It is rare for an athlete to earn All-America honors once. It is infinitely more so to do what Heather Oldham did, which was earn All-American honors five times.
Add her three New England championships and three Northeast-10/New England Collegiate Conference titles and her Hall of Fame inclusion becomes a formality.
Five years removed from competing, Oldham was a shot put thrower so accomplished at UMass Lowell that she still owns the top 10 indoor throws and the top eight outdoor distances in program history, including the indoor school record of 50 feet, 1.75 inches; and the outdoor record of 50' 8.0''.
The latter mark occurred on her very last throw at the 2003 NCAA Championship, which earned her second place.
"By far, Heather was the best shotputter we ever had," said former Head Coach George Davis. "She competed unbelievably in big meets. One of the things we did so often was that our kids did so well in big meets. She could dig deep inside and just do it."
Oldham qualified for the NCAA Championship seven times in her eight semesters. She was the NCAA runner-up in the outdoor shot put as a senior in 2003; third at the NCAA indoor championship in 2001 and 2003; fifth in the 2001 outdoor; and eighth in the 2000 outdoor championship.
Perhaps equally impressive, she often preceded the NCAA Championship with stellar efforts at the New England Championship (which included all three NCAA divisions). She won the New England indoor shot put in 2001 and 2002, as well as the outdoor title in 2001, while finishing second three times and third once.
"Heather came out of high school a very good athlete. I think she wanted to maintain that," Davis noted.
As Oldham thrived, so did UMass Lowell. During Oldham's tenure, the River Hawks placed sixth or better at the New England indoor and outdoor championships four times, highlighted with a second-place showing at the 2001 outdoor games.
UMass Lowell also captured the Northeast-10 Conference indoor title in 2002 and the outdoor championship in 2003. Oldham was a four-time NE-10 champion, including both those years.
"Heather is the best thrower I've ever coached, performance-wise," said Barbara Smith, long-time throws coach for UMass Lowell. "She was always trying to figure out how to work on her skills and technique. She understood she needed to be technically better than other throwers because she wasn't as big as some of them."
Oldham is native of Woburn, MA. She currently resides in Billerica, MA.
