GENEVA, N.Y.—Heron Society President Kerry McCullough Brown '87 has announced the 2022 recipients of three special awards for their contributions to William Smith College Athletics. In conjunction with the Heron Hall of Honor inductions Sept. 10, retired Athletic Director Deb Steward will receive the Heron Award and Terri-Lee Fiedler '95 will be presented with the Hosking Award. Additionally, Dr. Tiff Jones '99 will be given the Joan Hinton Hurd '65 Lifetime Athletic Achievement Award earlier in the week.
 
This will be the 24th time the Heron Award has been presented, recognizing commitment to William Smith College and its athletics program. Steward retired in November 2021 following a 33-year career in collegiate athletics, including 16 years at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 2005, Steward was hired as the Director of Athletics for William Smith. She brought four NCAA Division III Championships events to campus, hosting field hockey three times and lacrosse once. Under her leadership, Heron teams and student-athletes earned countless conference, regional and national honors. Steward oversaw what was then the Colleges' most successful single day fundraising effort and put her stamp on the athletics programs through hiring nearly two dozen head coaches and ushering in numerous improvements to the athletic and recreational facilities at HWS.
 
Steward was named the 2014 ECAC Division III Female Administrator of the Year and the 2017 Women Leaders in College Sports Division III Administrator of the Year.
 
In 2020, Steward was given the reins for both Hobart and William Smith Athletics. A month later, the pandemic had a drastic impact on college athletics. Her dedication to the Herons and Statesmen and to the Colleges guided the athletics and recreation programs through the shutdown and a safe return to play.
 
Fiedler will be just the sixth recipient of the Hosking Award, which recognizes distinguished former student-athletes for outstanding lifetime achievement in their chosen field of work. The award recognizes the service to Hobart and William Smith Colleges of former Director of Athletics Mary Hosking and her husband, William Hosking.
 
A two-sport athlete at William Smith, Fiedler played basketball and lacrosse for the Herons and has enjoyed an award-winning career as a producer, director and videographer. Her resume includes work for ESPN on its acclaimed 30 for 30 series, and with FOX Sports. For the past 25 years, she has run her own production company, Rock Solace. Her work earned an Emmy Award as a segment producer for ABC Sports' 40th Anniversary of Wide World of Sports in 2001 and a 2008 Telly Award for features on athletes shot in 11 different countries for the Special Olympics World Games in association with Lookalike Productions.
 
In 2012, Fiedler produced the six-minute feature video, "William Smith College Title IX Trailblazers Tribute" which interviews student-athletes and colleagues about the impact of head coaches Pat Genovese, Aliceann Wilber and Sally Scatton and gets insight from the coaches themselves about the impact of Title IX.
 
Jones will be the fifth recipient of the Hurd Award. She was an all-star midfielder for the Heron soccer team while earning her degree in psychology and English. On the pitch, Jones helped the Herons earn four consecutive NCAA tournament bids, reach the championship weekend twice and play in the 1997 national championship match. She was twice named to the NSCAA All-Region team and twice earned first team All-UCAA honors. Jones earned the 1999 Melissa Mulliken '80 Award which is presented for leadership in athletics and off-field endeavors.
 
Jones went on to earn a master's degree and a doctorate degree in psychology from Springfield College. A certified mental performance consultant by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Jones and her company, X-Factor Performance, have an impressive list of clients. She has worked with the USA U-20 Women's National Soccer team, Women's Professional Soccer, the National Football Foundation, United Soccer Coaches, Greg Norman Championship Golf Academy, and the Meghan Klingenberg Soccer Camps, as well a wide variety of Division I and Division III athletic programs, most notably the teams at her alma mater, William Smith.
 
Due to a scheduling conflict, Jones will be presented the Hurd Award when she is on campus Sept. 5-8 to consult with William Smith teams and Heron athletes.
 
Tickets for the Heron Hall of Honor Class of 2022 induction celebration are on sale now.