Illinois College athletics proudly introduce the 2018 Hall of Fame class
Eight members are past student-athletes, including three from the Class of 2011. One other, Terry Geirnaeirt, has been an athletic trainer for Illinois College for the past quarter-century. The 2018 Illinois College Sports Hall of Fame inductees are:
Adam Baran ’11
As the Illinois College baseball all-time leader in hits and total bases, who ranks near the top in multiple other career hitting categories, Adam Baran graduated as one of the best players in Blueboy history. A four-year starter and four-time All-Midwest Conference selection, Baran batted over .400 in three of his four seasons and posted a career batting average of .397. He was a team captain while at IC and a two-time All-Region selection as well.
Dillon Binkley ’11
Dillon Binkley earned seven All-MWC honors during his illustrious career, qualified for six NCAA National Track & Field Championships, was twice an Indoor All-American in the high jump, and matched that in the outdoor season with two more All-American honors. While known mostly for his amazing jumping abilities, Binkley also played in 85 career men’s basketball games, making nine starts. Since graduating from Illinois College, he coached New Berlin to the 2016 Class 1A state title in track & field.
Terry Geirnaeirt
For more than 25 years, Terry Geirnaeirt has been a pillar of the Illinois College athletic department as an athletic trainer. Starting as a part-time trainer who doubled as a hall director in Crampton Hall, Geirnaeirt has become a constant in the experiences of nearly every student-athlete who walks through the doors of the Bruner Fitness and Recreation Center and into the athletic training room that he helped design. Since beginning as a one-man crew in December of 1991 and continuing to work solo for nearly 20 years, Geirnaeirt has treated thousands of Illinois College athletes, including NCAA Tournament and Championships qualifiers from the sports of volleyball, men’s basketball, football and track & field. Many graduates who learned under him have also followed in his footsteps by choosing careers in the athletic training industry.
David Isham ’90
David Isham made an important impact with both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Illinois College. Isham was a four-year starter for the Blueboys and was twice named All-Midwest Conference. He graduated in 1990 ranked third all-time in assists, a place in the record books that he still holds. He then became an assistant coach on the 1990 conference championship team for the Blueboys before becoming the first-ever head coach in the history of the women’s soccer program. He helmed the LadyBlues for four years and helped IC achieve a program-best eight victories in 1995, a mark that held for nearly 20 years.
Jo Lehmkuhl ’84
A dual-sport star in basketball and softball, Jo Lehmkuhl was a four-year starter in both sports and the first woman in Illinois College history to letter all four years in softball. A first baseman and pitcher on the softball team, Lehmkuhl won the Most Dedicated Award in her senior season. That same year, as a co-captain of the women’s basketball team, she was named the Most Valuable Player on the team after leading the Lady Blues in scoring, rebounding and assists. She took home the 1984 Doris B. Hopper Award, and, after her playing days were over, has been recognized three times as an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year.
Adam Mefford ’97
A two-sport star in baseball and football, Adam Mefford still has his name scattered throughout the Illinois College baseball record book more than 20 years since he last suited up for the Blueboys. The team’s co-MVP in 1995, Mefford hit better than .400 that season and is among the career Top 10 at IC in batting average, runs batted in, runs scored, total hits, total bases and doubles. He was a three-time All-MWC selection in baseball, as well as an All-Region selection once during his career. On the gridiron, he was the football team’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1996 and won the 1996 Burger King Scholar-Athlete/Endowed Scholarship. In March of 2017, Mefford was named Jacksonville Chief of Police.
Conrad Noll III ’65
A four-year letter winner and three-year starter for the Illinois College football team, Conrad Noll III was a co-captain and the team’s leading rusher in 1964. During his time on the Hilltop, Noll won the Al Miller Athletic Academic Achievement Award for three years in a row and was a starter on the 1963 IC team which upset nationally-ranked Washington University in St. Louis by a score of 9-7.
Joana Ramsey ’98
A four-year starting setter and the MWC Player of the Year in 1996, Joana Ramsey was part of one of the most dominating stretches of volleyball in Midwest Conference history. The Lady Blues won three conference titles during her four years on the team and made one NCAA Tournament appearance. Ramsey was named All-MWC in 1994, 1995 and 1996, was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region selection in 1995 and 1996 and took home Illinois College's Doris B. Hopper Award in 1996. She ranks second all-time in assists and fourth all-time in aces in program history. After graduation, she began coaching volleyball and led Parkland College to a No. 6 national ranking at the end of the 2001 season.
Jacob Tucker ’11
The 2011 NCAA Slam Dunk champion and a former Harlem Globetrotter, Jacob Tucker may have put Illinois College on the map more than any other athlete in school history. A two-year captain of the men’s basketball team and a two-time All-MWC selection, Tucker scored more than 1,000 points in his career and ranks among the Top 10 in career three-pointers made in Blueboy history. It was his dunks that became his calling card, however. A YouTube video of his dunks has garnered better than five million views and led to his inclusion in the 2011 NCAA Slam Dunk Contest. His performance there wowed the crowd and he was crowned champion in a field that included participants from Cincinnati, Memphis, Pittsburgh, St. John’s and Tulsa.