The following is the third in a series of profiles of individuals who will comprise the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame's 27th induction class. Induction ceremonies will be held Saturday, September 18, prior to The Rock's home football game vs. West Chester University.
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Heather Kearney, the leading scorer and second leading rebounder in Rock women's basketball history, will be one of six individuals included in the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame's 27th induction class in September.
Kearney, a native of Harrisville and 1995 graduate of Slippery Rock High School, finished her Rock career with 1,760 points and 949 rebounds. In addition to her school-record points total, she also holds the single-game scoring record (42 points vs. Lock Haven in her senior season,1998-99) and the single-game, single-season and career marks for free throws made and attempted.
She made 21 of 24 free throws in one game her junior season, a campaign in which she sank 190 of 226 (.840) charity tosses, and concluded her collegiate with a 460-of-572 (.804) efficiency at the foul line.
Kearney's on-court efforts earned her Kodak All-America status in her senior season as well as Daktronics Inc. and Division II Bulletin All-America and first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division honors in each of her final two collegiate seasons. She was the PSAC-West Rookie of the Year in 1996.
Following receipt of her undergraduate degree in sport management in 1999, Kearney served as The Rock's women's basketball graduate assistant and helped lead the Green and White to a first-ever NCAA regional championship and berth in the national Elite Eight in 2000.
The following year, she followed her former coach, Darcie Vincent, to California (Pa.), where she continued to be an integral part of a successful program. In eight seasons at California, Kearney helped lead the Vulcans to eight straight trips to the NCAA tournament, capped off by a Division II national-championship effort in 2004, as well as seven PSAC-West championships and four overall conference titles.
Kearney remained at California as head coach when Vincent accepted the top job at Division I Appalachian State University in 2008. In her lone year as head coach, Kearney led the Vulcans to the PSAC-West championship, an NCAA Elite Eight appearance and a No. 4 final national ranking. For her efforts, she was named the PSAC-West Coach of the Year.
Kearney, who added a master's degree in counseling from SRU in 2003, rejoined Vincent as associate head coach at Appalachian State for the 2009-10 season and remains in that role.
Kearney will be joined in the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame's 2010 class by longtime western Pennsylvania athletic administrator Jack Fullen, three-time PSAC track and field discus champion Mike Hambrick, three-time football All-America quarterback Randy McKavish, baseball All-America shortstop Craig White and three-time golf All-American John Zack.
The 2010 SRU Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held prior to The Rock's Sept. 18 home football game vs. West Chester University (7 p.m. kickoff). Ceremonies will start with a social hour at 2:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 3:30 p.m. Inductees will also be honored during halftime of the football game at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame induction are $35 each and can be purchased from Pearl Shaffer, Assistant to the Athletic Director, 1 Morrow Way–Room 101 Morrow Field House, Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057.
For more information, please call Ms. Shaffer at 724.738.2768 or via email at
pearl.shaffer@sru.edu.
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