Parkland College to Induct Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 25 in the Donald C. Dodds Jr. Athletic Center
Parkland College will induct the Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on Saturday, January 25 in the Donald C. Dodds Jr. Athletic Center. The ceremony will take place during halftime of the 3 p.m. Cobras Men's Basketball game.
Dating back to the inaugural class of 2007, the Parkland Hall of Fame now has over 100 inductees who range from players and teams to coaches and administrators. This is the 17th Hall of Fame class chosen since the inaugural induction ceremony held in 2008.
The Class of 2025 is the following:
Steve Arnold, public address announcer (2007-2018)
Steve Arnold served as the public address announcer for Parkland College Men's and Women's Basketball from 2007 to 2018, announcing approximately 400 Cobras games and 4,000 names in 11 seasons. He also announced Parkland Softball games for three seasons. Arnold graduated from Illinois State University and currently resides in Fisher, Illinois, with his wife, Connie. He is a retired postal employee.
Jay Bruer, baseball (1997-1999)
From 1997 to 1999, Jay Bruer was named the Parkland Baseball team’s Most Valuable Hitter and Most Valuable Player, leading with 78 hits, 65 runs scored, 18 doubles, and 18 stolen bases. He had a .342 batting average with 105 hits, 84 runs, and 46 RBIs and was also in the top three in batting average (.353), walks, and RBIs.
As a freshman, Bruer was a finalist for the Parkland Baseball Student Athlete of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and the Cobra Spirit Award, starting 33 of 37 games before a season-ending injury. He was named to the Region 24 All-Star team after the fall season of his sophomore year, leading the team in batting average (.439), hits, runs, walks, and stolen bases. In the spring season, Bruer was named to the All-Region 24 team (Pre-Season), All-Region Second Team, and was an NJCAA Distinguished Academic All-American.
He was selected to the All-Conference team and All-Academic team, was the Player of the Year Runner-Up and team captain and received the Student-Athlete Award and Cobra Spirit Award. He also averaged nearly 11 points a game and led the Parkland Basketball team in assists as a walk-on for the 1998-1999 season.
Bruer married his high school sweetheart, Sara, and has seven children. He currently owns and operates BinRefresh, which services residential and commercial cleaning for garbage bins, pressure washing, and fleet washing.
Lyle Burns, golf (2012-2014)
Lyle Burns played golf at Parkland College from 2012 to 2014 and was an NJCAA DII All-American. He also had All-Region 24 and All-Conference honors, in addition to being a 3x individual medalist. Burns was a 2x NJCAA National Championship qualifier and a 9th-Place finisher in the 2014 NJCAA National Championship.
At Bradley University, Burns holds the following records: Lowest Career Stroke Average, Most Career rounds in the 60s, Lowest 36-hole score (135; -9), and Lowest 54-hole score (210; -11). Earning a master's degree from the University of Nebraska, he now works as a commercial real estate agent at Insure Champaign-Hilb Group and volunteers with the Tinervin Family Foundation. Burns currently resides in Champaign with his wife, Jessica, and children, Isla and Andrew.
Ken Crawford, baseball (1991-1992)
Ken Crawford played baseball at Parkland College in 1991 and 1992 with a career batting average of .338, 12 HR, 77 R, and 78 RBIs. Crawford made the All-Region 24 team in 1992. He then transferred to the University of Illinois, where he was named to the All-Big Ten First Team, All-Big Ten Academic Team, and Cosida Academic All-America Team. Crawford had a career batting average of .319, with 14 HR, 56 RBIs, and 60 R.
From 1991 to 2001, Crawford played in the Eastern Illinois Baseball League and was named Player of the Year in 1992, 1993, and 1994. He holds season batting titles in 1993, 1994, and 1995, and set the league record for batting average in a season in 1995 (.544).
Crawford served as assistant baseball coach at Parkland from 1994 to 1996. Currently, he is the project implementation engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation in District 5 and resides in Champaign with his wife.
Shelby Geers, volleyball (2011-2013)
Shelby Geers played volleyball at Parkland College from 2011 to 2013, leading the Cobras to two National Tournament appearances, where they placed third and second, respectively. At Parkland, Geers earned NJCAA Region 24 Player of the Year and M-WAC Conference Player of the Year honors and was named to the NJCAA Division II All-American First Team and the AVCA DII All-America Second Team.
Geers then transferred to the University of Illinois Springfield to play volleyball, earning a bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice. She furthered her education at UIS, earning a master’s degree in human development counseling. She earned her clinical license in 2021 and worked as a therapist for children with special needs and now works in the criminal justice system. She currently volunteers with Special Olympics and plays with a unified volleyball team in Chatham, Illinois.
Nick Wittgren, baseball (2011)
Nick Wittgren played on the Parkland College Baseball team for one year, posting a 10-0 record with one save and 54 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings pitched. Wittgren helped Parkland finish fifth at the 2010 NJCAA Division II World Series. After Parkland, Wittgren transferred to Purdue University, where he was nominated on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List and earned All-Big Ten honors both years. At Purdue, he holds the following records: All-Time Saves Leader (22 saves), 3rd All-Time ERA (2.54), 5th All-Time Strikeouts Per 9 (9.196), 2nd All-Time Strikeouts to Walk (4.273), 4th All-Time Walks + Hits Per Inning Pitched (1.13).
Following his career at Purdue, Wittgren was drafted in the ninth round to the Miami Marlins. Between 2016 to 2023, Wittgren played for the Miami Marlins, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, and Kansas City Royals, appearing in 314 games, with a career 4.04 ERA, 329.1 IP, 300 Strikeouts, 53 Holds, and 6 saves. In the Minor Leagues, Wittgren was named the 2012 New York Penn League Mid-Season All-Star, 2013 Florida State League Midseason All-Star and Post Season All-Star, and the 2015 Pacific Coast League All-Star.
Wittgren resides with his wife, Ashley, and two sons, 5-year-old Jackson and 3-year-old Camden.
Rod Lovett, baseball, athletic director (1989-2018)
Beginning at Parkland in 1989, Rod Lovett served as both the head and assistant coach for the Parkland College Baseball team, leading the Cobras to their first trip to the World Series in 2001 and becoming part of the 2002 World Series Championship staff. Lovett compiled 501 victories at Parkland, still the most for any baseball coach in college history.
As athletic director from January 2000 until his retirement in Summer 2018, Lovett oversaw the creation of the Parkland Athletic Hall of Fame, "Coby" as the physical mascot for Cobras athletic teams, a rebranding of the Cobra mascot logo, and an overhaul of the Athletics Department website. He contributed to the development of the current fitness center, training room, and gym updates alongside improvements to the soccer, baseball, and softball facilities.
Under Lovett’s leadership, Parkland emerged as one of the most successful NJCAA DII programs in the country, appearing in 48 National Finals, winning four titles (two each in baseball and volleyball) while finishing as the National Runner-Up on eight occasions, and winning 75 CCCI and MWAC titles. Seven of the eight Cobras sports teams he oversaw made Nationals during the 2016-17 academic year. Additionally, numerous teams earned NJCAA Academic honors, including the 2016-17 Men’s Golf team’s Team of the Year win. More than 200 student-athletes earned Academic All-American recognition, and Cobras athletic team grade point averages were regularly above 3.0.
A full list of Hall of Famers can be found online.