Mount Olive, N.C. --- University of Mount Olive Athletics in celebration of 50 Years of Women's Sports at UMO has chosen 50 Leaders of Trojan Women's Athletics – Trojan student-athletes, coaches, staff members, and donors who have been and continue to be leaders for women's athletics at Mount Olive.
Now through June 23, the anniversary date of Title IX, each of our 50 Leaders will be honored through social media and the UMO Athletics website. Each honoree will also be listed below with their accomplishments.
For more information on the NCAA's celebration of Title IX please visit
ncaa.org.
List of honorees:
Sarah Leonard Richarson (Basketball)
Sarah Leonard Richardson attended Mount Olive from 1977-79 and was a member of the Trojans' first-ever women's basketball team. She averaged 26.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as a freshman and earned All-America honors. In her sophomore year, Richardson averaged 20.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per contest, earning All-State honors. Her 42 points against Chowan during her freshman year stood as a school record for nearly 20 years and is still the second-highest single-game performance in Trojan women's basketball history. Richardson played for fellow Hall of Fame inductee Larry Dean.
Lucia Henkle-Melick (Tennis)
Lucia Henkle-Melick is the first former student-athlete to be inducted on the basis of her tennis career at Mount Olive. She earned first team all-conference honors all four years and was named the CVAC Freshman of the Year in 2002, CVAC Player of the Year in 2005, and CVAC Woman of the Year in 2005-06. She is the all-time leader at Mount Olive in singles wins in a season (17) and career (63), doubles wins in a season (20) and in a career (56), conference doubles wins in a career (29), and conference singles wins in a career (33). She is second in Mount Olive records for conference wins in a season (9) and conference doubles wins in a season (9). Henkle represented her home country of Guatemala in the Federation Cup, a prestigious international women's tennis tournament.
Heather Ressler Warner (Soccer)
Heather Ressler Warner was a goalkeeper for the Trojans women's soccer team and is the school's all-time leader in single-season shutouts (10), career shutouts (22), single season goals against average (0.73), single match saves (23), and career saves (506). In 2001 she ranked third in the nation in saves per match (11.50), and in 2004 she ranked 18th in the nation in goals-against average. Ressler was a two-time All-Conference honorable mention honoree and helped Mount Olive win its first-ever conference championship in 2004 with a 20-3 record, which is the single-season school record. Mount Olive set (and still holds) the NCAA Division II women's soccer record for Most Improved Won-Lost Record, going from a 3-15 record in 2003 to 20-3 in 2004 (14-1/2 games).
Jenny Jackson Taylor (Softball)
Jenny Jackson was two-time CoSida Academic All-American for the Mount Olive softball team. The Trojan pitcher was a three-time Conference Carolinas First-Team All-Conference selection and two-time All-Tournament honoree. Jackson holds numerous all-time records including; home runs in a season (11), RBI in a game (9), RBI in a season (60), T-1st in strikeouts in a game (13), ERA in a season (0.87), and ERA for a career (1.17). Also ranking in the Trojan all-time list Jackson ranks, third in average in a season (.442), second in career average (.397), second in career home runs (27), sixth in hits in season (65), second in career RBI (124), second in wins in a season (19-7), third in strikeouts in a season (142), and second in shutouts in a season (7) and career (13). She also had a perfect game against Coker in 2007.
Leah Hanle (Cross Country/Track & Field)
Leah Hanle is the most decorated XC/TF runner in school history. She is a seven-time All-American holding numerous all-time records and breaking her own school records multiple times. Her time of 10:09.42 is the fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase time by a freshman in NCAA DII history and the ninth-fastest all-time in DII.
Heidi Busch Kessens (Volleyball)
Heidi Busch Kessens '06 was named an All-American in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The four-time Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (CVAC) first-team all-conference honoree is the all-time Mount Olive leader in five statistical categories: kills in a match (34), kills in a season (701), kills in a career (2,456), and kills per game for a season (5.56) and career (4.60). She ranks sixth in NCAA Division II history for kills in a career. Busch helped lead the Trojans to their only NCAA championship appearances in 2004 and 2005, with the 2005 team posting a Mount Olive all-time best 28-8 overall/19-1 CVAC record. She was named the school's Outstanding Female Student-Athlete for 2004-05 and 2005-06.
April Jacobs (Soccer)
April Jacobs was the first All-American in women's soccer program history in 2006. The midfielder was a three-time Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference First-Team All-Conference player and one-time second-team selection. She was a three-time all-region selection and ranked No.1 in NCAA DII in 2006 in assists per game (0.86). Jacobs on the Trojan all-time lists holds the single-season record for assists (19) and career assists (49). She is also third in career points (101) and is tied for fourth in career goals (26).
Claire Wigler (Lacrosse)
Claire Wigler is one of the most decorated Women's Lacrosse players in school history. She was named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association All-American Third team at attack in 2016. Wigler was also selected to the IWLCA North/South All-Star game as well as the All-South Region Second Team. She is the all-time assists leader at Mount Olive with 67.
Twana Jeeter Johnson (Basketball)
Twana Jeeter was at Mount Olive from 1991-92 through 1994-95 and scored 1,218 points, which stood as a school record until 2007. She nearly averaged a double-double for her career with 13.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Jeeter's 23 rebounds in a game remains a school single-game record. During her senior year, Jeter was teammates with 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Candy Tefertiller.
Dawn Johnson (Softball)
Dawn Johnson '87 was a two-time Female Athlete of the Year winner, in 1985-86 and 1986-87. Johnson was the Trojans' top hitter during the 1986 season. Johnson enrolled when Mount Olive was still a two-year college and was among the school's earliest four-year graduates.
Janice Brown Ellis (Volleyball)
A transfer student, Janice Brown earned all-conference honors and helped lead Mount Olive to the 1997 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (CVAC) Women's Volleyball Championship, the lone women's volleyball conference title in school history. Brown was the 1998 CVAC Women's Volleyball Player of the Year as the Trojans reached the title match of the conference tournament for the second straight year. For her career, Brown compiled a .296 hitting percentage in two seasons to go with 3.39 kills and 2.99 digs per set.
Felicity Havens (Basketball)
Felicity Havens is the most decorated Basketball player in school history. She is a two-time All-American and won the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year award in 2018. She was also chosen twice for the USWBA Division II National Player of the Week honors.
Elizabeth Schultz (Cross Country)
Elizabeth Schultz won the 2002 and 2003 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Women's Cross Country Championship and earned CVAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year honors both seasons. Schultz earned runner-up finishes in the NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country South Atlantic Regional in 2002 and 2003 and went on to compete in the NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Championship both years. Schultz also excelled in the classroom as she was named the 2003-04 Mount Olive College Female Athlete of the Year and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Valerie Newberne Cox (Volleyball/Basketball/Softball)
Playing more than one sport is not uncommon, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Few at Mount Olive enjoyed the success that Valerie Newberne Cox did wearing the green and black.
Cox, known as Valerie Williams while in Mount Olive, was a star for the basketball, softball and volleyball teams. In 1993, she was named the school's Most Outstanding Student-Athlete.
Most of Cox's awards came on the basketball court where won almost every award a player can receive in one season. Her 10 steals against St. Andrews in 1993 is second all-time. She helped the Trojans post a school record 17 wins that season, a 14-game improvement from the previous season. She averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Excelling in yet another sport, Cox was encouraged to try out for the United States Olympic Team Handball Team following her collegiate career. She made the team, but chose not to attend to stay with her family. A few years later, she was invited try out for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. During tryouts, she broke her foot.
She was a terror for the softball and volleyball teams as well, rarely coming off the field of play.
Heather Parker Collier (Softball)
Heather Parker Collier '98 became the first Mount Olive College student-athlete in any sport to be named as an Academic All-American, earning first team honors in 1998. A two-time All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference outfielder, Collier helped Mount Olive in winning the regular season conference title in 1997 and was conference tournament runner-up in 1998.
Samantha Mitchell (Volleyball)
Samantha Mitchell was an AVCA All-American, Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Player of the Year, and AVCA First-Team All-Region in 2007 for the women's volleyball team. She was a three-time CVAC First-Team All-Conference selection and honorable mention all-region in 2006. Mitchell all-time ranks second in career kills (1905), second in career digs (1503), third in single match kills (32), and fourth in single-season kills (564).
Sara Berglund (Soccer)
Sara Berglund was an USC NCAA Division II All-American, named D2CCA All-Southeast Region Second team, USC All-Region First team and NCCSIA All-State First team.
She also got selected as the Conference Carolinas Women's Soccer championship All-tournament team (MVP) and the Conference Carolinas All-Conference First team.
Sara Berglund was the Conference-Carolinas Regular-Season Statistical Champion in assists.
Francesca Ceppi (Tennis)
Francesca Ceppi was a four-time All-Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis selection, she completed her collegiate career as one of the Trojans' most decorated student-athletes.
Ceppi was the winner of the 2014-15 Conference Carolinas Murphy Osborne Award, the top individual award in the conference. The Murphy Osborne Award recognizes excellence in academics, athletics and service and leadership.
She was also one of two Conference Carolinas nominees for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The Woman of the Year Award also recognizes outstanding achievement in academics, athletics and service and leadership.
Ceppi was the 2015 Conference Carolinas Scholar Athlete of the Year and was recognized as an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Scholar Athlete in both her junior and senior years.
Dr. Brenda Cates (FAR/Coach)
Dr. Brenda Cates is a math professor at the University of Mount Olive and serves as the school's faculty athletics representative, a position she has held since 2003.
Cates' duties include serving as a liaison between the faculty and the athletics department and she has been instrumental in keeping lines of communication open between coaches and faculty members. In addition, she provides academic support to student-athletes who may need additional attention, while developing recognition programs for student-athletes who are excelling in the classroom.
Cates also keeps the athletics department abreast of NCAA rules changes and assists with the determination of student-athlete eligibility. Cates has represented Mount Olive and Conference Carolinas on several NCAA committees including the Academic Requirements Committee and Management Council.
Carly White (Volleyball/Softball)
Carly White was a two-sport athlete at UMO competing in both volleyball and softball. In softball she had a 2.83 era with 99 strikeouts over 217 innings pitched. In volleyball she is 6th in kills in a career with 1,312.
Shaunalee Govia (Soccer)
Shaunalee Govia earned First Team All-Conference, All-Region, and was named the Conference Carolinas Defensive Player of the Year for three consecutive years. During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, she was a key player for the UMO Women's Soccer Conference Carolinas championship teams. At the 2021-22 Trojan Globes she was named the UMO Outstanding Female Student-Athlete.
Colby Mangum (Volleyball)
Colby Mangum was a three-time All-Conference honoree as a middle blocker for the Mount Olive women's volleyball team. Mangum ranks first in the UMO Record Book for solo blocks, block assists, blocks per set, and total blocks in a career. She was a member of the 2005 team which finished the conference regular season 19-1 and played in the NCAA tournament. Mangum returned to Mount Olive to serve as the head women's volleyball coach for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Taylor Moncrief (Track and Field)
Taylor Moncrief is in the top three in the UMO record books for the long jump, triple jump, and high jump for both indoor and outdoor track and field. A member of eight conference championship teams during her four years, she was named Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Track & Field twice, and Field Athlete of the Year three times. Moncrief was also an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, and Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar. She was named the UMO Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2019 and the Most Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year in 2020. Moncrief went on to graduate school at East Carolina University and is now a volunteer assistant coach there.
