KRISTI CADY CLASS OF '08 YEAR OF INDUCTION: 2017 A three-sport athlete, Kristi Cady earned 11 varsity letters while wearing the Green & White. As a senior, she captained the field hockey, girls' basketball and softball teams. "I did not have to watch Kristi practice for very long to realize that she was going to be very special," said former SHS coach Bob Hutchinson. "Kristi gave 100% on every play at every practice and game for the entire four years that she was at Steinert. She never took one play off for any reason. That is a quality that is seldom seen in many high school athletes. "Her attitude and work ethic was contagious throughout the entire team and therefore she made everyone else a better player and person. She was never content to just be good, she worked hard every day to get better and be the best player she could be. Her attitude, determination and character, coupled with her physical ability, made her a pleasure to coach." Her love of sports, particularly softball, runs deep. "It definitely taught me a lot of life lessons," Cady said. "It gave me family members – teammates, and coaches who I consider father figures." Because she was one of the taller kids, some of her youth coaches had specific ideas about where she should play. "They wanted to make me a first baseman, I hated it," she said. "I was a center fielder and I loved it. Everyone said I had such a great arm, I took pride in throwing people out." Her attempt to keep busy and keep in shape in the fall had spectacular results. "As a freshman, Kristi entered Steinert with no field hockey experience," says SHS coach Alyson Setzer. "She is a natural athlete and capitalizing on her strength from her softball swing and her footwork from basketball, she immediately became the backbone of the field hockey team. She moved into the center midfield position. Her drives were so long and hard that they were difficult to defend. Going into the state tournament her senior year (autumn 2007), we were playing Toms River East at their place. It was a close game. Toward the end of the game Kristi got the ball and was headed toward the goal. I turned to my assistant coaches and said, "That goalie doesn't stand a chance. That ball is going in the cage." Kristi wound up at the top of the circle and sent a drive to the far left corner. Goal. Steinert wins. We knocked off the number 1 seed! We went on to win the sectional championship in 2007, defeating another Toms River School. "Athletes like her don't come along that often. I was very honored to have been her coach. She gives 100% every time she steps on the field. Likeable, personable, coachable, unselfish, enjoys life, intelligent ... just an all-around great person." Softball was her "it" sport, the one she started playing as a 9-year-old in Hamilton Township, and she went on to have a spectacular career at St. John’s University. She played in 200 games for the Red Storm, including 197 starting assignments and she posted a career batting average of .309. RETURN TO THE HALL OF FAME MEMBERS PAGE