Leslie Jones Goehring of Waxahachie and Kate McLaughlin of Fort Worth have been named inductees into Howard Payne University’s Sports Hall of Fame. They are among nine individuals who will be honored with awards during Homecoming 2019 festivities, to be held November 1-2. Additional honorees are listed at www.hputx.edu/homecoming.
This year’s Homecoming honorees will be recognized during the Alumni and Sports Hall of Fame Banquet at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, November 1, in the Mabee University Center’s Beadel Dining Hall. The honorees will also be featured in the Homecoming Parade on Saturday, November 2, beginning at 10 a.m. Ticket information for the banquet and a full schedule of the weekend’s events are available online at www.hputx.edu/homecoming.
Goehring graduated from HPU in 2012 with a degree in exercise and sport science (ESS). She played soccer and was a member of Chi Alpha Omega.
Along with several American Southwest Conference (ASC) Player of the Week honors, Goehring was a four-time First Team All-Conference selection and was named Academic All-Conference in 2010. In 2011, she was named Second Team All-West Region as forward by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, the first HPU player to ever receive an All-Region honor.
In all four of her seasons, Goehring was among the leaders in the ASC in goals scored, with 14, 17, 15 and 13 respectively. She would also finish her career with 19 game-winning goals for the Lady Jackets.
Goehring also holds the ASC record for Fastest Two Goals by the Same Player and Fastest Three Goals by the Same Player in the same game.
After graduating, Goehring became the assistant women’s soccer coach at Austin College. She then went back to school and became a licensed vocational nurse.
She and her husband, Seth Goehring, are the parents of two children, Parker and Hayes. Hayes passed away in June of this year.
She says the Christian values learned from her professors, coaches and others at HPU are the cornerstone of what she needed to make it through the difficult things in life. She started and runs the non-profit Parker’s PALS Foundation that assists families whose children are battling pediatric cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
“I am very humbled and honored to be named to the HPU Sports Hall of Fame,” she said. “Through the things I’ve been through since leaving HPU, the people I met at HPU are still there for me today. I’m so thankful for my family, friends, teammates, coaches and God.”
McLaughlin graduated from HPU in 2009 with a degree in exercise and sport science (ESS). During her time at HPU, she played softball and participated in the ESS Club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Playing in 151 games for HPU, McLaughlin had an HPU-record 153 hits. McLaughlin has 82 RBIs and 59 walks in her 406 at-bats for the Lady Jackets.
During her senior season, she led the team to its best year in school history at 29-11 overall. Playing in all 40 games that season, she accumulated 57 hits, 45 RBIs and 83 total bases, which are all HPU records. Her .460 average in 2009 is also the best all-time at HPU.
McLaughlin still holds HPU records in runs scored in a game (five), total bases in a game (ten), hits in a season (57), RBIs in a season (45) and hits in a career (153).
She was named the American Southwest Conference (ASC) West Division Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year, received multiple ASC All-West Division honors and was a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-West Region selection in the outfield.
Since graduating from HPU, she has spent nine years working in the medical field. She is currently employed at Medical City Weatherford, where she is an administrative assistant in the rehab department.
“HPU shaped me for my future with great guidance from my professors,” she said. “Thank you for this honor of being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame.”
Applications are being accepted for the spring 2020 semester at Howard Payne University (www.hputx.edu/apply). For more information about HPU, including the wide range of available financial aid options, contact HPU’s Office of Admission at 325-649-8020 or by e-mail at enroll@hputx.edu.
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Cutline #1: Leslie Jones Goehring of Waxahachie has been named to HPU’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Cutline #2: Kate McLaughlin of Fort Worth is one of this year’s inductees into HPU’s Sports Hall of Fame.