Minooka High announces Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025

Minooka Community High School has announced its inductees for the Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Here are the inductees, according to a Tuesday news release:

The 2013 Softball Team will be inducted as a team. Under the direction of head coach Mark Brown, they were the first girls’ team in MCHS history to win an IHSA state title. After a solid regular season where they went 7-7 in conference play, Minooka would win seven straight postseason games. They beat St. Charles East 14-3 in the title game after Rachel May hit a three-run home run down the left field line in the 6th inning. In that championship game, Minooka set three records: most runs (14) scored for a state championship game, most hits (19) in a state championship game, and most home runs (3) in a state championship game.

Tim Stevens, Class of 1995, will be inducted as an individual athlete. Stevens earned all-state honors in three different sports during his career at Minooka. His senior year as quarterback, he was all-state honorable mention. He is most proud of leading Minooka to a 12-7 win over Morris, who was ranked first at the time. In basketball, he was all-state third team his senior year and all-state honorable mention his junior year. He qualified for the state finals in the 3-point contest, where he finished ninth in 2A. He ended his basketball career with a school record (as of 2025) 1,120 points. He also holds records in assists, 3-pointers, and free throws. In baseball, he earned all-state team honors his senior year and finished his career with a .409 batting average and a pitching record of 10-4.

Dustin Williams, Class of 2001, will be inducted as an individual athlete. As a linebacker, Williams would record 301 tackles during his career at Minooka. During the Homecoming game his senior year – a win over Geneva – Williams would have 11 solo tackles, 7 assists, and 4 sacks. That year, he was the best defensive player in the Suburban Prairie Red Conference. He was named all-state by at least two different organizations, and he was voted Illinois Defensive MVP in an internet fan poll. He continued his football career at the University of Kentucky. Although two years were marred by injuries, at one point in November in 2003, he led the entire Southeastern Conference (SEC) in tackles per game. He was also a three-year varsity letterman on the track and field team.

Nina Simotes, Class of 2001, will be inducted as an individual athlete for girl’s basketball. When she graduated, Simotes had the most career points ever for Minooka with 1,522, despite missing games her senior year because of an injury. (As of 2025 she is second on the all-time list.) She currently is second for most points ever scored (36) in a game. She was all-conference all four years in basketball at MCHS. She also earned an All-State Special Mention from the IBCA both her junior and senior years. She was a member of the two of the best volleyball teams ever in Minooka history, including the 1999 Elite Eight team. After high school, she played basketball for four years for the University of Louisville, appearing in 81 games and scoring 384 points.

Ashley Jones, Class of 2006, will be inducted as an individual athlete. By far the most decorated swimmer ever at Minooka, Jones earned all-state honors all four years of high school. She medaled at state all four years, with a state championship under her belt in the 200- yard individual medley her junior year. That same year she was third at state in the 500-yard freestyle. Other state medals include second in the 200-yard individual medley (2003), third in the 100-yard backstroke (2003), seventh in the 200-yard individual medley (2005), and seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (2002 and 2005). At Indiana University, she earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the 400 Individual Medley her final year. She placed in numerous races in the Big Ten Championships over multiple years and set several school records while at Indiana. She also qualified for the Olympic Trials in both 2004 and 2008.

Ray Liberatore will be inducted as a coach. The winningest girls’ basketball coach in school history, Liberatore started as head coach during the 1994-95 season when the school was still in class 2A. He would cap his career during the 2017-18 year with his fourth regional championship, and his fifth 20-win season in a row. Along the way, Liberatore would win five conference championships and coach six different girls who would earn all-state honors, two of whom earned those honors two years in row. He tallied 363 wins over those 24 years. He won at least 20 games seven different times. Throughout his long tenure at MCHS, Liberatore also served as a freshman boys basketball coach, sophomore girls basketball coach, and assistant varsity boys basketball coach. In the early 1990s, he began coaching football. Liberatore helmed the sophomore squad for many years and also served as an assistant varsity coach. He was a guidance counselor at MCHS for more than 30 years.

Bob Tyrell will be inducted for Special Merit. Tyrell served as athletic director at Minooka from 2005 to 2023, an era where MCHS had tremendous success in sports. During that time, Minooka brought home 23 IHSA state trophies, including four state championships. He oversaw MCHS grow into two campuses at that time. Tyrell could often be found at MCHS well before teachers arrived in the morning and still at campus after practices concluded. He began teaching industrial arts at Minooka in 1995 and later worked as a dean. He quickly became involved in athletics, coaching at various levels of football and baseball. He also served as the head varsity baseball coach during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, when he had an overall record of 46-23, won two regional titles and one conference title. This is the third class to be inducted into the MCHS Athletic Hall of Fame. The first class was inducted in 2019. The Athletic Hall of Fame committee reached out to the community through social media, and via a variety of other marketing outlets, and asked for community members to submit nominees. From those nominees, the Class of 2025 was selected. Nominees not chosen for this year’s class will automatically be considered for next year’s class.

The 3rd Annual Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will be introduced at the Homecoming game on Friday, October 3, 2025 at the conclusion of the sophomore football game vs. Plainfield Central High School. Sophomore game starts at 5 p.m. and will end approximately at 7 p.m. The Varsity game begins at 7:30 p.m. There will be a social gathering after the football game at Aces Garage Bar & Grill.

The Minooka Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will honor the Class of 2025 and their families at a dinner on Saturday, October 4, 2025 at Aces Garage Bar & Grill in Minooka. More information can be found on the Athletics web page at www.mchs.net/page/athletics. Anyone with questions can contact AthleticHallofFame@mchs.net.