Augustana College Athletics

From 1986-90, Mary McGivern starred for Augustana’s basketball and volleyball programs, earning All-CCIW recognition and setting multiple school records in both sports. In addition, she helped lead the basketball program to the winningest four-year period in its history. Also a star in the classroom, tonight she takes her place in the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame.
 
A three-sport standout at Lincoln-Way High in New Lenox, Illinois, McGivern lettered four times each in basketball, volleyball and softball. She was named all-conference in all three sports and earned all-area as well as team MVP honors in basketball and volleyball.
 
McGivern shook off an early-season injury to make her mark immediately for Coach Adolfo Alejo’s volleyball squad in 1986. The freshman middle hitter led the Lady Vikings in kills (196) and attack percentage (.213) and eventually went on to lead the team in kills each of her four seasons in Blue & Gold. As a sophomore, she earned All-CCIW honorable mention as Augustana improved by three wins in conference play, finishing 5-3.
 
Playing for a new coach, Dorothy Wells, in 1988, McGivern set no less than a half-dozen program records, including total blocks in a match (23—still second-most in school history). She also set Lady Viking season standards for kills (284), kills per game (3.05), attack percentage (.283), solo blocks (34) and points per game (3.89).
 
Becky Geyer came on board in 1989 as Augustana’s third head coach during McGivern’s four years. The senior recorded 212 kills for a 17-14 Lady Viking outfit and was named team MVP and to the All-CCIW second team. She closed a stellar career with Augustana records for kills (846), kills per game (2.51), attack percentage (.212), solo blocks (81), points (1065) and points per game (3.16).
 
McGivern’s impact wasn’t felt quite as quickly on the basketball court, but by the time her four years were over, she’d been a member of three CCIW champion and NCAA Division III Tournament outfits and helped Coach Diane Schumacher’s program post a record of 82-24, including 54-10 in conference play.
 
After playing in 14 games for a 20-7 CCIW champ (the league’s first ever) and NCAA Tournament squad as a freshman, McGivern cracked the starting lineup as a sophomore. She averaged 8.5 points a game and made all five of the Lady Vikings’ three-point field goals in the first year of the new rule.
 
In 1988-89, Augustana claimed another CCIW title at 14-2 and again qualified for the postseason. McGivern entered NCAA play in a bit of a slump, having not reached double digit points in five straight games. She broke out in a big way against Wartburg in the first round, hitting 13 of 22 field goal attempts, including her only three-point try, and 10 of 11 free throws for 37 points—still a school record 30 years later. She also had 11 rebounds and five steals as Schumacher’s club advanced to the sweet sixteen with a 93-74 win. The Lady Vikings finished with a school-record 22 wins against just five losses and McGivern was named to the all-regional team.
 
As a senior, McGivern averaged a team-best 16.0 points per game and set a school record with 64 steals. She was a first team All-CCIW selection and was named Offensive Player of the Year for an Augustana outfit that finished 22-4, won its second straight CCIW championship with a 15-1 mark and made its third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years. She ended her career with the best free throw percentage (.769) in program history and also set school records for three-pointers in a game (five), season (23) and career (39).
 
A GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in both sports, Mary was Augustana’s 1990 Knut Erickson Award winner, graduating with a 3.66 grade point average and degrees in mathematics and secondary education. She said that having the opportunity to receive a liberal arts education while competing in two sports “helped me become a well-rounded educator and coach.” She earned her master’s in education from National Louis University and her school counseling certification from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.
 
McGivern taught math and coached boys and girls volleyball and girls basketball at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois from 1990-99. In 1996, she led the Charger girls volleyball team to a third-place finish at state and earned Coach of the Year honors from the Illinois High School Association. She’s currently a counselor at Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, Illinois, where she also coaches varsity golf and junior varsity badminton.