One of Whitman's most decorated volleyball athletes, Kristin Richel Goodwin is the only Missionary volleyball player to be voted three times to the All-Northwest Conference First Team.
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Kristin Richel |
Richel, an outside hitter, earned first-team honors at the conclusion of the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons, a time span that marked the first three years that women’s volleyball was governed by the NWC.
As a first-year player, Richel helped the Missionaries capture a Women’s Conference of Independent Colleges title in the fall of 1984, which was that organization’s final year of existence. Whitman nearly duplicated its championship run during Richel’s sophomore season in 1985, finishing second in the NWC standings.
While her height (5-feet-6) was more suited to back row defense, Richel excelled as an outside hitter by combining aggressive instincts with outstanding vertical leaping ability.
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Kristin Richel |
During the summer after her first year at Whitman, Richel was named to a Northwest traveling team that played matches in England, Scotland and Wales.
Based on her performance in the British Isles, Kristin was offered an NCAA Division I scholarship by one northwest university, but she chose to return to Whitman.
Richel, who also ran track for Whitman, still shares the school record for the two-mile relay with three teammates.
After graduating from Whitman in 1988, Richel coached high school volleyball and basketball for a few years before earning a master's degree in physical therapy and practicing for more than 10 years.
She and husband Tom Goodwin, an orthopedic surgeon, have three sons (ages 16, 14 and 13). The family lives in Eagle, Idaho.
