Hall of Fame
Talk about a flair for the dramatic. In her final indoor track & field collegiate meet, on her very last throw, Julia Hopson launched the 20-pound weight a then-SUNYAC record 59 feet, 10 inches to become the NCAA Division III champion. She thus became the first Fredonia woman in any sport to win a national championship -- five days before fellow 2009 graduate and 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Kelly Sponholz won the NCAA Division III 3-Meter Springboard Diving title. Prior to becoming a national champ, Hopson won 13 SUNYAC championships in throwing events. Six times she was named Outstanding Field Athlete at the SUNYAC meet. She was the 2008 ECAC Atlantic Region Female Athlete of the Year. An accomplished artist, Hopson had her work featured in the NCAA Magazine and was one of 10 student-athletes invited to the NCAA annual convention to show her work. She was a finalist for the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year.
