VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Photo Credit: DyeStat

Orwell

Track and Field, Cross Country

Inducted 2026

A high school All-American in the pentathlon, a New England champion in the 600 and 800 meters, Mary Heitkamp also was a two-time Gatorade Vermont Athlete of the Year (2003, 2004) winning a then-record combined 23 Vermont state individual titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track at Fair Haven Union High. After high school she would compete at the Division I level at Boston College of the powerful ACC.

The class valedictorian, she finished with a state-record 14 individual outdoor titles across middle-distance races, relays, and jumps. She also set multiple state and division records, including three that still stand. Since running the indoor 600m in 1:33.39 in 2004, only four other Vermont girls have cracked the 1:40 barrier, and she remains more than three seconds clear of the next-fastest time. She helped lead the Slaters to the 2002 and 2003 D2 outdoor state titles and a runner-up finish in 2004. Prior to split divisions, Fair Haven captured the 2003 all-divisions state indoor championship and had second place finishes her other three years. Her Slaters also captured the 2001 and 2002 D2 state cross country team championships. She also qualified for the 2002-23 national indoor championships in the 600m in New York City. 

Heitkamp won the 2004 New England Championship in the 800 meters with a meet-record time of 2:12.14. She wrapped up her high school career with the 2004 state pentathlon title after back-to-back runner-up finishes.

She went on to compete as a scholarship athlete at Boston College in the ACC for the Eagles track and field teams and the cross country team.

Heitkamp was honored as the state’s female athlete of the year in 2004 by the Vermont Sports Media Association, and she appeared in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” in August 2004.