Hall of Fame
Nancy Breitinger Hopkinson was looking at several colleges and universities in the Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey area before she decided to attend Cedar Crest College. She was looking for a fairly small school with a liberal arts aspect, and fell in love with Cedar Crest after one visit.
During her time at Cedar Crest, Hopkinson was heavily involved in extra-curricular activities. She was in the concert choir and a member of the Women’s Athletic Association for all four years. She served as the manager of the choir and was president of WAA. Nancy was also involved in the Student Government Association as a secretary her junior year and a representative during her senior year. She was on the President’s Advisory Council, Opheleo as a secretary and treasurer and Alpha and Omega. She was also a senior dorm counselor and a dual-sport athlete, playing both softball and field hockey.
Nancy was always active in sports including bowling, field hockey and softball. She took a particular interest in field hockey when she entered junior and senior high school. Her physical education teacher was a member of the US field hockey team and helped introduce her to the sport. As a varsity player in high school, Nancy had the opportunity to meet Constance Appleby, who brought the sport of field hockey from England to the United States.
Nancy stated, “I have many amazing memories of my years at Cedar Crest, but the most outstanding was the summer tour of Europe in 1962. The choir was invited to an adjudicated Welsh music festival. The tour started in Denmark and we sang our way through several countries on our way to Wales. We placed or won in all three categories we entered at the festival.”
She continued, “Attending a women’s college gave us all the leadership and intellectual opportunities in the 50’s and early 60’s that would not have been available in the average co-ed school. Having the opportunity for leadership and academic experiences at Cedar Crest enabled me to go on to graduate school and professional endeavors with confidence and success.”
Her experiences at Cedar Crest led her to graduate school which later allowed her to spend 25 years in education. She coached at Poolesville High School where she also served as the assistant athletic director, field hockey coach and swimming/diving coach. Nancy established the school’s first swim team and also took the field hockey team from 11 high school students who could barely knew how to play, to the point where 40 kids were trying out to make a spot on the JV and Varsity teams.
The team played in the Maryland State Championship her last four years as the coach, winning the championship one year. Of the 21 high schools in Montgomery County, her school was the smallest and most rural but became competitive with the larger schools in several sports during her tenure.
