CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Parkland College will induct seven new members to its Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, January 26, during halftime of the Cobras' men's basketball game at 3 p.m. central time. The Hall of Fame Class includes six NJCAA All-Americans and were members of seven teams that reached the NJCAA National Tournament.

Dating back to the inaugural class of 2007, the Parkland Hall of Fame now has 80 inductees that range from players, team, coaches and administrators. To see the full list of Hall of Famers, click here.
 
Heidi McKean Wlezien, '09 Basketball
Heidi McKean Wlezien played for the Parkland College basketball team during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In 2009, Wlezien was named First Team NJCAA All-American, Region 24 All-Region, NJCAA Nationals Fourth Place, Parkland Co-Female Athlete of the Year, and received the Parkland Female Academic Achievement Award, along with being a two-time M-WAC All-Conference. Wlezien averaged 11.5 points per game during the 2008 season and 8.5 points per game during the 2009 season.
 
After Parkland Heidi played for Upper Iowa University and graduated with a degree in Athletic Training where she received the Senior Student Athletic Trainer of the Year Award. Heidi obtained her Master's Degree in Sports Administration from Eastern Illinois University where she was a graduate assistant athletic trainer working with women's rugby, women's basketball, and swimming. After earning her Master's, Heidi served as the head athletic trainer for the WNBA All-Star East team in 2015 and is currently an associate athletic trainer for the women's basketball team at the University of Texas at Austin. Heidi is also being inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this coming May.
 
 
Denise McGrath, '02 Volleyball
Denise McGrath played for the Cobra Volleyball team in 2001 and 2002 where she was team captain, an NJCAA All-American, NJCAA National All-Tournament First Team, and the 2002 Conference Player of the Year. After Parkland, Denise graduated with honors earning her B.S. from the University of Illinois with an emphasis on Marketing and Sport Management. Denise was on the UI Dean's List, the National Dean's List and graduated with honors. Moving to Albuquerque, NM in 2005, Denise began a successful career in sales and management selling laboratory, healthcare and cleanroom products where she was recognized as regional sales Representative of the Year in 2010. Denise is now lives in Bloomington, IN with her husband Brok and their three young children Ava, Eli and Ian.
 
 
Hannah Ohl Cronk, '11 Basketball
Hannah Ohl Cronk played for Parkland College from 2009-2011. In 2009, Cronk helped lead her team to an MWAC Conference Championship, Region 24 Championship, and a 3rd place finish at the National Tournament. Earning honors of MWAC 1st Team All-Conference, 1st Team All Region, Parkland Female Athlete of the Year, National All-Tournament Team, and was named a 1st Team NJCAA All-American. After Parkland Hannah transferred and continued her basketball career at the NCAA Division I institution, The University of South Carolina Upstate where she earned her B.S. in Exercise Science. Hannah went on to earn a M.S. degree in Kinesiology and Sports Students from Eastern Illinois University. Hannah is currently an Assistant Women's Basketball Coach at Danville Community College. Hannah resides in the Danville area with her husband, Logan Cronk.
 
Marty Kirby, '76 Baseball
Marty Kirby was a multi-sport athlete at Urbana High School, earning a total of seven varsity letters before graduating in 1974. Marty came to Parkland College to play for the Cobra Baseball team in 1975 and 1976 where he earned the team MVP and batted .388 before transferring to the University of Illinois and the UI Baseball Team. In the summer of 1975, he started a 10-year stint as an outfielder in the amateur Eastern Illinois Baseball League. He had a career E.I. batting average of .328 and earned all-star status in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1980. Kirby also hit 23 home runs during his E.I. career. Kirby finished among the E.I.'s top 10 batting leaders twice, ending eighth in 1977 (.418 average) and seventh in 1980 (.419 average). From 1980-85 he served as the player-coach for the Thomasboro E.I. entry, compiling a six-year record of 118-46.  He became the first coach in the history of the now-84-year-old E.I. to guide four consecutive teams to regular-season championships, doing so from 1982-85 and a tournament championship in 1985. He then served as President of E.I. from 1991-2000.
Marty Kirby had also returned to Parkland College as the head baseball coach for three seasons, from 1983-1985.
 
The long-time owner of Kirby & Turner Masonry, coached youth baseball teams from 2000 to 2007. Among those highlights were guiding the 2000 Brownfield Sports team to the Twin City Championship with an unblemished 23-0 record. He also served as head coach for a program he had played for, the Urbana Legion Post 71 team. He coached the Post 71 junior program from 2004-07, with the 34-17 team in 2005 team advancing to the national tournament in Ohio.
 
He is part of a storied family of Urbana athletes.
 
In 2009, the Kirby family became the first with four of its members in the Urbana Athletic Hall of Fame. Father Merwin Kirby (1952 graduate) was the first enshrined and was followed by three sons, Marty (1974 graduate), Rick (1976 gradate) and  Murray (1980 graduate).
 
The number of Kirbys enshrined later increased when Marty's children Adam (2007 graduate) and Mandy (2008 graduate) were also selected.
 
Rebecca Koets, '02 Softball
Rebecca Koets played for the Cobra Softball team in 2001 and 2002 where she batted .423, fielded .933 and had 58 RBIs. Rebecca was All-Conference 1^st Team, All-Region 1^st Team, NFCA All-Region 1^st Team and NJCAA All-American 1^st Team. Koets continued her career at Northland College in Ashland, WI where she earned her B.S. in 2004. Koets moved to California and where she completed her HR Certification. Koets left corporate life to travel, help with family, and enjoy a minimalist lifestyle. She lived in a tiny house (like the television show), traveled all over the U.S., lived in 5 different states, completed the San Francisco Nike Marathon in 2009, the Ragnar Bourbon Chase in 2018 and continues to play co-ed slow pitch softball today. 
 
 
Brittany Fallis Perez, '09 Volleyball
Brittany Fallis Perez played for Parkland College during the 2008 and 2009 season. During her 2008 season, Perez played in 120 sets with 16 Aces (.12 Aces/set) and 494 Digs (3.83 Digs/set). During the 2009 season, Perez played 149 sets, had 869 Digs (5.83 digs/set) and was First Team All-American, First Team All-Region 24 and First Team All-MWAC. Following Parkland, Perez went on to play Division 1 volleyball for the University of Pittsburgh as defensive specialist from 2009-2011 where she earned her B.S. in Administrative Justice and Legal Studies. Perez was granted an internship at the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office in Pittsburgh in 2011 where she participated in forensic investigations on various crime scenes. Perez is currently a paralegal at the law firm of Heyl Royster in Peoria where her focus is in the toxic tort practice groups.
 
 
Lennox Forrester, '89 Basketball
Lennox Forrester played for the Cobra Basketball team during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. In 1989 Forrester was selected as an NJCAA All-American, All-Region and All-Conference. His career included being a member of two of the Cobras top-five finishes where they were 2^nd in 1988 and 4^th in 1989.
 
Forrester then earned a Division I Scholarship to the University of Evansville where he played 2 seasons, finishing first in the conference and winning the Conference Tournament and reaching the NCAA tournament in his senior year. Forrester earned his B.S. in Sociology in 1992 and spent the next 25 years as a college basketball coach. Starting his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Evansville for 12 years, Forrester moved to Bradley University as an assistant coach and helped guide the Bradley team earn wins over Kansas and Pittsburgh to make it into the Sweet Sixteen in the 2005-2007 seasons. Forrester finished his long career in coaching as the head coach at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville for eight seasons, guiding them from Division II to Division I. He currently serves as the Executive Director at the Downtown Belleville YMCA in Belleville, Illinois where he lives with his wife Racquel and daughter Calaya.