ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (May 12) -- Thiel College senior athletes
Kylie Heid (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) and
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) were honored Tuesday evening at the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Scholar-Athlete of the Year Banquet from The Fez Banquet Hall in Aliquippa.
Heid, a four-year Softball standout, graduated from Thiel with degrees in political science and public policy while minoring in legal studies and earning an art certificate. A multiple-time Dean's List student, Heid is the SAAC representative for softball, a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, a two-time CSC Academic All-District honoree and a four-time PAC Academic Honor Roll selection. She has been accepted into Penn State's graduate program for public administration, where she will continue her education.
On the diamond, Heid earned All-PAC recognition three times, landing on the First Team in 2024 after receiving Honorable Mention honors in 2023 and 2026. On the Thiel career records list, she capped her time in Greenville second in triples (22), total bases (262) and walks (44), tied for second in home runs (11), tied for third in runs (97), fourth in slugging percentage (.636), tied for fifth in doubles (35), ninth in batting average (.364) and RBIs (74) and tied for ninth in hits (150). A career .364 hitter, Heid is 1-of-2 Tomcats ever with at least 150 hits and 20 triples in a career and 1-of-9 Tomcats to record 150 or more career hits. Her nine triples in 2024 set a program record.
A team captain each of the last two seasons, Heid helped lead Thiel to the PAC Championship Tournament in 2025 after pacing the Blue and Gold in all but one offensive statistical category. A perennial workhorse, she started every Thiel game over the past three seasons and each of the final 111 games of her career going back to her freshman season.
Proudfoot graduated from Thiel with a degree in education as he plans to become a grade school history teacher. A two-time CSC Academic All-District and conference academic honor roll recipient, Proudfoot boasts an impressive 3.92 GPA as he has received Deans List recognition in each of his semesters at Thiel.
Proudfoot capped his historic career by leading the Tomcats to the most successful two-year run in program history. The senior captain guided Thiel to back-to-back PAC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances while becoming the first player in program history to earn AVCA All-America honors. He also garnered AVCA All-Region II accolades, was named PAC Player of the Year and earned All-PAC First Team recognition for the second-consecutive season.
The Butler, Pa. native hit a program-record .452 this season, which ranked third in DIII and fourth nationally. A career six-time conference Offensive Player of the Week, Proudfoot is the Thiel career hitting percentage record holder at .408 and was the active NCAA career leader in hitting for the entirety of the 2026 campaign. He is the only Tomcat ever to hit .400 or better in a career as he occupies 3 of the top 10 spots on Thiel's single-season hitting percentage leaderboard. He holds the second- and third-highest single-match hitting percentages in team history at .867 and .810, respectively.
Proudfoot finished his career with 750 kills, the sixth-most in program history, while his 2.18 kills per set rank eighth all-time. He concluded his career third in team history with 271 blocks while his 86 solo stuffs are second-best in program lore.
