INDUCTION YEAR: 2025

GRADUATION YEAR: 1993

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL | GIRLS BASKETBALL

KELLI’S IMPACT ON MAVERICK ATHLETICS WAS NOTHING SHORT OF HISTORIC. A DOMINANT FORCE IN BOTH VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL, SHE LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON OUR PROGRAMS, EARNING ACCOLADES THAT STILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME.

ON THE VOLLEYBALL COURT, KELLI WAS A FOUR-YEAR VARSITY STARTER WHO LED MCCUTCHEON TO A STATE RUNNER-UP FINISH IN 1989.

SHE WAS A TWO-TIME ALL-STATE SELECTION IN 1991 AND 1992, AN INDIANA VOLLEYBALL ALL-STAR IN 1993, AND A FOUR-TIME ALL-AREA AND ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREE.

HER LEADERSHIP WAS EVIDENT AS SHE CAPTAINED THE TEAM FOR THREE YEARS AND WAS NAMED TEAM MVP IN 1992.

BEYOND HER ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS, SHE EXEMPLIFIED SPORTSMANSHIP, EARNING THE ELLISON MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD IN 1991 AND MULTIPLE TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS.

KELLI’S DOMINANCE EXTENDED ONTO THE BASKETBALL COURT, WHERE SHE WAS A FOUR-YEAR VARSITY STARTER WHO HELPED LEAD MCCUTCHEON TO THE 1993 STATE RUNNER-UP TITLE.

SHE WAS A 1993 INDIANA ALL-STAR, AN ALL-STATE SELECTION, AND A THREE-TIME TEAM MVP. SHE ALSO LEFT HER NAME IN MCCUTCHEON’S RECORD BOOKS, RANKING 2ND IN CAREER POINTS SCORED WITH 1,376, 1ST IN TOTAL POINTS IN A SEASON WITH 535, AND 1ST IN CAREER REBOUNDS WITH 1,110.

HER LEGENDARY 51-POINT PERFORMANCE AGAINST LAPORTE IN 1992 STILL STANDS AS ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE FEATS IN MAVERICK HISTORY. AS A THREE-TIME TEAM CAPTAIN, KELLI WAS A FIERCE COMPETITOR AND LEADER, GUIDING HER TEAM TO THREE SECTIONAL AND TWO REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.HER ATHLETIC JOURNEY CONTINUED AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, WHERE SHE EXCELLED AS A FOUR-YEAR STARTER FOR THE BOILERMAKER VOLLEYBALL TEAM. SHE WAS A TWO-TIME ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN HONOREE, A TEAM CAPTAIN IN 1995 AND 1996, AND A RECIPIENT OF THE PRESTIGIOUS RED MACKEY AWARD IN 1996. SHE CONTINUED TO SHOWCASE HER ALL-AROUND TALENT, LEADING THE TEAM IN DIGS AND SERVICE ACES DURING HER COLLEGIATE CAREER.

KELLI’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS WERE RECOGNIZED ON A GRAND SCALE WHEN SHE WAS NAMED TO THE INDIANA BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME SILVER ANNIVERSARY TEAM IN 2018.

SHE REMAINS THE FIRST ATHLETE IN INDIANA HISTORY TO BE NAMED AN INDIANA ALL-STAR IN BOTH VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL—A TESTAMENT TO HER UNPARALLELED VERSATILITY AND SKILL.

BEYOND HER PLAYING DAYS, KELLI REMAINED DEDICATED TO MCCUTCHEON, SERVING AS AN ASSISTANT BASKETBALL COACH IN 1997 AND LATER AS AN ASSISTANT VOLLEYBALL COACH FROM 2000 TO 2002. HER INFLUENCE CONTINUES TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF MAVERICKS.

WITH NINE VARSITY LETTERS, COUNTLESS RECORDS, AND AN ENDURING LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE, KELLI KERKHOFF BURTON REPRESENTS THE VERY BEST OF MCCUTCHEON ATHLETICS. HER UNWAVERING DEDICATION, SPORTSMANSHIP, AND LEADERSHIP SERVE AS AN INSPIRATION TO ALL.

From Sam King J&C: Title IX at 50: 50 women who made a difference in Greater Lafayette high school sportsIn two state games — in the old format where four teams advanced to state and competed in a semifinal and championship round — Kerkhoff averaged 20 points and 11.5 rebounds for the 1993 girls basketball state runner-up Mavericks in front of more than 16,000 fans inside Market Square Arena. She'd make the Indiana All-Stars roster after her senior season after finishing her career with 1,376 points, including a school record 51 in a single game, and 1,110 rebounds. She also was the star of McCutcheon's volleyball team and would go on to a stellar career with the Purdue Boilermakers, where she racked up more than 1,000 digs, 101 aces and 865 kills.

From Purdue Sports:

1994 - The Boilermakers are 6-23 overall and 4-16 in the Big Ten for a ninth-place tie with Michigan ... two of their wins come against nationally-ranked teams, in four games over No. 20 Kentucky in the season opener Sept. 2 and in five games over No. 19 Wisconsin on Oct. 8 ... Purdue shows a flare for the dramatic at Northwestern on Nov. 5 after losing the first two games 6-15 and 6-15 and trailing in the third game 10-14 by rallying to win 17-15, 15-8, 15-13 ... White erupts for 29 kills, three shy of the school record, in a three-game victory over Northwestern at home Oct. 7 ... White is named Big Ten Player-of-the-Week for the week ending Oct. 9 ... Lauri Grimes, Sarina Harris, Kelli Kerkhoff and Brooke White are named Academic All-Big Ten ... Kerkhoff and White are selected Academic All-District V ... the Boilermakers average 1,227 fans per home match to rank 17th in the nation ... Jane Neff, who played from 1979-82, is a member of the inaugural Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame class inducted Nov. 17 ... head coach Carol Dewey announces her retirement after 20 years Dec. 9 ... Dewey finishes her career as Purdue's all-time winningest single-sport coach with a 469-256 record, an outstanding .647 winning percentage.

1995 - A new era begins when Joey Vrazel is named head coach Feb. 10 ... the Boilermakers finish 8-20 overall and 6-14 in the Big Ten for ninth place ... Purdue rallies from an 0-2 deficit to defeat No. 20 Illinois 9-15, 6-15, 15-3, 15-13, 15-12 at home Sept. 29 ... the Oct. 18 home match against Northwestern is televised live by SportsChannel-Chicago and played under an experimental timed scoring format which the Boilermakers win 5-0 (14-10, 22-20, 23-11 = 59-41) ... Brooke White is Big Ten Player-of-the-Week for the week ending Nov. 5 ... White records the 1,000th kill of her career at Penn State on Nov. 11 ... White finishes second in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.359 in conference matches) and is honorable mention All-Big Ten ... a school-record seven players earn academic all-conference honors: Lauri Grimes, Sarina Harris, Sue Jurkonis, Kelli Kerkhoff, Linda Menconi, Stacey Mondino and White ... Purdue ranks 16th in the country in attendance with an average of 1,351 fans per home match ... the Boilermakers draw crowds of more than 1,000 for every home match for the first time in school history.

1996 - Offense is the watchword as Purdue improves to 13-19 overall and 6-14 in the Big Ten for eighth place ... the Boilermakers set school season records for kills (2,066) and assists (1,890) ... they rank 12th in the nation in kills (17.36 per game) and eighth in assists (15.88) ... Purdue establishes a school match record with 100 assists vs. Michigan on Nov. 22 ... the Boilermakers are regionally ranked the weeks of Sept. 30 and Oct. 14 ... Brooke White is named Big Ten Player-of-the-Week for the week ending Sept. 1 and goes on to earn first team all-conference honors ... White twice ties the school match record of 32 kills - vs. Weber State on Aug. 31 and vs. Illinois on Oct. 11 ... she averages a school record of 4.85 kills per game and becomes one of only three players in school history to rank in the top 10 in career kills (second), total blocks (sixth), aces (tied for eighth) and digs (ninth) ... Lauri Grimes receives Academic All-District V laurels ... Grimes and Linda Menconi set school match records with 80 total attempts and 87 assists, respectively, vs. Houston on Sept. 14 ... a school-record tying seven players are Academic All-Big Ten: Grimes, Sarina Harris, Sue Jurkonis, Kelli Kerkhoff, Menconi, Connie Paul and White ... Purdue averages 1,365 fans per home match to rank among the Big Ten and national leaders.