Kelly Waldrup grew up around sports and knew she always wanted to have some form of teaching/coaching in her future career path. Today she does indeed teach and coach, just not in what many consider to be a normal discipline. She is a Master Sergeant with the Illinois State Police Department, which includes several teaching/coaching opportunities.
This fall Waldrup will be one of six new inductees into the Eastern Illinois Athletic Hall of Fame, as she will join the Class of 2010 on Sept. 25. Also set to be inducted are former volleyball star Erica Gerth, former soccer star Beth Liesen, former football standouts Kevin Staple and Willie White along with friend of athletics Jerry Myerscough.
Waldrup was a two-sport athlete at EIU from 1980-83 at a time when athletes could still focus on playing two different sports at the collegiate level.
“I loved playing two sports in college. At that time you could do that. A few of us at EIU were two-sport athletes,” Waldrup recalls. “Today kids start earlier with just one sport, so the ability to play two sports in college was something I'm glad to have the opportunity to have done.”
Not only did the young athlete from Coulterville, Ill., play two sports, she was a key contributor on both Panther teams. Waldrup was a guard on the basketball team, helping guide the Panthers to an 8th place finish at the 1981 AIAW II National Tournament. On the softball diamond she excelled at an even higher level, earning AIAW All-America honors as she helped guide the 1982 squad to a third place finish in the AIAW II College World Series.
With steady success in athletics, Waldrup knew early on that she wanted to follow a career in the teaching/coaching realm. After all it was something that was in her blood.
“My dad was an athlete in college in Oklahoma where he played football and baseball. Scouts for both sports gave him a choice to go professional in either sport,” Waldrup said. “Instead he chose to go into teaching and coaching, giving up his dream to raise a family. I have always had that type of support system from my parents.”
Following graduation Waldrup moved on to Decatur, where she began coaching and teaching at a local high school. She would continue to play semi-professional softball, first for the Decatur Rockettes and then the Pekin Lettes, the oldest-sanctioned ASA team in the nation. In 1986 she was named the All Tournament team designated hitter at the ASA National Tournament, which earned her a trip to Colorado Springs and a tryout for the Pan American games.
“When I was playing at the ASA Tournament, I was hitting the ball extremely well,” Waldrup said. “The opportunity to try out for the Pan Am games was a complete shock as I didn't know how players were invited to those types of things. While I didn't make the team, I really did enjoy the experience.”
During this same time period she decided she wanted to return to school to pursue a Masters degree. Waldrup was working at a local mental health center and running the intramural program when the best opportunity of her career came about.
“I was working at the mental health center when I heard about an opportunity to join the State Police. I had some knowledge of police departments with my brother working as an officer in Alton, but you just didn't hear of a lot of women in law enforcement at that time,” Waldrup added. “I had an interest in law enforcement and with my current employment at a mental health center, it just seemed like a natural progression.”
Waldrup graduated from the Academy in December of 1989 and went to District 11 in Collinsville. With the exception of working at the Police Academy as a supervisor, which filled that teaching/coaching hook she was looking for, Waldrup has remained at the District 11 station. After nine years working special enforcement, she was promoted to Sergeant and then to Master Sergeant in December 2009.
“Right now I work on patrol for the midnight shift,” said Waldrup. “I still get to do some teaching of control and arrest tactics, rapid deployment and some juvenile coordination as part of my current job.”
Asked about remembering those days when she was a two-sport star at Eastern Illinois Waldrup simply says, “I really enjoyed my experience at Eastern Illinois. Some of my best memories are simple ones of something like playing hacky sack in the parking lot of the motel during a softball road trip.”
