New Canaan’s Cari Hills, and former Wilton head coach Deidre Hynes-Ormond will be inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in September.
Hills, a graduate of New Canaan High and Cornell University, will be inducted in the College Player category, and Hynes-Ormond will be inducted in the High School Coach category.
Also being inducted are Cheryl Torino Canada of North Branford, Melissa McDonald Arora of Cheshire, and Michelle Lovino Breakell of Wamogo in the High School Players category, George E. Longyear Jr. in the Umpire category, and Dr. Karissa Niehoff in the Honorary category.
The 21st annual Field Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and dinner will be held at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville on Sunday, Sept. 12.
Hills was an All-American in field hockey and lacrosse at Cornell, graduating as the Big Red’s leading scorer in both sports.
She was Cornell’s first All-American in field hockey when she earned second team honors in 1995. In 1996 and 1998, she was a third team All-American in lacrosse.
Hills was named the Cornell Sun Athlete of the Year in 1998, and, won the 1997 Richie Moran Award, which is given to a senior student-athlete who had distinguished themselves “through academics, athletics and ambassadorship.”
Hynes-Ormond coached the Wilton High field hockey team for 17 years beginning in 2000. She led the Warriors to five state championships and the program’s first FCIAC title in 2016, which was her final season in Wilton.
Wilton was also an FCIAC runner-up six times, and a state runner-up three times.
She had a career record of 224-58-21 with the Warriors, earning the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Outstanding Coach of the Year award for the 2015-2016 school year.
Hynes-Ormond also won the Connecticut Field Hockey Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year award twice (2005 and 2012), and was FCIAC Field Hockey Coach of the Year and the FCIAC Fall Sports Coach of the Year in 2013.
A Sacred Heart University graduate, Hynes-Ormond also coached the girls lacrosse program at Greens Farms Academy from 2009-2015.
david.stewart
@hearstmediact.com; @dstewartsports