NU coach to join Lacrosse Hall of Fame
BALTIMORE, Md. — Northwestern head women’s lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, winner of eight NCAA championships as a player and coach and one of the best ever to play the game, will be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame this fall, the U.S. Lacrosse Board of Directors announced Wednesday.
Amonte Hiller will be inducted as a player, and her success on the field included back-to-back national player of the year awards while playing for two NCAA title-winning teams at Maryland in 1995 and 1996.
The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will be officially inducted Saturday, Oct. 20, at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md.
“It is a great honor to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and it is even more special to be inducted with this incredible class,” Amonte Hiller said. “It is very special to me that this class includes my coach and mentor, Cindy Timchal. I would like to thank all the many coaches and teammates that have influenced me in my playing and coaching career. I would also like to thank (former Northwestern administrators) Rick Taylor and Nancy Lyons for taking a chance on me and hiring as the coach at Northwestern, as well as (former NU athletic director) Mark Murphy and (current A.D.) Jim Phillips for their leadership and support of myself and my program. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents, my family and my husband Scott for always supporting and pushing me in my athletic endeavors.”
A native of Hingham, Mass., Amonte Hiller arrived at Maryland and earned the first of four NCAA all-America honors as a freshman, receiving first-team all-America accolades each of her final three seasons as a Terrapin. She helped lead the Terps to the NCAA championship in 1995 and 1996, garnering national defensive player of the year honors in 1995 and the national offensive player of the year award a year later. Additionally, Amonte Hiller was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) Female Athlete of the Year in 1996.
Amonte Hiller, who still ranks among the all-time points leaders in NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse history with 319, was a 2008 inductee into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame.
Following her collegiate career, Amonte Hiller embarked on a long and successful playing career with the U.S. Women’s National Team, competing internationally at the 1997, 2001 and 2005 Women’s Lacrosse World Cup and earning All-World Team honors in 2005.
Amonte Hiller is in her 11th season as the head coach at Northwestern, and her teams have won six of the last seven NCAA championships. She is a four-time IWLCA National Coach of the Year and has led her 2012 Wildcats squad to a No. 2 seed in the national tournament and an eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA semifinals.
Amonte Hiller is one of several individuals with ties to Maryland in the 2012 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame class, a group that Timchal. The remaining members of the class are: Jen Adams (player, Maryland), Roy Colsey (player, Syracuse), Brian Dougherty (player, Maryland), Missy Foote (coach, Middlebury), Jesse Hubbard (player, Princeton), Tim Nelson (player, Syracuse).