefs edged out Moraine Valley Community College for the second straight year to win the award which recognizes the top athletic program in the conference. This is the 10th time that Waubonsee has won the award since its inception in 1976.
2024 HOF inductee Chuck Day 2024 HOF inductee Dan Crawford Alyssa Perkins Trey Hernandez
Kylie Brazill Danny Avila Ashleigh Wackerlin Fernando Perez