Sammi Hatcher Chafin Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman added two softball stars and a women's basketball phenom to its athletics hall of fame during its annual hall of fame luncheon Saturday morning at Stokely Memorial Cafeteria.
Softball's Sammi Hatcher Chafin (Class of '93) and Heather Randolph (Class of '96) join the hall, as does women's basketball standout Leah Jackson-Smith (Class of '93).
The three inductees comprise the first all-female class in the hall of fame's history.
SAMMI HATCHER CHAFIN (Class of 1993) SOFTBALL
"Going in with a group of girls who I know worked just as hard as I did really brings this honor home," Hatcher Chafin said. "There's legacy and tradition here and I know we're a part of that. The players who are here now need to realize how much they can add and contribute to that."
A member of the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame class of '12, Hatcher was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Conference and NAIA All-District performer.
"She has such a love and passion for the game," Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "She was as tough and a hard-nosed shortstop that you'd find. She was a real blue collar kid who stepped in as a freshman and played every game in her career. If I had the opportunity to put her in a uniform again, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
She still holds the single game records for runs scored and stolen bases. Her .524 average in her junior year still stands as a SAC and school record while her .436 career average is second all-time in SAC history.
HEATHER RANDOLPH (Class of 1996) SOFTBALL
"It's hard to even describe what this means. It's incredibly humbling," Randolph said. "I love Carson-Newman and being a Lady Eagle. It means so much to go in with who I'm being inducted with. It's great for the softball program and for women's sport at Carson-Newman. I feel the girl power. It's nice to because we're all from the same era."
Carson-Newman softball's first NCAA All-American, Randolph was a two-time SAC Female Athlete of the Year and Softball Player of the Year. She still holds the SAC records for strikeouts in a season (259), career strikeouts (662), season ERA (0.58) and career ERA (.71).
"She gave everything she had everyday," Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "As far as Division II softball, I don't know if anyone had a greater impact on Carson-Newman softball than Heather Randolph. She made every teammate a better player by the way she played. She never took a pitch off and expected the same from her teammates. Those characteristics meant a great deal to our program.
She was inducted into the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame in 2003. She was drafted by the Georgia Pride to play professional softball out of C-N.
LEAH JACKSON-SMITH (Class of 1993) WOMEN'S BASKEBALL
"This is something I never thought I would be able to accomplish," Jackson-Smith said. "I never set out to attain this, I just came out and wanted to put hard work in. I left here with a lot of good memories. It's really great too to go in with Sammi and Heather. We worked just as hard as the men and it's a great honor to enter with two other women the caliber of Sammi and Heather."
Carson-Newman's final NAIA All-American for women's basketball, Jackson-Smith earned every honor possible athletically from the South Atlantic Conference. She was freshman of the year, MVP and a four-time all-conference performer.
"She is probably one of the best, if not the best women's basketball player to play at Carson-Newman," Jackson-Smith's former head coach and current C-N assistant athletic director Eddie Carter said. "She was so tenacious. She had a win-at-all-costs attitude and anytime you walked into a gym with her, you knew you had a chance to win. It was a tremendous honor to coach her for four years."
Jackson-Smith is still C-N's all-time leading rebounder with 1,103 boards. She's the conference's fourth all-time rebounder and fifth in field goal percentage. She was inducted into the SAC Hall of Fame in 2009.
