RIPON, Wis. - Shari Piehl '86 is the definition of an all-around athlete. A four-sport standout in basketball, volleyball, softball, and track & field, Piehl earned a varsity letter each year in every sport that she competed, while also earning at least one All-Conference honor in three of her four sports. She was inducted into Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
"When I first saw Shari in practice, I knew she was special," said the legendary Elaine Coll, who coached Piehl in basketball, volleyball, and track & field. "She looked like an athlete and moved like an athlete, while making everything she did look easy. Shari was ahead of her time in most of the sports that she played."
As a 5-foot-9 guard, there was nobody on Ripon's basketball teams at the time that were as dominant as Piehl. The program's first-ever 1,000-point scorer, she held the school scoring record for nine years and still ranks seventh all-time with 1,146 career points despite graduating 35 years ago. Piehl burst on the scene, earning First Team All-Conference honors as a freshman in 1983 when she led the team with 14.5 points per game, while her 305 points set a new single season school record. In 10 conference games that season, Piehl finished second in the league with 15.8 ppg in Wisconsin Independent College-Women's Athletic Conference (WIC-WAC) play. She added Honorable Mention All-Conference honors (which is now known as 'Second Team') as a Senior when she again led the team with 272 points. At the time of her graduation, Piehl held four of the top six single season scoring marks in school history. Her highest single game output was 27 points, which is just 10 shy of the current school record.
"When Shari got the basketball, she had a turnaround jump shot move that few other women even attempted at the time," Coll said. "She was fluid in her movements and very hard to guard."
On the volleyball court, Piehl garnered two additional All-Conference honors, coming during her sophomore and junior years as part of the WIC-WAC. She played a key role on Ripon's back-to-back conference champion teams in 1982 and 1983.
"Shari proved to be a great blocker and equally good hitter on the volleyball court," Coll said. "I could always relax when she was in the front row. Shari added to her team's success significantly, as we won two consecutive championships and were in the hunt during the other two years she competed."
Piehl also earned Ripon softball's first-ever All-Conference selection as a sophomore in 1984 as a shortstop when she batted .328 and finished second on the team with 20 hits in 18 games. In addition to her three sports that she was named All-Conference, Piehl also contributed to the success of Ripon's track & field team.
A native of Clintonville, Wis., Piehl currently resides in Appleton, Wis., where she is a primary educator at Edison Elementary School.
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