In the first episode of the second season of Hawk Talk, Kelly Blackhurst, the head coach for the Roger Williams University Field Hockey team joined the podcast. She sat down with host Bryce Johnson and they discussed her first season coaching the Hawks back in 2019, her expectations for the upcoming season, and competitive skiing.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-kpztu-10cdddb

https://youtu.be/joN8-WnanBE



Blackhurst came to Bristol in 2019 and took over the RWU Field Hockey program that was still in its infancy, entering just its' seventh season and she made an immediate impact. That season the Hawks finished with a winning record for the first time going 12-10 overall and also secured their first ever win in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship. In addition, RWU set program-bests in goals per game and goals-against average that season.
 
Now entering her third season leading Roger Williams Blackhurst encourages excellence both on and off the field. In her two prior seasons, she has coached 39 members of the NFHCA National Academic Squad as students who earned a GPA of 3.3 or better. Meanwhile, the team has also earned the NFHCA Division III National Academic Team Award that recognizes programs with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher during each of her two seasons as coach. Meanwhile, on the field, she coached the first two players in program history to be named to the All-CCC First Team while Alex Coppinger was also named to the NFHCA All-New England East Region First Team, the program's first-ever all-region player.
 
Prior to getting the lead job at RWU, Blackhurst had coaching stops at Misericordia University as a graduate assistant coach and at Denison University as an assistant coach. At Misericordia, she helped guide the team to a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017 while also coaching the conference Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. At Denison, she coached a conference Midfielder of the Year, six All-Region selections, and an All-American.
 
Prior to her coaching career, Blackhurst enjoyed a decorated collegiate career as a player at Skidmore College, where she was recently named to their athletics hall of fame. She twice earned Liberty League Player of the Year honors, was a three-time Longstreth/NFHCA All-American, and was the NFHCA Division III Player of the Year in 2013. She currently ranks fifth all-time in NCAA Division-III history with 264 career points.