Follow @NU_Sports
EVANSTON, Ill. -- As she prepares for her 14th season as head coach of the Northwestern Women's Lacrosse dynasty, Kelly Amonte Hiller is set to join fellow legends of Chicago athletics when she is inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday (Sept. 17). Amonte Hiller, who on Monday returned from a week-long tour of Italy with her Wildcats program, is one of 14 accomplished individuals earning induction at the Hall of Fame's 18th annual ceremony and awards dinner.
The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Hawthorne Race Course (3501 S. Laramie Ave.) and will be hosted by WFLD anchor Corey McPherrin.
Other notables in the 2014 Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame class include Chicago Bulls great Bill Cartwright, NFL Pro-Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb, pitching legend Richard "Goose" Gossage and NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway. Karen Stack Umlauf, the Senior Director of Basketball Administration for the Bulls and a 1983 alum of the Northwestern women's basketball program, joins Amonte Hiller as 2014 inductees with ties to the Wildcats.
Amonte Hiller, who is also a member of the U.S. Lacrosse, Maryland Athletics, Thayer Academy and Italian-American Sports Halls of Fame, has gained fame after building an unlikely lacrosse dynasty at Northwestern that has won seven national championships and reached 10 straight NCAA semifinals since 2005. The Wildcats have won 229 of the 269 games they have played under Amonte Hiller's leadership, posting undefeated seasons in 2005 and 2009.
A native of Hingham, Mass., Amonte Hiller has been instrumental in increasing the exposure and popularity of women's lacrosse in the Midwest and beyond, leading a team that regularly leads the nation in average home attendance and frequently plays in nationally televised contests. Amonte Hiller's team also has been the focal point of numerous high-profile lacrosse events around the country -- including NU's hosting of USC at historic Wrigley Field last April -- and next spring will headline the newly formed Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Conference.
Amonte Hiller's relentless efforts to expose her sport to new audiences was part of the inspiration behind her team's just-completed Italian tour, during which the Wildcats made efforts to host youth clinics and grow the reach of women's lacrosse.
Past Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame inductees with Northwestern ties include football All-Americans Otto Graham, Mike Adamle and Pat Fitzgerald, former football standout and current Illinois State Senator Napoleon Harris, and former NU football coach Ara Parseghian.
Click here for more information on the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and this week's induction ceremonies.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!