CU-Mansfield Sports Release – January 23, 2026.
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. –Molly McLeer of the Mansfield Sprint Football team was named the Mansfield L.P. Hill Unity in Sports Award honoree from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference on Monday, Jan. 19.
L.P. Hill Unity in Sports Award recognizes the contributions of an individual or group on each member campus that, through intercollegiate athletics, epitomizes the promise of Unity, Equity, and Access for All.
McLeer made history as the first female player to compete in the Collegiate Sprint Football League on Friday, Oct. 17. Her presence on the field represents far more than a personal milestone it is a meaningful step forward for equity in collegiate athletics. McLeer played on the offensive line.
The award is named after Leslie Pinckney Hill, the first President of Cheyney State Teacher’s College. From 1913 to 1950, he was the Principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia and oversaw its establishment as Cheyney State Teachers College. The Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard-educated son of a former slave taught at Tuskegee Institute and was a renowned educator, writer, poet, and community leader.
In 1927, a year after the first documents that created the Pennsylvania State Normal School Athletic Association, Mr. Hill argued for the inclusion of Cheyney in the Associations bylaws which had been left out in the initial drafting. The Board of Principals immediately rectified this error, and all 14 state-owned institutions were then included in the Association’s initial governing documents.
For complete list of honorees click HERE
