Francis Marion University athletic officials recently announced that former women’s volleyball player Crystal Poskey Ashley (’02), former women’s soccer standouts Katie Roberts Chapman (‘04) and Kerri Williams (‘00), and former administrator and golf coach Dr. Rufus R. Hackney Jr. are the newest inductees into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame for 2017.
Roberts Chapman, a native of Frederick, Md., was a four-year starter on the Francis Marion women’s soccer team from 2000 to 2003. She was a two-time All-American for her play on the field and a two-time Academic All-American for her work in the classroom. She earned a B.S. degree in elementary education (cum laude) in 2004.
She resides in her hometown of Frederick, and is a sixth- and seventh-grade math teacher at Hallie Wells Middle School. She and her husband have one son, who was born in December.
Roberts missed only one match during her career and produced school records for matches played (79), shots (220), goals (47), assists (35), and points (129). She tallied four hat tricks, including two matches with five goals scored, and finished her career owning the Peach Belt Conference career records for assists and points and sharing the career mark for goals scored. She helped the Patriots to a four-year record of 55-21-3, including the 2001 PBC Tournament title and a trip to the 2000 NCAA Division II National Tournament.
She was named the inaugural Peach Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week in 2000 and went on to claim that honor four more times during her career.
As a freshman, she made an immediate impact, gaining both Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards after posting 14 goals and eight assists. She helped Francis Marion to a 17-3-0 record and a trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament, while also picking up All-Region and All-America accolades. FMU compiled a school-record 12-match winning streak and spent most of the season nationally ranked, including two weeks in the Top 10. She scored a hat trick in her first collegiate match against Pfeiffer College.
In her sophomore year, she again picked up All-Conference and All-Region honors while helping a 15-5-1 FMU squad to the PBC Tournament title, where she was named the MVP. As a junior, Roberts scored 14 goals and assisted on 11 others, while earning PBC Player of the Year honors for the second time. She became only the second Francis Marion athlete to earn the rare double All-American honors – for playing and academics.
During her senior campaign, she registered 12 goals and seven assists, while earning All-Conference, All-Region, Academic All-Region, and Academic All-America honors.
She was a member of Chi Alpha Sigma national college athlete honor society and was selected to both the Peach Belt Conference Presidential and FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic honor rolls each of her four years.
Following graduation, she played three summers in the WPSL (Women’s Premiere Soccer League) for the Maryland Pride and served as head varsity coach at Damascus High School (Md.) and Baker Middle School (Md.), in addition to coaching with the Damascus Soccer Club.
