Slippery Rock University Athletics

The history of Slippery Rock water polo and the achievements of its founding coach, Richard "Doc" Hunkler, are so intertwined it would next to impossible to separate them.

Likewise, the history of Rock and national water polo competitions, especially those involving women student-athletes, are difficult to separate.

Hunkler undeniably earned the honor of being known as "the father of Rock water polo." To stop there, though, would be doing "Doc" a great dissservice.

Hunkler was one of the forefathers of intercollegiate water polo nationally.

The Rock was the first collegiate team formed in the Eastern Region and third nationally.

He coached The Rock women's water polo team for 24 seasons, the final seven as a varsity sport.

Hunkler compiled a 264-62 record in his stint as a varsity sports coach (162-20 in women's competition and 102-42 in men's).

For the first 11 seasons of the team's existence, there was no national collegiate championship. Consequently, The Rock and other collegiate programs had to play club all-star teams with non-collegiate players.and vie for honors in the U.S. National Women's Indoor Championship.

Among the best

The Rock more than held its own in those competitions, though. Hunkler proudly points out that Slippery Rock never finished lower than sixth in the Natinal Women's Indoor competition and earned several second-, third- or fourth-place finishes.

During those years, at least 20 Rock players earned All-American citations and several made the US National Team.

Among the players who earned elite honors were Lynn Comer and Sue Bow, both of whom made the All-World Team at the FINA World Championships.

In both 1981 and 1982, Hunkler presented a written proposal to U.S. Water Polo officials to have a national women's collegiate championship held. The proposals were defeated both times, primarily, Hunkler recalls, because colleges and universities did not want to give up their non-collegiate players.

Finally, in 1983, after Hunkler presented the second revision of his initial proposal, the idea was accepted.

Today, the collegiate event is the largest and most popular women's water polo championship in the nation.

Hunkler readily acknowledges that he did not do it alone. He insists that, if he is regarded as "the father of women's collegiate water polo," Sandy Nitta be known as the "mother" because of the way she and the Women's National Team under her direction nurtured the early U.S. National Women's Collegiate Championships.

In 1984, the first National Women's Collegiate Championship was held. The Rock placed third in the inaugural event.

That was a precursor of what was to follow.

Through 1997, The Rock was the only college or university to qualify for the first 12 Collegiate National Championships. The Rock never finished lower than fourth/sixth from 1984-1996. The accompanying chart illustrates this string of success.

Breaking precedent

In 1995, The Rock became the first non-California team to win a men's or women's national water polo championship. That season, The Rock also became the first team to have rebounded from an opening-round loss to win a national women's title.

At least two dozen Rock women have earned Collegiate All-American citations and at least eight more players were named to the U.S. National Team.

For 20 years, Hunkler was a member of the USWP Women's International Water Polo Committee. He earned the distinction in 1984 of serving as the USWP's first-ever Vice President of Women's Water Polo.

Hunkler served as a member of both the U.S. Women's Collegiate Water Polo Rules Committee and Top Twenty Selection Committee every season from its inception in 1983 through his retirement as The Rock's coach in 1998.

In addition, he served as the assistant coach of the U.S. Women's National Team that finished second in both the 1982 and 1983 FINA World Cup Water Polo Championships.

Under Hunkler's guidance, four Rock women's players were selected as national championship MVP and two women (Carrie Basye in 1993 and 1994 and Tracey Proietti in 1995) earned Women's Collegiate Water Polo Player of the Year honors.

In 1994, The Rock's Mary (Nancy) Morris received the Trish McGuire Goalie Award as the nation's top collegiate netminder.

The award is named in memory of a former Rock All-American goalie who died of a heart attack during her junior year. "She played her entire water polo career with a heart defect," Hunkler recalls. "She was Ms. Courage personified."

Eastern power

In 1987, Hunkler was instrumental in creating a Women's Eastern Water Polo Championship.

The Rock won the initial Eastern Championship, which was held in 1988 at Bucknell University. The tournament director was Lynn Comer, a former All-American for The Rock women who was the coach of Bucknell's men's team.

The Rock had seven players named to the All-Eastern tournament team in 1988.

Through the years, The Rock women's team has won nine Eastern Championships, had more than two dozen women named to All-Eastern honors and had several receive the Eastern MVP award.

Since becoming a varsity sport 11 years ago in 1992, Rock women have compiled a 258-71 all-time record and have never had a losing season.

If you include the seasons when The Rock women played in club and varsity club competitions, Slippery Rock's record for success includes over 300 wins and less than 100 losses.

Hunkler also coached The Rock men's water polo team for 27 years. He is proud of the fact that his program is the only men's program at Slippery Rock to have finished in the top eight teams at an NCAA Division I national championship. The Rock earned one third-place finish and one fourth-place finish at the USWP Indoor Championships under Hunkler's guidance.

The Rock won Eastern Regional titles twice, placed second in the region on two other occasions and won at least two conference championships under Hunkler's guidance.

Under his tutelage, Rock men's players earned three Division I All-American citations, four Division II All-American honors (Division II All-American citations began in 1997), at least four USWP All-American citations and more than a dozen All-Eastern citations.

One of the crowning glories received by a Hunkler-coached men's player came in 1999 when Ryan Phillips -- who began his collegiate career under Hunkler's tutelage -- was named as the Division II national Player of the Year.

Since becoming a varsity sport 12 years ago, The Rock men's team has compiled a 165-99 all-time won-lost record.

If you include the seasons when The Rock was a club or varsity club team, the men's all-time record resembles that of The Rock women -- close to 300 wins and a little more than 100 losses. Under Hunkler, the men's program also never had a losing season.

Hunkler is understandably proud of the fact that he is the only water polo coach in the nation to coach both a men's and women's Team to a first-place finish in the U.S. Olympic Festival.

He coached the men's and women's Eastern Team each on two occasions. The men's team finished first and third, while the women placed first and second.

The Eastern men's championship in 1995 marked the first time a region other than the Western Region had won a title.

Hunkler coached more than a dozen Rock players who went on to earn a spot on Eastern Regional teams that competed in the Olympic Festival.

Hunkler was named by the American Coaches Association as the Women's National Water Polo Coach of the Year three times (1992, 1993, 1995) He also received three Collegiate Water Polo Association Mid-Atlantic Women's honors (1993, 1994, 1995) and three CWPA Southern Men's honors (1991, 1996, 1997).

Hunkler also prepared a pair of papers to the first-ever World Seminar of Water Polo Coaches in 1996.

It would be remiss to not point out that, for 20 years, Hunkler received no release time nor compensation for his efforts as The Rock's water polo coach.

It should also be noted that Hunkler achieved his coaching success while teaching full time in either the Computer Science Department or the Education Department at SRU. He served as chairperson of both departments.

Hunkler also served seven seasons as coach of The Rock women's swimming team. Under his guidance, Rock women earned 101 All-American citations and claimed three too-25 finishes (13th, 19th and 24th) in the AIAW Division II National Championships.

Hunkler's swimming teams earned a pair of runner-up honors and never placed lower than fourth at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships.