ERIE, Pa. — Gannon University/Syracuse University alumna Sonya (Pyle) Whitman is among 10 individuals selected for induction as part of the the 2026 Erie Sports Hall of Fame class on June 24.
A complete list of inductees is available by CLICKING HERE.
The induction ceremony is set for June 24 at the Zem Zem Shrine Club, including a cocktail hour and banquet. The Erie Sports Hall of Fame board will also host a student-athlete scholarship event on June 17.
Currently in her 15th season as head coach of the Cathedral Prep Women’s Swim Team (previously Villa Maria Academy) and fourth season as the head coach of the Men’s Swim Team, Whitman has led her squads to four Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) AA Team State Championship wins – two with the girls in 2019 and 2021 and two with the boys in 2023 and 2026. In addition, the girls finished as the PIAA AA Team State Runners-up in 2024 and 2025 and earned third place team finishes in 2022 and 2023, while the boys finished third as a team in 2025.
Under her guidance, the girls’ medley relay team won state gold four consecutive years in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 (no PIAA meet in 2020 due to COVID), along with gold medals for the 200 freestyle relay teams in 2018 and 2024. The girls added two more golds to that total with state wins in both the medley and 200 freestyle relays in 2025, and the boys earned gold in the medley relay in 2023 for a total of nine state champion relays.
Several female and male swimmers have earned individual medals at the PIAA State Championships under her leadership, with the girls’ highest individual finish in school history as runner-up in the girls’ 100 backstroke in 2025.
Recently, The Prep boys’ swimming and diving team won the 2026 PIAA State Championship. In addition, the Ramblers finished first and second in the 100 butterfly at the State meet – the first time that accomplished has been achieved in school history. She has also coached three individuals and three relays to National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) All-America status on the girls’ side.
Throughout her career, numerous swimmers have earned All-State, All-State Honorable Mention and All-Academic honors. All of the current girls’ school records have been set during her tenure, as well as the boys’ school records in the medley relay, 500 freestyle, and 100 backstroke.
Over the past 10 years of Whitman’s career, the girls’ team won the Region 3 and the District 10 AA championship titles every year, while the boys earned those same honors during her three seasons with them.
Whitman started a club water polo program at Fairview High School in 2006. She coached the team for six years, grew the team to varsity status, and led them to a winning record.
A native of Bradford, Pa., Whitman (nee. Pyle) attended Gannon University and served as captain of both the swimming and water polo teams. She earned 2004 College Sports Communicators (formerly the College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-America First Team honors in water polo and held several team records for the swimming and water polo programs.
Pyle left her mark on the program and in the record books with 180 career sprint victories, 86 goals, 73 and 126 steals.
Following graduation in 2004, Whitman continued her academic and athletic career at Syracuse University, where she played on the institution’s first club water polo team, earning First Team All-New York Division honors in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) New York Club Division. In August 2007, she completed a 26.5 mile swim across Lake Erie in fourteen hours and nine minutes, making her the fastest woman at the time to ever complete the swim.
Whitman and her husband, Brad, have one son, Jack, 16, and one daughter, Brooke, 8.
Information courtesy Erie Sports Hall of Fame
