In the century-long history of Seton Hall athletics, there have been numerous women who helped pave the way for women’s sports today. From those enshrined in the history books to those that remain nameless, Seton Hall’s sports legacy has been formed by decades of women’s history and remarkable stories of adversity and triumph.
Robin Cunningham | Photo via Seton Hall Athletics
Robin Cunningham
Robin Cunningham is the queen of firsts in Seton Hall: the first woman to be recruited to play basketball on scholarship, the first to score 1,000 points, the first woman to have her number retired in the rafters, and the first female Hall of Famer. Cunningham was also a dual athlete and the first female singles player in Seton Hall tennis history. She dominated the stat sheet in points and rebounds, as well as leading the Pirates to two Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) tournament championships. On the tennis court, she was equally dominant with over 50 wins, and she reached the podium in the NJAIAW championship in her final year with Seton Hall Athletics.
Following her time as a student, Cunningham advised and assisted athletes for over two decades and received countless accolades for distinguished service to both students and administration. She remains a shining example of possibility for young women on campus and the impact that a single person can have in their lifetime.
Jodi Brooks
Since Jodi Brooks’ senior year, no other player in Seton Hall women’s basketball has ever worn the number 12—and for good reason. The Pirates Hall of Fame guard is enshrined in the NCAA Tournament history books, leading Seton Hall to an unprecedented Sweet 16 appearance in 1994. The historic 1994 squad finished as the 14th best team in the nation. Brooks averaged 20.3 points in a single season from 1992-1993, and she also shot 39.3% from 3-point range through her four years with Seton Hall. Additionally, Brooks averaged a staggering 24.6 points per game in the historic tournament run.
Brooks was also heavily decorated, receiving NCAA All-Region honors as well as being a two-time All-Big East Player of the Year. Brooks also dominates the Pirates record books, ranking in eighth place for high in points, fourth in assists, and fourth in steals. Following her illustrious hoops career, Brooks now runs a successful dog care business called Canine Country Club of the Lake, according to their website.
Dana Wynne
A member of the historic 1994 team alongside Brooks, Dana Wynne helped bring Seton Hall to NCAA Tournament success and become a dominant force in college basketball. Wynne’s 1995-1996 season was unbelievable, as she led the nation in rebounds (12.8) and scored 18.1 points per game at the apex of her Seton Hall career. Her impressive rebounding made her the all-time rebound leader for both the Big East and Seton Hall, with a total of 798 rebounds. Wynne was also a three-time All-Big East honoree, as well as being included on the Big East All-Freshman team her first year at Seton Hall.
Following her Seton Hall career, Wynne moved on to professional basketball, where she spent time in the ABL with the Colorado Xplosion, played in the WNBA with the Sacramento Monarchs, and finally took her talents overseas.
Flirtisha Harris
Flirtisha Harris is included in nearly every conversation of the greatest athletes in Seton Hall history. The fastest sprinter in Pirates history, Harris dominated track and field with records in the outdoor 200-meter and 400-meter, as well as the indoor 55-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter. Also making history in 1994, Harris won the 400-meter spring and 1600-meter relay. When not covered in gold medals, Harris is covered in accolades, including 13 NCAA All-American honors, Big East’s Most Outstanding Performer, NCAA District 2 Female Track Athlete of the Year, and N.J. Sportswriter’s Association Woman of the Year.
Harris brought gold (200-meter and 4x100-meter relay) and bronze (4x400-meter relay) back for the United States at the 1993 Summer Universiade, as well as several medals in the 1995 Pan American Games. Decades later, Harris remains the best track and field athlete to ever run for Seton Hall.
Megan Meyer
Megan Meyer is perhaps the greatest softball player to ever take the diamond for the Pirates, with unmatched pitching and the stats to prove it. Meyer led the Pirates to their first Big East championship against Notre Dame in 2004, earning Most Outstanding Player honors in the process. She led the team to a repeat title against the Fighting Irish in 2005, with only a single earned run in 11 innings of play. Meyer also repeated as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 2005 as well.
Meyer received All-American honors in both her junior and senior year pitching for the Pirates, becoming the first athlete in program history to do so. She made history with school records of 81 career wins and 686 strikeouts. Outside of receiving awards as a pitcher, she received recognition as a scholar-athlete, including two-time Academic All-American honors and four-time Big East Academic All-Star. For both her performance on and off the diamond, Meyer is a Seton Hall athlete to remember.
Kelly Smith
When Kelly Smith first stepped on the pitch for the Pirates in 1997, it marked the beginning of an extraordinary career with Seton Hall. Coming from England to play on scholarship for the Pirates, Smith would go on to score an unbelievable 76 goals in 51 games, which was nearly 1.5 goals per game. She was the three-time recipient of Big East Offensive Player of the Year, the first player to receive All-American honors, and led the entire NCAA in goals (1.49) and points (3.41) per game for two consecutive years.
Smith had a star-studded professional career, both in America and back home in England. Following her time at Seton Hall, Smith became a key player for an Arsenal squad that dominated British soccer. In a remarkable 2006-2007 season, Smith helped Arsenal win the FA Women’s Premier League, FA Women’s Cup, UEFA Women’s Cup, and League Cup. Smith represented England in three FIFA Women’s World Cups in 1995, 2007, and 2011. Smith also made appearances in three UEFA Women’s Championships and finished high in voting for FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year from 2006-2009. Following her career as a player, Smith took a coaching position with Arsenal. She also served as a soccer analyst, appearing on FOX Sports and covering the World Cup in 2018. Because of her extraordinary contributions to and service in her sport, she was appointed as a member of the Order of the British Empire.
Casie Alexander
In the pantheon of Seton Hall’s greatest volleyball players of all time, Casie Alexander had an unbelievable four-year career as the Pirates’ starting setter. The women’s volleyball program with Alexander on the frontlines was the best it had been in program history, with a 93-44 career record.
Setting both records at Seton Hall and the NCAA at large, Alexander held the NCAA all-time record for service aces with 416. She also led Seton Hall in all-time assists, aces, and attack percentage. Alexander holds the top four spots in service aces for Seton Hall from 1990-1993. Additionally, she had a historic performance against Manhattan College in 1991, with 12 service aces in a single game. Few players in Seton Hall History, let alone the NCAA, have held a candle to Alexander’s dominance as a setter.
Jen Heider-Berenyi
In a spectacular four-year career with Seton Hall swimming, Jen Heider-Berenyi was in a league of her own in the water. As a freshman, Heider-Berenyi stood atop the Big East with the program’s first titles in 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke. She was also the first female swimmer at Seton Hall to record a sub-minute time in the 100-yard backstroke. Heider-Berenyi continued her success with a 100-yard backstroke title as a sophomore and a 100-yard butterfly title as a junior and set a Big East record in the butterfly (56.28) as a senior.
Heider-Berenyi is still the gold standard for Pirate swimmers, with her record and titles still dominating The Hall’s history books. Heider-Berenyi has since settled down with her husband and two daughters in Florida and has worked as the development coordinator for the New Tampa Family YMCA.
Writing a New Story
With women’s sports being crucial to Seton Hall today, it is not only important to recognize the female athletes who paved the way but also to recognize the opportunities they created for female athletes in the present.
Hadlee Ackerman, a Seton Hall Women’s Division I volleyball player and writer for multiple publications at Seton Hall, expressed what Women’s History Month and the rich history of SHU female athletes mean to her:
“It is important, as a female athlete, to understand during Women’s History Month that the sole reason that I get the opportunities I do is because of the trailblazing women that came before me,” Ackerman said. “There are still vast disparities between male and female athletes, but Seton Hall recognizes these disparities and finds unique ways to lift us up and show us that we matter. Being a volleyball player at Seton Hall means recognizing those who came before, playing for those with me on the court, and fighting for a better world for the women who will take my place.”
Amelia Carson, a member of the SHU Women’s cross-country team and current president of the Association of Supply Chain Management chapter at SHU, also commented on the importance of women’s history in Seton Hall sports:
“I am so grateful for the time I had in the SHU Athletics program,” Carson said. “The strength exhibited by women in sports will inspire me for the rest of my life, and being part of that is something I can never be thankful enough for. My time in the SHU athletic program surrounded me with inspiring teammates on all sports teams daily. We lift each other up and push each other to do our very best while keeping the softness of female friendships at the surface. Women’s History Month means so much to me because it pays homage to women who shook history before while inspiring future leaders today.”
As the Seton Hall community takes this Women’s History Month to reflect on the past, it is even more important to recognize the changes that still need to be made. With so many inspirational female athletes that were “firsts” at Seton Hall, there are so many more firsts to create and more history to be made. Even outside of athletics, recognizing the progress that needs to be made from the past is the first step to making real change in the world. The female athletes of the past paved the way for young women at Seton Hall and beyond to make history and write their own stories.
Christian Hui is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at christian.hui@student.shu.edu.
