McHenry Times

The McHenry County College (MCC) Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome five new members during a ceremony Tuesday, Jan. 17, according to a news release from the school.

The induction ceremony will start about 7 p.m., between the MCC women's and men's basketball games at the school gymnasium.

Tom Carle

This year's inductees include Rafael Arellano, Tom Carle, Kathy (Freund) Heider, Michelle (Crosby) Loeding and Rick Peterson.

“We are proud to honor this year’s inductees, to share their accomplishments and contributions to MCC and thank them for being part of our Scot family,” Karen Wiley, MCC director of athletics, said in the news release. “We have amazing individuals to shine the spotlight upon.”

Here are closer looks at the inductees and their accomplishments:

Arellano played men’s soccer in 1994 and 1995 at MCC, and was named to the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Soccer First Team and All Region IV First Team in 1995, as well as team MVP that year. He also helped found the school's Latinos Unidos to promote Latino support, assistance and cultural awareness.

Carle was an athletic-department volunteer from 1993-2015. Volunteer duties during that time included scorekeeping at basketball games, helping coach baseball and improving the baseball field and other facilities.

Heider, who played on the volleyball team in 1997 and 1998 seasons, was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American in 1998 in leading the Scots to the program's first qualification for the national tournament. She was also an All-Region IV Team pick in both seasons.

Playing volleyball, basketball and softball for the Scots in 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons, Loeding especially shined in basketball. She was named all-conference both years, even helping the program win its first ISCC basketball championship. Loeding gave the commencement address in 1988.

Finally, Peterson was a high-scoring MCC men's basketball player from 1979-81 and coach for the Scots women’s basketball team from 1987-89. In the 1980-81 season, Peterson scored 30 points a game to lead the ISCC. In his two seasons at the helm of the women's program, the Scots went 41-10 and won the program's first conference title.

Each inductee will be honored with a plaque on the Athletic Hall of Fame wall by the gym and earn placement on the hall of fame website at mchenry.edu/hof.

The hall of fame was created in 2004 to recognize the achievements and contributions of selected athletes, coaches, teams, administrators and volunteers for MCC athletics, according to the news release.