Carol’s athletic career began while she was living in Pennsylvania , where she played soccer and softball for Queen of the Universe and Middletown Athletic Association. She enjoyed summer travel softball, and advanced to nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1981 with the13-15 year-olds team from Northampton, PA.
As a student at Neshaminy Maple Point, Carol played JV soccer on the all-boys’ team during her freshman and sophomore years. She also played Varsity softball her freshman and sophomore years. Carol transferred to Neshaminy High School after Neshaminy Maple Point closed. It was at this point that she made the decision to switch from soccer to field hockey. Her first year accolades as goalie included earning All League 2nd Team, All Area, Most Improved player, and Rookie of the year. The following year, Neshaminy High School won the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AAA Championship. Shortly after this, Carol’s family moved to Hamilton, NJ, and she enrolled at Steinert High School.
Carol continued her successful athletic career in field hockey, basketball and softball at Steinert, earning 5 Varsity letters in 1 ½ years. She helped the Spartans capture back-to-back Mercer County Championships in softball. During her junior year, Carol was named to All CVC and Mercer First Team as a pitcher, in addition to being named Co-Player of the Year in the Trenton area daily newspapers. As a senior, she made All-County and All-CVC teams, and was named Steinert Athlete of Year and Spring Softball MVP.
After high school, Carol went on to play field hockey and softball at Rutgers from 1985-1986. Ultimately, she made the decision to leave Rutgers to pursue a career in broadcasting at the Center for Media Arts in New York, but she remained adamant about earning a college degree. Carol transferred to MCCC with the intention of focusing solely on her education and future career. Bill Drake, however, had other things in mind. Before she knew it, Carol was on the mound practicing with the team who would eventually head to Kansas for the JUCO World Series.
Since Carol used her first year of eligibility at Rutgers, she was only able to play at Mercer for one season, where she pitched and played center field. During that season, the team went 34-6 and made District H Champions, Region XIX Champions (top seeded team) and went to the JUCO World Series in Hutchinson, Kansas. Mercer was the 1st Region XIX team to win a game at Nationals.
Carol’s personal accomplishments include a pitching record of 22-6 and throwing back-to-back no hitters while striking out 11 batters in Regionals. In 1987, she was named First Team All Region XIX, Region XIX MVP, and NJCAA All-American team. In 2022, Carol was inducted into the Steinert Athletic Hall of Fame for playing three sports: field hockey, basketball, and softball.
