Wheaton College (MA)

PhotoGallery / Induction Speech

A two-sport all-regionstudent-athlete (field hockey and softball) at Wheaton, Searscompiled a bevy of awards including three National FastpitchCoaches Association (NFCA) All-America honors (1997–99), fourNFCA All-New England accolades and three ECAC New England All-Starselections in softball (1997–99). Sears was also named to theNational Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-New Englandsquad in 1999 to go along with four all-conference selectionsbetween the two sports. Academically, Sears is a two-time NFCAScholar Award recipient and also received GTE Academic CollegeDivision All-District I accolades for softball in 1999.Sears’ merits on the diamond alone are more than worthy ofHall of Fame consideration, as she is still tied for the NCAADivision III record in doubles in a season with 69 total, inaddition to being the statistical champion in doubles, doubles pergame and total bases in 1998 and home runs, home runs per game andruns batted in (RBI) in 2000. Her 415 assists still ranks thirdall-time in NCAA Division III history. In the circle, Searscollected 105 wins over 871.2 innings pitched, a 1.86 earned runaverage (ERA) and tossed 115 complete games. Sears ranks third inNCAA Division III history in complete games, fifth in inningspitched and seventh in wins. As a member of the field hockey team,Sears ranks tenth all-time in points (53), goals (21) and assists(11).