WC Wisconsin News

In her two decades at the helm of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball program, head coach Leslie Huntington notched 500 career wins and secured a national championship.

For these feats, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Dec. 10 inducted Huntington into its Hall of Fame at a convention in Las Vegas, Eau Claire’s WQOW reported.

“What an exciting opportunity this week! We are in Las Vegas at the @nfcaorg convention, and I am PUMPED to get perspectives from the greatest minds in the game!” Huntington tweeted during her trip.

Huntington was among the quintet of inductees that also included Donna Fields, St. Mary’s University; Kris Herman, Williams College; Heinz Mueller, Phoenix College; and Mary Higgins, retired from Creighton.

An NFCA issued press release said the event honored not just the current class but the 2020 honorees as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled last year’s in-person convention.

Huntington and Higgins comprised the 2021 class while Fields, Herman and Mueller represented the 2020 batch, the NFCA said.

Huntington, who was accompanied to Las Vegas by UW-Eau Claire Director of Athletics Dan Schumacher, Chancellor James Schmidt and others she considers near and dear, said she couldn’t picture the celebration any better.

"I think if I had to script it, it did turn out the way I would have wanted it to turn out," she told WQOW. “The Division III community is such an incredible community to be a part of, and the support from that community was just everything I could've imagined.”

Don’t count on Huntington to rest on her laurels.

Her 21st season with the Blugolds will begin in February.