HANOVER, Ind. – Vice President for Athletics Lynn Hall was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash on Saturday afternoon as part of the Victory Bell celebration. The award was signed by Hanover alum and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. The Sagamore of the Wabash was presented by Hanover President Lake Lambert and HCAC Commissioner Jay Jones.
The Sagamore of the Wabash is one of the highest distinctions in the State of Indiana, reserved for individuals who have made significant and lasting impacts on the state and its communities. It is awarded to those who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, service, and dedication to the betterment of Indiana.
A lifelong educator, athletic administrator, coach, mentor and fan, Lynn Nichols Hall has been woven into the fabric of Hanover College athletics through more than 40 years of service to the campus community.
Hall excelled in track and field, volleyball and basketball at Tipton High School before heading to Purdue University. After one year at the West Lafayette campus, she transferred to Hanover where she launched an athletic career that would ultimately span parts of six decades.
While at Hanover, Hall competed for three seasons on the Panthers' volleyball team and one season as a member of the basketball squad. She earned a degree in history with a minor in physical education. Following her 1982 graduation, Hall taught at Salem High School for five years while earning a master's degree from Indiana University. In 1987, she left Salem to return to Hanover's campus as a member of the College's faculty and coaching staff.
One of just two fulltime women's coaches at the time, Hall served as Hanover's head volleyball coach and assistant basketball coach. She also taught classes in the health and fitness department.
As head volleyball coach, she became the winningest coach in program history, guiding the Panthers to a 217-167 record from 1987-98. Her stint on the sidelines produced three Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference championships (1992, 1993 and 1997), 29 all-conference athletes and three conference coach-of-the-year awards.
In addition to her coaching and teaching duties, Hall absorbed administrative roles. She was intramural director from in the early 1990s, helped start the College's women's golf team in 1993, and in 1996, succeeded Mary Freeland as women's athletic director.
In Hanover's first step toward unification of its previously separate men's and women's athletic program, Hall was named acting director of athletics in May 1998. In September 1999, the interim title was removed, officially combining Hanover's men's and women's athletic departments and securing Hall as the College's first female administrator with oversight of all intercollegiate sports.
With Hall at the helm, the number of student-athletes on campus remains near 50 percent of the total student body, indoor and outdoor facilities have received major upgrades, health and wellness services have greatly expanded, and coaching, training and athletic performance staffs have increased in size. Hanover's athletic offerings have also continued to expand as well, with the addition of men's and women's lacrosse and men's and women's swimming.
While participation continues to thrive, so does success on the playing fields and in the classroom. Under Hall's oversight, Hanover has captured 87 conference regular-season and tournament championships, earned 43 national tournament appearances, three times earned the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup, hosted three cross country national championship meets (2003, 2008, and 2013), and produced hundreds of all-conference and academic all-conference athletes and numerous all-Americans and academic all-Americans.
