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Dr. Richard Hunkler Set for Induction into Slippery Rock University Hall of Fame
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. –
Dr. Richard F. “Doc” Hunkler, who guided
Slippery Rock University women’s water polo teams to one
national championship and 10 top-three national finishes during an
illustrious coaching career, will be included in a group of
individuals who will comprise the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame’s
Class of 2011.
Induction ceremonies will be held September 24 as part of The
Rock’s home football game weekend versus archrival Indiana U.
of Pa.
Sue Bow Kolczak (SRU Class of 1977, '82-M), who earned four
All-America honors as a member of Hunkler-coached Rock
women’s water polo teams, will join Hunkler as a member of
the Hall’s Class of 2011.
Both Hunkler (2002) and Kolczak (2005) are also members of the
Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame.
Joining Hunkler and Kolczak as members of the SRU hall’s
2011 induction class will be former Rock All-America wrestler and
coach Derek DelPorto (SRU Class of 1999), former men’s
swimming All-America performer Scott Hendry (SRU Class of 1997,
2000-M), former men’s basketball standouts Owen Long (SRU
Class of 1975) and Bill Rausch (SRU Class of 1983) and Carol
Sprague (SRU Class of 1971, ’74-M), a former Rock woman
student athlete and longtime collegiate athletic administrator.
Tickets for the 2011 SRU Athletic Hall of Fame are $35 each.
Contact Pearl Shaffer, assistant to the athletic director, at pearl.shaffer@sru.edu
or 724.738.2768 for more information.
Hunkler’s accomplishments as a Rock coach are truly
overwhelming.
He initiated The Rock water polo program in 1972 as a club sport,
led it into varsity status in 1991 and ultimately coached the
women’s teams for 27 seasons and men’s teams for 24
seasons in addition to serving seven seasons as women’s
swimming coach.
On the varsity level alone, Hunkler compiled 316-82 record in 23
seasons: 162-20 in eight women’s water polo seasons, 116-53
in eight men’s water polo seasons and 38-19 in seven
women’s swimming seasons.
For his efforts as a water polo pioneer, Hunkler was one of two
men who in 2002 comprised the inaugural class of inductees into the
CWPA Hall of Fame. Two years earlier, he earned the ultimate honor
in the sport of water polo: Induction into the U.S. Water Polo
Association Hall of Fame.
Further testimony to the impact he had upon the sport is the fact
that seven former Rock women’s water polo student athletes
have joined him as members of the CWPA Hall of Fame.
Even more evidence of the respect with which Hunkler is viewed by
water polo coaches and administrators is the fact USA Water Polo
established the Doc Hunkler Distinguished Women’s Coaching
Award in 2010. The award is presented annually to the top
scholastic coach in the nation. The CWPA also honored Hunkler by
putting his name on its Women's Eastern Championship "Coach of the
Year" award.
Hunkler earned national “Coach of the Year” honors
three consecutive seasons after leading The Rock to Collegiate
National Championships runner-up finishes in 1993 and 1994 and the
national championship in 1995.
The national title, which was claimed in only the fourth year of
varsity competition by the Green and White, is one of only two ever
won by a Rock varsity sports team and the only women’s water
polo national title ever captured by an Eastern team.
All told, Hunkler led The Rock women to six third-place and three
national runner-up finishes in addition to the 1995 national
championship. More than a dozen of his former student athletes went
on earn spots on the U.S. National Team, the sport's equivalent to
an NBA or NFL team.
Hunkler-coached Rock men’s water polo teams never had a
losing season and claimed two top-eight national finishes in NCAA
Division I competition, two Eastern regional titles and two
regional runner-up finishes. The top-eight national finishes are
two of only three ever achieved by a DIvision II men's team.
Hunkler also held posts on the national level. He was an assistant
for the 1982-83 national women's team which finished second at the
World Cup Championships. As a coach at the U.S. Olympic Festival,
he became the only person to ever direct both a men's and women's
squad to a water polo gold medal.
Hunkler also served as a member of the U.S. Water Polo
Women’s International Committee and was instrumental in the
administration of the Mid Atlantic Conference, now known as the
CWPA, in its early years. He served six years as the
organization’s president and several more as its
secretary.
Hunkler-coached Rock women’s swimming teams claimed three
top-25 finishes in AIAW Division II national-championship events,
earned two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference runner-up honors
and never finished lower than fourth place in PSAC championship
meets.
An eye-popping total of 101 Rock women's swimmers earned
All-America honors under Hunkler's tutelage.
Hunkler’s prowess wasn’t limited to coaching; he also
won 10 U.S. Master’s national titles as a competitive
swimmer
A retired SRU computer science and elementary education professor,
Hunkler received his bachelor’s (1957), master’s (1960)
and Ph. D (1968) degrees from Texas A&M University. He was
inducted into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1981.
Born in Houston, Texas, and a graduate of Reagan High School,
Hunkler and his wife, Billie, are the proud parents of three
sons.
Release courtesy Slippery Rock Athletic Communications
