Karlie Kisha will be guest speaker at Berks Hall of Fame Scholarship Dinner
· Yahoo Sports
Karlie (Heistand) Kisha, a Hamburg High School graduate who played for the U.S. field hockey team in the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be the guest speaker for the annual Berks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Scholarship Dinner June 17 at Victor Emmanuel II Club Reading.
The Berks chapter annually honors 36 outstanding student-athletes, a senior boy and a girl from 18 county high schools, with the Dr. Richard Flannery Memorial Scholarship, which has been increased to $1,000 this year.
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At Hamburg, Kisha was a two-time finalist for the Reading Eagle Female Athlete of the Year award and was an All-Berks selection in field hockey, cross country and track as a senior during the 2013-14 school year.
She accepted a scholarship from Connecticut and helped the Huskies win NCAA championships as a freshman and as a senior when they went undefeated. They also reached the Final Four during her two other seasons. She was named to the NFHCA Division I All-America team as a senior.
Kisha was selected to the U.S. national field hockey team in January 2020, played in 52 international matches and helped the Americans win a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games.
She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer five weeks before USA Field Hockey announced the names of the 16 women who would be going to the Paris Olympics. She underwent surgery in May 2024 and was selected to the U.S. Olympic team three weeks later.
Kisha retired after the Olympics and resumed her coaching career as an assistant at Villanova, where she has served since 2018.
The scholarship dinner, which is open to the public, will begin with a social hour and pizza from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 and the program at 7.
Tickets are available by going to berkscosportshof.org or by contacting chapter president Roy Snyder at [email protected] or 610-777-9980. The reservation deadline is June 11.
The scholarship recipients were selected by their respective schools based on their classroom and athletic achievements, sportsmanship and character. The honorees are:
Antietam: Marlena Rinkevich and Jakob Shrem; Berks Catholic: Serena Burkey and Gio DiSabatino; Brandywine Heights: Julia Coblentz and Nathan Winkler; Conrad Weiser: Laci Stern and Owen Hunt; Daniel Boone: Reagan Griffin and Daniel Shank; Exeter: Chayse Flood and Chase Choudhry; Fleetwood: Erin Sonon and Aidan Kidd; Gov. Mifflin: Lipuo Seifrit and Lebron Leaf; Hamburg: Mackenzie Hoover and Dylan Gough; Kutztown: Clara Engel and Zane Cherrie; Muhlenberg: Natalie Franco-Duran and Karwen Martinez; Oley Valley: Charlotte Proust and Ryan Gourley; Reading High: Dayanara Zapatier and Janser Paredes; Schuylkill Valley: Amelia Falsone and Logan Cammauf; Tulpehocken: Ember Sunday and Aaron Wilson; Twin Valley: Kenzianna Flores and Greyson Miller; Wilson: Laura Crocona and McKaden Speece; Wyomissing: Taylor Watts and Chase Eisenhower.