DALLAS, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) announced King's College Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Cheryl Ish as the 2018 recipient of the MAC Lou Sorrentino Award on Tuesday at the 18th Annual MAC Awards Luncheon at Misericordia University.
Named after the long-time former Lebanon Valley College athletics administrator, the MAC Lou Sorrentino Award is presented to the MAC athletics administrator who has had a sustained and influential role in conference and national affairs and embodies the NCAA Division III philosophy. Sorrentino served Lebanon Valley College as a student-athlete, coach, and athletic director for nearly 60 years, from1950 until his passing in November of 2010.
Ish is in her 24th year at King's and oversees a King's athletic program that features 25 NCAA sponsored sports, which will grow to 27 in 2019-20.
Ish came to King's during the 1994-95 academic year as the head field hockey coach and assistant director of athletics, and was promoted to associate director of athletics in 2004-05. She was then elevated to director of athletics in 2005-06. Ish stepped down as field hockey coach in the Spring of 2016 to focus on King's expanding athletic program.
Under Ish's direction, King’s has added eight new sports, including men’s and women’s indoor track, men’s and women’s outdoor track, men’s and women’s ice hockey. The newest sports will be the addition of men’s volleyball and women’s golf in 2019-20. In 2019-20, King's will become the only institution in the MAC to field all 27 sports sponsored by the conference.
Ish was involved in the conversion of Monarch Fields grass playing surface to a multi-sport turf field which was renamed McCarthy Stadium and now houses the college’s football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams.
She was a key figure in the planning and design of King’s new recreation center; renovations to the existing Scandlon Gymnasium; and a brand-new eight-lane outdoor track & field facility which will host the 2019 MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Ish was part of the College’s Rebranding Committee that led to a new athletic logo series. She was also a member of King’s Middle States Accreditation and Strategic Planning committees. She is a current member of King’s Care Team as well as the Child Safety and Protection Committee.
Ish was active in the MAC Strategic Planning Committee in 2014-15, followed by the MAC Branding Committee from 2016-present. She has been a member of the MAC Executive Board from 2014-present as well as the MAC Athletic Director’s Board in 2015-16.
She is a member of NADIIIAA (National Association of Division III Athletic Directors). She was a two-year member of NCAA Regional Field Hockey Committee and was a NCAA Representative for three regional field hockey championship sites. Ish is also a past member of NFHCA All-American Selection Committee.
In 2011, Ish instituted King’s volunteerism with the Luzerne County Special Olympics Basketball Program where King’s student-athletes from all sports lend their time once each week to practicing, coaching, and teaching dozens of Special Olympic athletes from late February through April. Each of King’s teams are also required to host at least one community service activity a year.
Ish had been head field hockey coach at King's from 1994-2015 and achieved great success. She took over the program in just its third year of existence and, after early years or building, concluded her career with an overall 243-204 record with two conference titles (2006 and 2007) and a pair of NCAA Division III national tournament berths. In 2006, she guided the squad to a school-record 19 wins. In 2005, the squad also finished the year ranked 20th nationally by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA).
King’s also had conference tournament runner-up finishes in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2012. She was named the MAC Freedom Coach of the Year in 1996, 2005, and 2012.
Ish coached 90 players who earned all-conference status with 14 NFHCA All-Region selections. In 2012, Ish had her first NFHCA Division III All-American in Jenera Quinones.
In 1996, Ish started the King’s women’s lacrosse program and served as the head coach where she nurtured the squad until stepping aside following the 2001 campaign to assume greater responsibilities as an athletic administrator.
She came to King's following two years as an assistant field hockey coach at Smith College where she earned her master's degree in exercise and sports studies. In 1993, she helped Coach Smith to a 15-3 record and a second-place finish in the Division III National Tournament.
Prior to her arrival at Smith, Ish enjoyed a brilliant collegiate athletic career where she was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American in field hockey. In 1988, she guided Salisbury to a 16-3-3 record and a third-place finish in the national tournament, while advancing to the quarterfinals in each of her final three seasons. Ish was named the most valuable player of the Eastern States Athletic Conference in 1989.
Ish was also a four-year letter-winner in lacrosse, where she was a regional all-American, as well as track and field. An outstanding student as well, Ish was nominated for the Hanes "Woman of the Year" Award in 1992. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Salisbury State University in 1992
A native of Hamburg, N.J., Ish a graduate of Walkill Valley High School where she earned New Jersey Group 2 all-state field hockey honors as a senior.
In 2002, Ish received a high honor when she was inducted into the
Salisbury University Athletic Hall of Fame.