Three stellar former Bridgewater College athletes have been selected for induction into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 8, in the Kline Campus Center, as part of Homecoming activities.
The inductees for 2010 are Mary Frances Heishman, ’66, of Dayton, Va.; Anthony Lawrence, ’90, of Chantilly, Va.; and Pattiann Dzikowicz Beach, ’91, of Mechanicsville, Va.
Mary Frances Heishman, a professor of health and exercise science at Bridgewater, played three sports as a student – basketball, field hockey and tennis. But it was as a coach that she made athletic history, entering the record books as one of BC’s most successful coaches.
Heishman coached lacrosse from 1971-87 and finished with a 119-113-5 record. She was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Coach of the Year in 1987.
It was on the volleyball court, however, where Heishman became one of the most successful coaches in the nation. She established the volleyball program in 1975 and coached until 2008, compiling a record of 653 wins and 268 losses. The 653 wins ranks eighth all-time in NCAA Division III. Heishman’s teams had 27 winning seasons, captured five ODAC titles and made three trips to NCAA tournament play.
Heishman was named ODAC Coach of the Year seven times and South Region Coach of the Year in 1988 when the Eagles finished with a 33-2 record. She coached seven ODAC Players of the Year and 37 first-team All-ODAC players.
In 2010, Bridgewater College awarded Heishman the Martha B. Thornton Faculty Recognition Award.
Anthony Lawrence finished his football career at Bridgewater as one of the most decorated running backs in the college’s history. Lawrence, who also played baseball for one year and ran track for two years, finished his career as BC’s all-time leading rusher with 3,715 yards. He still ranks No. 2 on the all-time career rushing list.
Lawrence was named to the ODAC first team three times and was named the ODAC Player of the Year in 1988 when he rushed for 1,341 yards, his second straight season with more than 1,300 yards. In 1988, he was honored by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association as a member of the College Division All-State Team.
Lawrence also ranks No. 2 all-time at BC in all-purpose yardage with 4,963 and first in all-purpose yards per game with 137.9 yards per contest. He scored 174 points during his career to rank No. 5 all-time. During his career, Lawrence rushed for more than 100 yards in a game 19 times.
During the 1988 outdoor track season, Lawrence ran the 100 meters at one of the top three times in BC history.
Lawrence works for Feld Entertainment, designing and developing such brands as Disney on Ice, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam, and Monster Energy Supercross.
Pattiann (Dzikowicz) Beach played basketball during the 1988 and 1989 seasons as the Eagles won the ODAC regular season title in each year.
However, it was on the field hockey and lacrosse playing fields where Beach excelled. She served as a team captain in 1989 and 1990 for the field hockey squad and was named to the All-ODAC first team in 1989 and 1990. She was a NCAA Division III Regional All-American in 1990 and served as lacrosse captain for two seasons, being named to the All-ODAC first team in 1990 and 1991.
Beach, who was named Homecoming queen in 1990, has served as a coach and team parent for numerous youth sports teams in the Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association. Since 2007, she has been a special education teacher and field hockey coach at Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, Va.
She has also been active within her church where she has served as a Sunday School teacher and a vacation Bible school leader.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].
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