On June 9
th at Elgin Community College recently retired Athletic Trainer, Lisa Bolinder, and alumni student-athlete,
Alex Crinigan, were inducted into the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Athletic Hall of Fame. Additionally, Oakton's current Women's Basketball Coach,
Tony Siriscevich Jr., was recognized as the ISCC Newcomer Coach of the Year.
Lisa Bolinder was the Head Athletic Trainer at Oakton from 1993-2022, retiring just this past May. Lisa's most significant accomplishments, in addition to her health service to athletes, was in building a gold standard athletic training department. For example, Oakton is one of the first college programs to require EKG testing of all athletes, additionally, she broadened peripheral health service offerings to include physical therapist and doctor visits to the Oakton campus. Not only did she serve as athletic trainer but also as a lecturer, wellness coordinator and manager, as well as a coach for the women's basketball, softball and golf teams. "Foundational to every successful Juco athletic department are its coaches, academic support personnel and athletic trainers. And Oakton's been fortunate to have had 1 exceptional full time athletic trainer caring for our student-athletes and all our visiting ISCC student athletes for nearly 30 years," states Senior Manager of Athletics,
Christine Paciero.
Alex Crinigan was a pitcher for the Oakton Owls Baseball Team from 2016-2018. He led the nation in wins (12) and strikeouts (107). Crinigan earned First Team All-Conference, First Team All-Region, and First Team All-American honors as an Owl. Paciero is in full support of his induction saying, "Alex is most deserving of the honor as he was a key member of the 2018 National Championship being recognized as the NJCAA Division III Pitcher of the Year. And we are thrilled that he is back mentoring our Oakton athletes as an assistant on Coach Fratto's staff."
Tony Siriscevich Jr. was recognized as the ISCC Newcomer Coach of the Year. "It's great that Tony is being recognized by the conference for the rebirth our program and taking the team, in its first full season, all the way to the final game of the Midwest A District Tournament," says Paciero. Siriscevich led the Women's Basketball team to a very successful 2021-2022 campaign. The Owls went 6-5 in the conference and had an impressive 22-7 overall record. Under his guidance, the women ended their postseason with a runner-up finish in the NJCAA Region IV Tournament. The Owls were only one win away from punching their ticket to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
Written by:
Katie Adams
