McAteer to be inducted into Northeastern State Hall of Fame

February 8, 2018February 8, 2018 Ken MacLeod

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TAHLEQUAH – Former Northeastern State University All-America golfer Whitney McAteer will be inducted into the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday.

The 2003 NCAA Division II National Championship basketball team will be inducted, along with Tim Livesay, McAteer and Robert Schornick. Dr. Peggy Dumas Dyer will receive the Spirit of Excellence Award.

The NSU Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 7:00 pm in the Tahlequah Community Center, adjacent to the NSU Event Center in Tahlequah.

McAteer, originally from Jenks, was four-time Academic All-America and a 2011 All-American for head coach Scott Varner. That season, she was ranked as the No. 1 player in NCAA Division II women’s golf. McAteer is also a two-time Oklahoma Women’s State Amateur champion, winning the title in 2010 and repeating in 2011.

NSU Head Coach Scott Varner with Whitney McAteer.

After obtaining her undergraduate degree in Speech Language Pathology from NSU, McAteer was awarded the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship which allowed her to earn her Doctorate of Audiology degree. She is now a pediatric audiologist at PENTA in Atlanta.

“Whitney is one of the greatest kids I have had the privilege of coaching,” said NSU coach Scott Varner. “All of my All-Americans are special, as it takes a special student athlete to be a All-American. She is extra special. She exhibits championship character in all facets of her life. I’m beyond proud of all she has accomplished. She was a great role model on a team that was ranked as high as third in the nation and ranked in the top 10 a majority of her tenure with us.”

The 2003 NSU basketball team claimed the school’s first, and only to date, NCAA title with an impressive 32-3 mark. Coached by NSU Hall of Famer Larry Gipson, Northeastern State won the South Central Regional championship over host Tarleton State to earn its first-ever NCAA Elite 8 appearance in Lakeland, Fla. NSU took down Nebraska-Kearney and Queens (NY) on consecutive nights with stellar shooting performance. Northeastern State held off powerhouse Kentucky Wesleyan two days later to win the championship, in a game televised nationally by CBS.

Livesay was a two-time All-conference lineman for NSU in 1968 and 1969. He returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator for several years and later in his career became the first head coach of the varsity softball team at Northeastern State. He holds the school record for most wins as a softball coach at NSU.Schornick was a four-year letterman in football as an offensive lineman. He helped the team earn back-to-back Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference championships in 1990 & 1991. He was named 1^st Team NAIA All-American in 1991 as NSU completed a perfect 10-0 regular season. Now the Instructional Leadership Director for Tulsa Public Schools, Schornick, also an Academic All-America selection at NSU, was honored as the MetLife/NASSP Oklahoma High School Principal of the Year in 2011-2012 while at Oologah High School.

Dyer graduated from Northeastern State in 1970 when there were limited athletics opportunities for females. She played basketball, volleyball, field hockey and tennis at NSU for three season before earning her bachelor’s degree. During the early years of Title IX, Dyer successfully began the women’s athletics program at Oral Roberts University. ORU launched basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and tennis under Dyer’s tutelage in the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) where she served as coordinator of women’s athletics, and women’s head basketball coach.

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