There have been many great women athletes and coaches who led Penn State teams to successful seasons, earning conference and national honors in the fifty years since Title IX enactment.  This section displays only a small sampling of images of athletes and coaches who were among the best during their collegiate careers at Penn State.  These are women athletes who excelled in two sports and coaches who led multiple teams in their careers.  The collection link below leads to the collection guide and inventory of more than 11,000 men’s and women’s athletes, coaches, and administrators dating back to the 1880s.  Materials in each file may include photos, biographical material, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles for a specific athlete. 

Barbara Doran

Barbara Doran played both field hockey and lacrosse at Penn State.  She was on the field hockey team from 1971 to 1974 and the lacrosse team in 1974 and 1975.  She was named an All-American in her senior year in 1975. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candy Finn 

Candy Finn was a two-sport star at Penn State, competing on the field hockey team from 1978 to 1982 and the lacrosse team from 1979 to 1982.  She is second on the all-time scoring list with 265 goals and 380 points.  Finn was elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1998.  She was an All-American in 1979 and 1980 and holds the field hockey career records for scoring and points with 90 goals and 196 points. 

 

 

 

Char Morett  

Char Morett competed on the women’s field hockey team and lacrosse teams from 1975 to 1979.  She played on the 1978 and 1979 U.S. Women’s Lacrosse Association (USWLA) National champion teams and was named MVP of the 1979 championships and an All-American in that same year.  Morett is Penn State’s only three time All-American in field hockey and scored most goals in school history with 50 by the end of her senior year.    She was number 13 on the list of Penn State Top 100 All-Time Athletes in 2020.   

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Morett was selected to the U.S. women’s field hockey team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but did not participate due to the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games.  She helped lead the U.S. women’s field hockey team win a bronze medal at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and her 1984 Olympic field hockey team was elected to the National Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014 and was number 13 on the Penn State Top 100 Athletes of All Time in 2020.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After graduation, Morett served as a graduate assistant, helping the Penn State field hockey team to the AIAW finals and lacrosse team to national championship in 1980.  She was the head coach at Boston College from 1984 to 1986, then returned to Penn State as the head coach in 1987 and has compiled a record of 517-212-8 with the Nittany Lions through the 2020 season.  Morett is fifth all time with 558 wins and only one of six coaches with more than 400 career victories. 

 

 

 

 

Chris Larson

Chris Larson competed on the field hockey and women’s lacrosse teams from 1974 to 1977.  She led the field hockey team with seventeen goals in her senior year and finished her career as the second leading scorer with twenty-eight goals in fifty-one games.  Larson was number 87 on the list of Penn State Top 100 All-Time Athletes in 2020.   

Larson first tried out for the Olympic field hockey team in 1976 and competed on the National Field Hockey team until the 1984 Olympics.  After her playing career ended, she served as the women’s lacrosse and field hockey coach at Williams College from 1980 to 1982, then 1984 to 1999 with a record of 198-59-10.  

Larson was named to the Women’s Olympic Field Hockey team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics but did not participate due to the U.S. boycott.  She was able to compete at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games with fellow Penn Staters Char Morett and Brenda Stauffer and helped the U.S. team win the bronze medal.  

 

 

 

Ellen Perry

Ellen Perry came to Penn State in 1965 as a graduate student and coach of the women’s swimming and diving team.  She was also coach of the women’s lacrosse team from 1968 to 1973 and women’s tennis team from 1969 to 1981, compiling record of 103-26.  Ellen was named assistant to the Athletic Director in 1981 and then named Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women’s Administrator in 1989 until her retirement in 2002. 

 

 

 

 

 

Gillian Rattray

Gillian Rattray was the head coach for both the women’s lacrosse and field hockey teams.  She served as head coach of the lacrosse team from 1974 to 1985, compiling a record of 143-19-2 and won three consecutive USWLA championships in 1978, 1979, and 1980.  Rattray was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.  She was the head coach of the field hockey team from 1974 to 1986 and compiled a record of 176-49-21 .  She led the team to two AIAW championships in 1980 and 1981. 

 

Jill Pearsall 

Pearsall played defense on the field hockey team 1993 to 1996. She lead the NCAA with 28 assists and was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 1994.  She was honored as an All-American in 1992, 1993 and 1994 in field hockey. 

 

 

 

 

Jill Pearsall also played defense on the lacrosse team from 1992 to 1995.  She was an All-American in 1993, 1994, and 1995. 

Joanne Connelly 

Joanne Connelly was a two-sport athlete during her career at Penn State.  She played defense on the lacrosse team from 1993 to 1996 and was named an All-American in 1994, 1995, and 1996. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connelly played on the first two Penn State women’s soccer teams in 1994 and 1995. 

 

Katie Schumacher

Katie Schumacher was a member of the volleyball team from 1997 to 2001. She was a two-time All-American in volleyball in 1999 and 2000, helping lead the team to its first NCAA championship in 1999.  Schumacher finished her collegiate career with 1,310 kills and 299 blocks.  She was named the women’s volleyball head coach in 2022, only the third person in Penn State history to hold the position.

 

 

 

 

 

Schumacher played on the basketball team from 2000 to 2002, joining the team in December when the volleyball season ended.

Marsha Florio

Marsha Florio played on the lacrosse team from 1982 to 1985 and still holds several school records.  She holds numerous game, season, and career records.  Florio is tied for the record of eight assists and seventeen points in a game.  She scored a record 60 goals in her freshman year and 79 in her senior year.  Florio was an All-American all four years at Penn State and finished her career with school records of 380 points and 271 goals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She played field hockey from 1981 to 1984 and was a two-year starter on the team. 

 

 

Mary McCarthy 

Mary McCarthy was a defensive starter on both the lacrosse and field hockey teams from 1983 to 1987.  She helped lead both teams to the NCAA tournament in all four years of her collegiate career. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

McCarthy was co-captain of both teams in her senior year and was an All-American in field hockey in 1985 and 1986 and in lacrosse in 1986 and 1987. 

Tami Worley 

Tami Worley played on the lacrosse team from 1986 to 1989 and finished third in both career points and goals with 289 and 230 respectively.  She was an All-American in 1987, 1988, and 1989.

 

 

 

 

 

Worley was a member of the field hockey team from 1985 to 1988 and named an All-American in 1987, one of a few athletes to be named an All-American in two sports in a single year.  She finished her collegiate career with 48 goals and 11 assists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the link to the athlete’s and coaches’ files collection: Pennsylvania State University, Intercollegiate Athletics public relations files