Hall of Fame
Excelling in two sports, Gruhler lettered as a field hockey and basketball player. She captained both teams and also was named MVP of the field hockey team in 1972 and the basketball team in 1974.
In field hockey, Gruhler’s teams compiled a 16-12-5 overall record. During her freshman year in 1970, the team shutout the opposition four times en route to a 4-3-1 record.
In 1971, her sophomore season, the team was undefeated with a record of 5-0-3 and allowed only five goals for the entire season, an average of 0.63 goals per game, the second lowest average in school history. Gruhler was a defensive player on that team.
The following season Gruhler was named to the Central Penn team as a fullback and played in the Mid-East Tournament in Buffalo, New York.
As a senior, she was named to the Central Penn team again and played in the Mid-East Tournament at Gettysburg College.
In basketball she was noted for her defensive skills. She averaged 5.4 points per game, the second best on the squad, during her senior year. That team finished the season with a 7-3 overall record. The year before, in 1973, the team was 6-4 and it was the last Shippensburg team to defeat Penn State in basketball, winning 39-35.
Gruhler served as president of the Tau Kappa Honorary Athletic Sorority from 1972-73 and was the recipient of the Helen B. Kraiss Award in 1974. She was also named graduate assistant at Shippensburg and played an integral role in the establishment of SU’s women’s lacrosse team.
A native of Morton, Gruhler became a teacher in the Interboro School District where she also coached girls’ basketball.
