Heidelberg University Athletics

Joining the women's basketball team at Heidelberg as an intense defender, Rachael Poland Novak, went on to graduate as the top scorer in the history of the program. A Toledo, Ohio native and Notre Dame High School graduate, Novak joined the Berg as a freshman during the 1998-1999 season and immediately made an impact.

A four-year letter winner, Novak landed in the starting line up as a freshman and went on to lead the Berg to an overall record of 55-48 and a 32-38 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference in four seasons. Novak began her career on the low block due to her versatility and moved to the wing as a sophomore, which was more of a natural fit for her scoring ability.

Novak's list of accolades began immediately as she earned a spot on the All-OAC Honorable Mention team as a freshman. She went on to land on the all-conference team every year and found a spot on the first team as a junior and senior. A six-time all-tournament selection, Novak was also tabbed a tournament Most Valuable Player on three occasions. She was named to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week three times and was an OAC Player of the Week selection six times.

Novak closed out her time at the Berg with a spot on the Kodak All-American First Team, the D3hoops.com All-American Fourth Team and the Division III News All-American Second Team. Leading to her All-American accolades were nods on the All-Great Lakes Region and the D3hoops.com First Teams.

A middle childhood education major, Novak was equally impressive in the classroom. During her senior year she was named a scholar athlete of the month prior to landing a spot on the Verizon Academic All-Region Team and the CoSIDA Academic All-Region Team. She was also named to the Academic All-OAC First Team.

Upon graduation, Novak had scattered her named across the Heidelberg record books, and still holds the top spot in numerous categories. She is most known for becoming the all-time leading scorer at the Berg, and stands third all-time in the OAC, with 1,914 points. She was the fastest player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points. It took her 57 games to reach the milestone. Overall she is just one of three players to score over 1,500 points. For her career, she also holds the career scoring average (18.6). In a single season, Novak is the scoring average leader at 22.4 and the free throws attempted record holder at 201.

Novak spent a year assisting at Heidelberg while finishing up her teaching certificate before earning her bachelor's in middle childhood education. Following Heidelberg she went on to continue to coach collegiate basketball and earned her master's in education and sport sciences. Novak also has a second master's degree in school administration. Two years ago she married former Heidelberg football player David Novak. The couple resides in Sylvania, Ohio. Novak is a teacher and athletic director for the Washington Local School District.

(This profile was published in the Hall of Fame Banquet program.)