The journey to IC:

LYNN: My path to IC began in 1990, visiting campuses to determine where I would study and play basketball for my college career. While I had visited several and had a scholarship offer elsewhere, I took an official visit to Illinois College. During my campus tour I met two people who were influential in my decision to attend IC — Kelly Davis Liljegren ’93 and Amy Wilson ’93. Spending time with the women’s basketball team, I saw everything I wanted in a college team: teamwork, motivation and determination. The visit ended my college search because I knew IC was the place for me.

CARLTON: After my high school football career, I knew that football was going to be a driving factor in my college choice. I was also interested in studying politics and history. With those two interests in mind, my father and I visited numerous schools, from various divisions. On my final visit to IC, I spent a Sunday and Monday on campus and was introduced to Andrew “Meat” Sparrow ’95 and Joseph Blessman ’93, who would later become my roommates and lifelong friends, and Dr. Karen Dean, my eventual college advisor. After that, my decision was made. IC was the place I could compete, learn and thrive.

Our meeting on the Hilltop:

We travelled from opposite ends of I-55 to arrive at the same destination. We met as freshmen and ran in different circles, until fate intervened our junior year. In the fall of 1993, we were both named first runners-up for Homecoming King and Queen, leading to a friendship that blossomed into something special during our senior year. We married in 1999.

Graduating to sports careers:

CARLTON: I started a career as a college football coach, which brought us 19 seasons at four colleges/universities in three different states. My coaching career was influenced by the coaches at IC. Their level of respect and emphasis on growth gave me the blueprint to follow as a coach and as a man. Coaching means preparing players to face challenges that go beyond the game. IC instilled the values and adaptive skills for my career coaching student-athletes.

LYNN: I completed my master’s degree in athletic training from Illinois State University, following in the footsteps of my mentor Terry Geirnaeirt, the longtime trainer at IC, and I became a certified strength and conditioning specialist. I worked as an athletic trainer at the high school and collegiate levels and served as a coach at the Professional Athletic Performance Center, working with athletes of all ages — from high school to professionals in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. I specialized in the rehabilitation of athletic injuries and training athletes for performance beyond injury. Learning to adapt and grow as a student-athlete at IC helped me learn how to adapt and learn in my professional career.

Reaching our destination (for now)

We have been living in our fourth state together, Richmond, Va., for almost four years. After many years of coaching, Carlton now works for ARMS Software, a company that specializes in innovative software for college athletics. After being an athletic trainer and strength coach for 17 years, Lynn is taking a sabbatical to stay home with our two beautiful, young boys, Mason and Jaden.

While we left Jacksonville many years ago, we have always remained rooted in the relationships and the experiences from our time at Illinois College. We have continued many of the friendships we made at IC and our alma mater helped us to lay a solid foundation for our professional careers as we share the wonderful lessons that we learned on the Hilltop: commitment, dedication, resilience and the quality of character that were a part of our athletic careers at IC.