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LANCASTER, PA – Franklin & Marshall Hall of Fame member Leanne McFalls ’83 is listed among the candidates for the NCAA Division III Women’s Field Hockey 25th Anniversary Team. To commemorate the milestone of 25 years of NCAA field hockey championships, an Anniversary Team consisting of 11 student athletes and one coach is being assembled by an online poll available at www.ncaasports.com/fieldhockey/womens/fanpolls/1008.
No registration is necessary to vote, but fans are limited
to one vote per computer. Voting closes on October 22 with
the 25th Anniversary Team slated to be announced on October
24 at ncaasports.com.
Among the premier field hockey and lacrosse players in school history, she was a four-time Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) All-Star in field hockey and earned All-America honors her senior season, leading the team in scoring twice as the Diplomats won two MAC titles and finished among the top five teams in the country three times. A 1979 MAC Southern Division All-Star second team selection for scoring five goals and five assists for 15 points as a freshman, she helped the Diplomats to a 13-8-1 record, third place in the MAC and first place in the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) Regional Tournament defeating Gettysburg College (3-1 W), Glassboro State University (1-0 W) and Shippensburg University (1-0 W) at Glassboro State (now Rowan University). At the 48-team Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division III national championship tournament, Franklin & Marshall finished second as the Diplomats fell 1-0 to Shippensburg University in the national championship game. Against Johnson State in the opening round, McFalls scored the Diplomats first goal as the team went onto a 2-1 victory before the team defeated Hartwick (2-1 W) and Oneonta State (3-2 W OT) to advance to the title match. She earned All-MAC first team honors as a sophomore in 1980 by scoring 13 goals and four assists for 30 points to finish second on the team in scoring as the Diplomats won the MAC Southwest title and finished second in the MAC on their way to a fifth place finish AIAW Division III national championship tournament. At the national championships hosted by Hollins College, F&M fell 2-1 in the opening round to Brockport State as the match went to five overtime periods, before defeating Eastern Mennonite (4-0 W), Mary Washington (2-1 W), Oneonta State (2-0 W) and Denison (1-0 W) to finish with a 15-6-3 record. In her junior year, McFalls made the MAC All-Star first team again leading the team in goals for the second consecutive year as she totaled nine goals for 18 points as the Diplomats finished 11-6-1. Overall, the team won the MAC title for the first time since 1977 with a 1-0 win over Gettysburg College before defeating Elizabethtown 1-0 in the national semifinals and falling to Trenton State (now The College of New Jersey) 2-0 in the first NCAA national championship game hosted by Westfield State in Massachusetts. Her best season was in 1982 as McFalls was named team Most Valuable Player as she finished second in both scoring and assists as she finished with 12 goals and six assists to lead the Diplomats to a 16-3-1 record. As a team, the Diplomats won the 1982 MAC Southeast title 1-0 at home over Elizabethtown before downing Gettysburg (4-1 W) on the road to capture the teams’ second straight MAC title as McFalls scored the game-winning goal in both games as the team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Following a first round bye, F&M defeated Salem State (2-0) at home before falling to eventual national champion Ithaca (2-0 L) and defeating Denison (2-0 W) with a game-winning goal by McFalls to finish third in the nation. For her play, she joined teammate Sandy Swope ’03 on the NCAA All-Tournament Team, was named to the MAC All-Star first team for the third consecutive year and was one of four Diplomats named to the All-America team. In the history of the College, she ranks sixth in goals as she concluded her four-year tenure with 39 goals and 15 assists for 93 career points. As a team, F&M totaled a 55-23-6 record from 1979-1982 as the Diplomats finished second (1979, 1981), third (1982) and fifth (1980) in the nation. A standout lacrosse player in the spring, she was a four year starter at defensive midfield and led the Diplomats to three MAC titles as Franklin & Marshall captured the Middle Atlantic Conference crown in 1980, 1982 and 1983. As a freshman, she scored two goals and one assist as won the Penn Mar and Middle Atlantic Conference titles by finishing 8-3 with wins over Western Maryland (8-3 W), Johns Hopkins (18-5 W), Dickinson (12-2 W), Lebanon Valley (20-2 W), Bucknell (12-5 W), Widener (21-1 W), Gettysburg (6-4 W) and Lafayette (8-6 W). For her play, she was named to the Philadelphia College Lacrosse All-Star fourth team and competed in the U.S. Lacrosse Nationals held at Swarthmore College. In her sophomore year, she scored four goals and five assists as the team finished second in the EAIAW regional tournament before playing its way to a second place finish at the AIAW nationals. In the national tournament, the Diplomats defeated Bridgewater (11-6 W) and Wheaton (10-6 W) before falling to Trenton State 7-6 in the national championship game as the contest marked the first-ever Division III women’s lacrosse title game. As a junior, she scored five goals and seven assists as the Diplomats won the MAC title with a perfect record and captured the EAIAW Region title with a 9-7 victory over Kutztown to advance to the AIAW National Tournament. At the national tournament, the Diplomats defeated Randolph Macon (25-10 W), but fell to Millersville (9-8 L) before defeating Wheaton (11-3 W) to place third in the nation. For her performance, McFalls was one of three F&M players named to the AIAW Division III All-Tournament team. In her senior year, she scored one goal with two assists as the team won the Middle Atlantic Conference title with an undefeated record and finished second in the United States Women’s Lacrosse Association (USWLA) Division III championships, which replaced the AIAW championships, with a 10-5 loss to Ursinus College in the title game at home as the College hosted the national championship tournament at Baker Campus. For her performance during the season, McFalls was one of four F&M players named to the Division III All-Region team. She concluded her career with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points as the team finished 42-15 from 1980-1983 and finished second (1981, 1983) and third (1982) in the nation. A 1991 inductee to the Franklin & Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame, she concluded her career at the College by being named the 1983 Michael Karvasales ’35 Outstanding Female Senior Athlete of the Year. Historically, she is one of three players in school history to win eight conference titles, make seven national championship tournament appearances and play in more than one national title game as McFalls and classmates Sandy Swope ’83 and Terri McGee ’83 appeared in four national championship games. In 1991, McFalls and Swope were named to the NCAA All-Decade team in celebration of their contributions and achievements in recognition of the 10th anniversary of NCAA women’s athletic championships. A graduate of Interboro High School and a native of Prospect Park, Pennsylvania, McFalls currently resides in Lancaster and holds a bachelor of arts in business management from Franklin & Marshall. In 1981, the NCAA began sponsoring women's championships, which opened the door to increased athletic and academic opportunities for female athletes. Today, the NCAA sponsors 44 women's championships in 20 sports, providing more than 150,000 women with an opportunity to compete for national titles each year. The NCAA recognizes the following women's championships as those celebrating their 25th anniversary this athletic season: Division I and III women's field hockey; Division I, II and III women's cross country; Division I, II and III women's volleyball; Division I, II and III women's swimming; Division I, II and III women's basketball; National Collegiate women's gymnastics; Division I, II and III women's tennis; Division I women's golf; Division I women's lacrosse; Division I women's rowing; Division I and II softball; and Division I, II and III women's outdoor track. For more information on NCAA women's championships, visit www.ncaasports.com.
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