SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University will officially rename the SRU Softball Complex as "Kasnevich Field" during a dedication ceremony on campus Saturday, recognizing and celebrating the legacy of one of the pioneers of women's athletics at the University.
 
The ceremony will include a brunch at the President's Tent at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium and the unveiling of the new signage at the softball field prior to The Rock's annual alumni game in the afternoon.
 
"This is such a fitting time to be recognizing the contributions of Jan Kasnevich as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX," said Roberta Page, SRU director of athletics. "Jan played such a vital role in helping to provide sports opportunities for women at Slippery Rock for more than three decades and I can speak directly to that because I had the privilege of having her as my coach. Her contributions to the University as a professor, coach and mentor were immeasurable and I am so excited we get to recognize her in this way."
 
Kasnevich, a 1968 SRU alumna, basically did it all during her 33 years at Slippery Rock. A stellar athlete in her own right, she was a four-year member of SRU's basketball, volleyball, tennis and field hockey teams during her undergraduate years and went on to become an assistant women's basketball coach, head softball coach, head field hockey coach and a professor upon returning to SRU as a professional.
 
After graduating from Slippery Rock, Kasnevich spent two years as a member of the U.S. Field Hockey National Team while teaching and coaching at Montour High School while she worked to obtain her master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
 
She returned to Slippery Rock to join the physical education department and coach softball in 1976. The next decade was arguably the best the program has ever seen. Kasnevich won 64.8 percent of her games, 127 victories overall, in her 10 years in charge of SRU softball. Highlights of the Kasnevich era included three Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national tournament appearances and a PSAC championship in 1981.
 
Working at Slippery Rock shortly after the landmark passing of Title IX, Kasnevich became a pioneer for women's athletics at the University and worked to increase opportunities for women to be part of intercollegiate athletics at The Rock.
 
Kasnevich took on a reclamation project of sorts in 1985 when she assumed control of a Slippery Rock field hockey program that had won just 10 games over the previous five seasons. As she did with the softball program, Kasnevich quickly brought the field hockey team to respectability by posting a record of 33-22-3 (.595) in her first four years with the pinnacle being the 1987 season when Kasnevich led The Rock to a school-record 14 wins and the program's lone NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
After taking a year sabbatical to earn her doctorate from Pittsburgh in 1989, Kasnevich spent eight more seasons as The Rock's head coach before stepping down prior to the 1998 season. She officially retired as a faculty member from Slippery Rock in 2004.
 
In recognition of her contributions to Slippery Rock, Kasnevich was inducted into the Rock Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
 
Kasnevich Field will become the second SRU Athletics facility to ever be named after a woman, joining the Patricia Zimmerman Field Hockey Field. Zimmerman Field was used as the competition site for SRU field hockey games until turf was installed in Mihalik-Thompson Stadium in the early 2000s. Since then, The Rock field hockey teams have played their games at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium, making Kasnevich Field the only active competition facility on campus named after a woman.
 
In addition to renaming the field in honor of Kasnevich, Slippery Rock has also created an endowed scholarship in her name. Donations to the Coach K Scholarship can be made HERE.
 
Photos from the dedication ceremony and a recap of the highlights of the event will be posted to www.RockAthletics.com Monday.
 
 

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