California University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Possessing athletic grace coupled with the invaluable quality of speed, Meaggan Wilton-Pettipiece gave the California University's softball team an added dangerous dimension that helped the Vulcans repeat as NCAA National Champions.

Wilton-Pettipiece transferred to Cal U from Graceland University in Iowa and became the team's starting centerfielder in 1998 and 1999.

Joining a team that had won the conference's first NCAA softball national championship and the school's first-ever NCAA national team championship the previous year under head coach Rick Bertagnolli was a challenge for Wilton-Pettipiece, who was actually a women's basketball recruit.

"It was difficult at first because I was learning so many things myself and everything was new," said Wilton-Pettipiece. "I was coming into a program that had just won a national title and I was just trying to become a part of it. The teammates I had were just amazing and my dedication to the sport was very similar to theirs so it helped make the transition easier."

Wilton-Pettipiece was virtually unstoppable as the Vulcans' leadoff slap-hitter. She batted .358 with 53 singles and didn't make an error all season. The lightning-quick Wilton-Pettipiece scored a team-best 40 runs and tied for the team lead in stolen bases with 15. She helped the Vulcans steal 48 bases, more than double the total from 1997. At the National Tournament in Pensacola, Florida, Wilton-Pettipiece scored five runs and caught the final out in the 2-1 national title win over Barry University with a game-saving running grab.

"Coach B just moved me to right center and the ball gets hit down the right-field line and they had two runners on base so we could have lost the game," Wilton-Pettipiece said. "It was something and I certainly never thought when I got here that I would be part of a national championship team. It was amazing."

No NCAA Division II softball team has won consecutive national championships since Cal's back-to-back national crowns in 1997-98.

A supposed rebuilding year in 1999 enhanced the Cal softball dynasty as Wilton-Pettipiece batted a team-leading .401 and stole 22 bases, which is still second highest in school history. She helped the 1999 Vulcans win an 11th-straight PSAC West title, fourth-straight PSAC and NCAA II Regional championships, and a fifth-place national finish. Her 37 career stolen bases in just two years still ranks fourth in the school record books.

"We went through a lot of ups and downs throughout that year because it was a whole different make-up of a team," Wilton-Pettipiece said about the 1999 season. "But I think we came together as players and worked toward the goal we had set in the past which obviously was a pretty high standard. It was quite a different year."

She was a two-time national All-American selection as well as a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District and PSAC student-athlete, who graduated with a 3.67 cumulative grade-point average. Wilton-Pettipiece graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 2000. A versatile athlete, she was also a two-year starter on the Vulcan women's tennis team and won two matches at the 1999 PSAC championships.

Following her brilliant collegiate career, Wilton-Pettipiece was a member of the Canadian National team for the past six seasons. She helped Canada to a pair of silver-medal finishes in the 1999 and 2003 Pan-Am Games, and she was a member of the 2000 Olympic team in Australia. Wilton-Pettipiece was also an alternate for the 2004 Canadian Olympic squad that competed in Greece.

"Everything happened like a whirlwind for me in 1998," she said. "I thought I was coming here to play basketball than I end up with softball and making All-American and become part of a national champion. Then within six months of being a slap-hitter for Coach B, I am playing at the world level and end up scoring the winning run in the Olympic qualifying game to go to Japan in 1998."

Originally from Blenheim, Ontario, Canada, and a graduate of Blenheim High School, Wilton-Pettipiece has served as Bertagnolli's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator since 2002. Heading into 2006, Cal softball has compiled a 117-40 cumulative record during her assistant coaching tenure. She is working on her master's degree in sport management at Cal U.

Playing and coaching under the intense Bertagnolli, one of the nation's most successful softball coaches, has been gratifying for Wilton-Pettipiece.

"I think we complement each other really well," said Wilton-Pettipiece. "We both have a lot of competitiveness and we both give our opinions. I am a little bit of a calming factor but I stand up for myself and he needs somebody to do that so that way he can still be the person he is as a coach which is important. As a player and now a coach I've learned more from him than I could have ever imagined."

Wilton-Pettipiece joins fellow All-Americans Danielle Penner and Lith Webb as Cal U Hall of Fame inductees from the back-to-back national championship softball teams.

"I am really surprised by this because I am so young and it is a great honor," Wilton-Pettipiece said. "To join those two in the Hall of Fame is really special."

Meaggan and her husband, Brady, an electrician and Cal U electrical engineering and technology student, are expecting their first child this January. The couple resides in Belle Vernon.

Wilton-Pettipiece believers her sport management degree will help her in the ever-changing coaching world as well as help her possibly move into athletic administration in the future. For now she could not be happier coaching at her alma mater.

"I really enjoy it here," Wilton-Pettipiece said. "I believe I am able to relate well to my student-athletes because I was here as a player and I know the system and what it’s like to be a student here. I find that really helps with interacting to the student-athletes as a coach. I love the program and every year is different which is exciting."