Hall of Fame
As a freshman in 1992, Michelle Patterson Illian ’96 made an instant mark on the Coe softball team and was named outstanding rookie while recording a 12-3 record for a team that went 27-7.
She won another 12 games – two thirds of the team’s total -- and earned two saves in 1993 to earn All-Midwest Conference honors. She won 15 games – then the third most in school history – and lost only four in both her junior and senior years, when she repeated as an All-Midwest Conference selection.
Coe won Midwest Conference championships each of Illian’s four seasons. She was named to NCAA All-Tournament teams when Coe placed third in the 1994 regional and second in the 1995 regional.
Illian finished her Kohawk softball career as Coe’s all-time leader in wins and innings pitched. She also ranked second all-time with 308 strikeouts and three saves. Her 1.28 career earned run average was Coe’s third best at the time. Two decades since she graduated, Illian remains in Coe’s top five for complete games and batters faced.
Illian was a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago for 11 years. She currently stays home with her children. She lives in Libertyville, Illinois, with her husband, Pete, and children, Emma, Drew and Lucas.
