The 2012 class includes three former student-athletes in Northern Kentucky softball player Krystal Lewallen, Southern Indiana women’s basketball star Eileen Weber and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville softball and track and field standout Alicia DeShasier. In addition, Northern Kentucky boasts men’s basketball coach Ken Shields and long-time coach and administrator Jane Meier among the lists of inductees.

Krystal Lewallen was one of the most dominating pitchers in the history of collegiate softball. A member of the NKU squad from 2003-05, Lewallen led the Norse to a pair of regional championships, including the 2004 title when she posted a 31-5 record and helped the team advance to its first-ever NCAA Division II World Series appearance. That year she led the nation in earned run average (0.27) and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Great Lakes Regional after tossing a one-hit shutout against Grand Valley State in the championship game. The following year, Lewallen’s dominating presence in the circle keyed NKU’s record-breaking 55-0 start. She would finish the season at the Division II World Series with a 32-1 record and later earn NFCAA National Player of the Year honors and the Honda Award, which is given to the nation’s top collegiate female athlete. Lewallen’s 335 strikeouts, 32 wins and .970 winning percentage in 2005 are also Norse single-season records. She finished her career as NKU’s all-time leader in wins (79), ERA (0.45), strikeouts (501), complete games (83) and winning percentage (.840).

Eileen Weber, a 1998 graduate of Southern Indiana, helped the Screaming Eagles to a 100-16 mark over her four years and remains the only USI women’s basketball player to have played on four NCAA Division II Tournament teams. Weber is also the only USI women's player to earn four All-GLVC honors in addition to her 1995 GLVC Newcomer of the Year and 1998 GLVC Player of the Year accolades. Following a junior year in which she led her team to the 1997 NCAA Championship final, Weber concluded her career as a second-team Kodak/WBCA All-American and the recipient of the Scharf Paragon Award, which honors the GLVC’s best in academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character and leadership. Weber, who still ranks second in school history in points scored (1,847) and rebounds (842), attended USI on a Presidential Scholarship and was named Academic All-GLVC in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Alicia DeShasier was a two-sport student-athlete at SIUE from 2003-07, having excelled in both softball and track and field. As a member of the Cougar softball team from 2003-06, DeShasier was a first-team All-American, a three-time All-Great Lakes Region choice, a three-time All-Conference selection, and the GLVC’s Player of the Year in 2006. DeShasier spent time at every position on the diamond before finishing her career ranked in the program’s top five in plate appearances (639), hits (230), RBIs (132), home runs (19), doubles (44), walks (79), stolen bases (94) and runs scored (160). Following a successful softball career that included four NCAA Tournament bids and the 2006 Great Lakes Regional Championship, DeShasier joined the SIUE track and field team in 2007. Despite having never competed at the high school or collegiate level previously, she threw the nation’s longest toss in the javelin at 50.23 meters (164-9) heading into the 2007 NCAA Division II Championships. DeShasier graduated in 2007 with a civil engineering degree and has since gone on to become an elite-level international competitor in the javelin. 

 

Ken Shields finished his 16-year career on the Northern Kentucky sideline with a 306-170 (.643) record. He led the NKU men’s basketball squad to NCAA Regional Championships and the NCAA Division II National Championship games in both 1996 and 1997.  Shields guided NKU to GLVC titles during the 1994-95 and 2002-03 seasons as conference co-champions and earned a tri-championship during the 1996-97 campaign. His 1996-97 team won a school-record 30 games en route to national runner-up honors. During that same season, NKU’s Paul Cluxton became the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in free-throw percentage without missing from the line (94-for-94). In addition, Shields’ seven 20-win seasons are the most in Norse men’s basketball history.  

Jane Meier has left her mark on Northern Kentucky as both a three-sport coach and one of the nation’s first female athletic directors. Meier began her career at NKU in 1978 as head volleyball coach and guided the Norse to the GLVC Championship in 1985 – the first GLVC title in school history. She would later become the softball and women’s basketball coach before becoming NKU’s athletic director in 1988. Under Meier’s leadership, NKU won two NCAA Division II national titles and captured 20 regional crowns. The Norse also won 61 GLVC regular-season or tournament championships during her tenure. Meier was also lauded for her leadership in the improvement in NKU basketball, softball and tennis facilities, as well as the six GLVC All-Sports Trophies and 11 postgraduate scholarship winners earned under her watch. Meier has long had the respect of her peers as well. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics chose Meier as a recipient of the 2003-04 Athletic Director of the Year Award, while the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association named her the 2000-01 National Administrator of the Year. 

The 2012 GLVC Hall of Fame Class will be the 11th class to be inducted since the institution of the honor in 2002. There will be 49 GLVC Hall of Fame members with the inclusion of the 2012 class.