Two well-known administrators and a three-sport athlete were inducted into the Cyclones Athletics Hall of Fame on Feb. 6.
Bill Finn was a decorated coach and director of Athletics throughout his 42 years at Moraine Valley. He was first hired as the men's basketball head coach in 1981 and tallied a 506-210 career record, leading 20 seasons that boasted 20-plus wins. His teams reached the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Final Four twice (1999 and 1990) and the Elite Eight twice (2002 and 2001). One of his teams was nationally ranked as high as sixth.
While coach, Finn was hired as the director of Athletics in 1983 until his retirement in 2023. During his tenure, he grew the Athletics program, introducing football in the early 1990s, ultimately expanding it to 12 sports, each with national recognition. He also helped bring home the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) All-Sports Award, which reflects the success of all teams at the college, 10 times between 2004 and 2023.
Between 2004 and 2012, Finn was the women's tennis head coach, and from 2005 to 2013 he also coached men's tennis. He led the women's team to two conference championships, two region championships and six national tournaments. He led the men's team to five conference championships, four region championships and eight national tournaments.
Added to his coaching experience, Finn earned eight Illinois Region IV Coach of the Year honors and 10 ISCC Coach of the Year awards. He was a four-time Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Junior College Division Coach of the Year and a five-time North Central Community College Conference (N4C) Coach of the Year. He has been inducted into six other halls of fame, most recently for his basketball team in the Loras College Athletics Hall of Fame in Iowa.
Mary Ann Lessner was hired part time as the Athletics secretary in 1982 during the department's infancy. She transitioned to full time a year later and was in control of the office, which had only eight sports at that time. A beloved member of the department, she worked with student employees, scheduled games for all the teams, assigned vans for travel to away games, scheduled officials, ordered team supplies, acquired meal money for traveling teams, kept track of invoices and maintained order in the office. Lessner could remember budgets, numbers, dates and schedules along with which coaches needed vehicles and meal money to travel or how many officials were needed for home competitions. Her friendly and helpful demeanor made it easy for everyone on campus to work with her.
Prior to the luxury of cell phones and GPS, Lessner would pull out physical maps and hand-write detailed directions for every coach to safely travel to away games. She had stacks of papers and files in her office with a detailed and organized system to coordinate all the moving pieces. When football was a sport at the college, she worked endless hours and weekends to keep the large team on task. She could remember the names and faces of every athlete, knew where every file was located, worked with precision and ran the office as efficiently as her own home. Lessner also kept the director of Athletics organized and focused. In 2010, she was inducted into the ISCC Hall of Fame for her contributions to Moraine Valley Athletics.
Renee Strasser was an outstanding Moraine Valley student-athlete from 1983 to 1985. She was a rare three-sport athlete, playing volleyball, basketball and softball, the latter being her favorite. Strasser helped the volleyball team win the NJCAA Region IV State Volleyball Tournament in 1983 and to third place a year later. She helped basketball earn an NJCAA sectional championship her freshman season and then helped the team go 31-2 to place second in the NJCAA Region IV State Championship her sophomore year. Strasser also helped the softball team place third in state and seventh nationally as a freshman and to second place at state a year later.
Strasser's work ethic and passion for sports earned her several awards. Her freshman year, she was named to the N4C All-Conference second team for volleyball. For softball, the outfielder/shortstop earned N4C All-Conference first team honors both seasons and earned NJCAA Region IV All-Tournament first team as well as Moraine Valley Best Offensive Player and Most Valuable Player her sophomore year. She also was named Moraine Valley Woman Athlete of the Year both seasons and earned the prestigious NJCAA Division II All-America first team designation in 1985.
Strasser has been inducted into two other halls of fame – Queen of Peace High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the 16 Inch Softball Hall of Fame in Forest Park.
"This latest induction class into our Athletics Hall of Fame is exemplary of what and who we are at Moraine Valley, and I am honored for them to be in our hall. Between a legendary coach and Athletics director, a skilled and impactful secretary and a decorated three-sport athlete, they are truly the best of the best for Cyclones Athletics," said General McArthur III, Moraine Valley director of Athletics. "This group has passion, pride, talent, strength and natural gifts that not only were shared with our community but also provided a solid foundation for life that we all can learn from. Congratulations to our 2025 induction class!"