INDUCTION YEAR: 2025

GRADUATION YEAR: 1976

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL | GIRLS BASKETBALL | GIRLS TRACK & FIELD

CHERYL’S LEGACY IS ONE OF DEDICATION, PERSEVERANCE, AND THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE. AS MCCUTCHEON’S FIRST NCAA DIVISION I SCHOLARSHIP ATHLETE, CHERYL PAVED THE WAY FOR FUTURE FEMALE ATHLETES. AT A TIME WHEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN COLLEGIATE ATHLETICS WERE SCARCE, SHE MADE HISTORY BY EARNING A FULL-RIDE VOLLEYBALL SCHOLARSHIP TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, BECOMING PART OF A PIONEERING ERA IN WOMEN'S SPORTS FOLLOWING THE ENACTMENT OF TITLE IX.

CHERYL’S ATHLETIC JOURNEY BEGAN AT SOUTHWESTERN HIGH SCHOOL BEFORE SHE JOINED MCCUTCHEON, WHERE SHE EXCELLED IN THREE SPORTS—VOLLEYBALL, BASKETBALL, AND TRACK.

HER ACCOLADES SPEAK VOLUMES:

FOUR-YEAR LETTER WINNER IN ALL THREE SPORTS,

ALL HOOSIER CONFERENCE HONORS,

SECTIONAL AND REGIONAL TITLES,

AND THE HONOR OF SERVING AS TEAM CAPTAIN IN BOTH VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL.

SHE WAS A COMPETITOR IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, ALWAYS STRIVING TO PUSH HERSELF AND HER TEAMMATES TO GREATER HEIGHTS.

CHERYL’S ATHLETIC PROWESS CONTINUED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, WHERE SHE STARTED AS AN OUTSIDE HITTER FOR THE CRIMSON TIDE.

SHE LED HER TEAM TO AN ASTOUNDING 57-5 RECORD, EARNING NATIONAL RANKINGS AND NUMEROUS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS.

A DEVASTATING KNEE INJURY MAY HAVE ENDED HER TIME AS AN OUTSIDE HITTER, BUT HER PASSION FOR THE SPORT NEVER WAVERED. SHE RETURNED TO THE COURT AS A BACKCOURT SPECIALIST—WHAT WE NOW CALL A LIBERO—PROVING THAT TRUE LEADERS NEVER GIVE UP; THEY ADAPT, INSPIRE, AND CONTINUE TO LEAD.

HER IMPACT DID NOT END WITH HER PLAYING CAREER. CHERYL RETURNED TO MCCUTCHEON, GIVING BACK TO THE PROGRAM THAT HAD GIVEN HER SO MUCH. SHE MENTORED YOUNG ATHLETES, RAN DEFENSIVE DRILLS, AND LATER SERVED AS AN ASSISTANT COACH FROM 1992 TO 1995.

THEN, IN 2010, SHE TOOK THE HELM AS HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH, LEADING MCCUTCHEON TO A SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2011. HER LEADERSHIP HELPED REDEFINE THE PROGRAM, INSTILLING THE VALUES OF HARD WORK, PERSEVERANCE, AND EXCELLENCE IN A NEW GENERATION OF MAVERICKS.

BEYOND THE ACCOLADES, CHERYL’S INFLUENCE EXTENDS FAR BEYOND THE COURT.

SHE HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AMONG THE 50 WOMEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE IN GREATER LAFAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS, A TESTAMENT TO HER LASTING IMPACT ON THE ATHLETIC COMMUNITY.

HER JOURNEY IS A REMINDER THAT BARRIERS CAN BE BROKEN, OPPORTUNITIES CAN BE CREATED, AND LEGACIES CAN BE BUILT THROUGH UNWAVERING DETERMINATION AND AN UNYIELDING LOVE FOR THE GAME.

WE PROUDLY INDUCT CHERYL INTO THE MCCUTCHEON ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME.

CHERYL'S ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE LEFT AN LASTING MARK ON MCCUTCHEON HIGH SCHOOL, AND YOUR STORY WILL CONTINUE TO INSPIRE STUDENT-ATHLETES FOR YEARS TO COME. WE THANK HER FOR HER DEDICATION, PASSION, AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO MCCUTCHEON ATHLETICS.

From Sam King, J&C: Title IX at 50: 50 women who made a difference in Greater Lafayette high school sportsWiedeman would return to the McCutcheon volleyball sidelines long after her playing career, leading the Mavericks to a sectional title in 2011. Long before that, she'd become McCutcheon's first NCAA Division I scholarship athlete when the 1977 graduate parlayed a standout high school volleyball career into a role at the University of Alabama.