The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- November 23, 1998

Lock Haven's Taylor heads list of NACWAA award recipients

The National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) recently honored several individuals for their contributions to women's athletics.

Sharon E. Taylor, director of athletics at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, has been named National Administrator of the Year. The award is presented to one of the seven district winners who are nominated and selected based on outstanding achievement in and contribution to women's athletics. Length of service to women's athletics also is a consideration.

Taylor has been the director of athletics at Lock Haven since 1987. She previously served as associate director for eight years. Taylor was field hockey coach from 1973 to 1995, posting a career record of 331-96-27, including six national championships and seven conference titles. In 1979, her lacrosse team won the first Division II national championship.

Taylor has served as president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and as vice-president for Division III of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

She also has been president of the College Field Hockey Coaches Association, a member of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Committee, a delegate to the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations, and a consultant to the President's Commission on Olympic Sport.

In 1988, Taylor received the Katherine Ley Award, presented by the ECAC for outstanding contributions to women's athletics. She was named the Division II Field Hockey Coach of the Year in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Honda Award winner

NACWAA also has named Donna A. Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation, as its 1998 Honor Award recipient.

The award recognizes the recipient's outstanding support for women's sports and women athletes.

Lopiano received her bachelor's degree from Southern Connecticut State University and her master's degree and doctorate from the University of Southern California. She has been a college coach of men's and women's volleyball, women's basketball, and softball.

As an athlete, Lopiano participated in 26 national championships in four sports and was a nine-time all-American at four different positions in softball, a sport in which she played on six national championship teams. She is a member of the National Sports Hall of Fame, the National Softball Hall of Fame and the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.

A prolific writer and speaker, Lopiano is considered by many to be a champion of equal opportunity for women in sports and for the ethical conduct of educational sport.

Lopiano is listed as No. 67 in The Sporting News' "100 Most Influential People in Sports," and College Sports magazine ranks her No. 22 among "The Most Influential People in College Sports."

Lifetime Achievement Awards

NACWAA also has named its 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award winners, athletics administrators who have dedicated their professional careers to advancing women in sport.

This year, NACWAA honored eight Lifetime Achievement Award winners: Phyllis T. Bailey, Ohio State University; Carol E. Gordon, Washington State University; Judith R. Holland, University of California, Los Angeles; Leotus "Lee" Morrison, James Madison University; Martha Mullins, Eastern Kentucky University; Mary A. Rice. Rowan University (Glassboro State College); Jeanne Rowlands, Northeastern University; and Charlotte West, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.