Northwest Missouri State Athletics

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Women’s softball has been played on the campus of Northwest Missouri State for over 40 years and only once during that time has the conference player of the year called Maryville home – that one time occurred in 1985 and that student-athlete was Karen Hopewell.
 
The central Iowa native made an immediate impact as a steady performer during her freshman season participating in all 36 games.  The shortstop was a versatile performer during her decorated career leading the team in hits, home runs, triples, stolen bases, runs scored and field percentage at various points.  She was named to All-MIAA teams three times in her career, including first team selections following her junior and senior campaigns. She was able to utilize speed to her advantage as well ranking 3^rd all-time in triples for a career and 5^th all-time in stolen bases. Today, she still holds the school record for assists in a season and a career. 
 
As is the case with all of this year’s inductees, the individual success is only part of the story.  Karen’s tenure occurred during one of the most successful spans of softball team success in Northwest history. Her teams compiled 105 total victories (amassing a winning percentage of .610), they captured the 1984 MIAA tournament title (one of three the Bearcats have won in program history) and a spot in the regional tournament twice during her career (which accounts for half of the appearances in program history).