General | October 24, 2018

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan Division of Intercollegiate Athletics will induct the 2018 Hall of Fame class on Friday, Oct. 26, at the Fetzer Center. The inductees will also be honored previous night on Thursday, Oct. 25 during halftime of Western Michigan football's game against Toledo. This week www.wmubroncos.com will take a closer look at each of our inductees: Scott Duhl (men's soccer), Jim Havrilla (men's basketball), Becky Horn (women's track and field), Greg Jennings (football), Doug Marcero (baseball), and Chantal Robinson (women's soccer).

Chantal Robinson
A native of Midland, Mich., Robinson was a defender for the Bronco women's soccer team from 2003-06 and ranks third in program history with 57 career points. As a freshman, Robinson guided WMU to its first-ever MAC Tournament Championship after scoring two goals to defeat Bowling Green in 2003. She then scored the game-winning goal to upset Illinois in the NCAA Women's College Cup for the program's first NCAA Tournament win. She received MAC All-Freshman Team, National Soccer Coaches Association of American Third Team and All-Great Lakes Regional team honors in 2003. Along with earn First Team All-MAC recognition in 2005, Robinson finished her career in Brown & Gold with the program record for career assists (23), assists in a season (13), points in a season (27), career unassisted goals (14), and unassisted goals in a season (7).
 
Q & A With Chantal "Telly" Robinson

Q: What was your reaction when you found out you were being inducted?
It was pretty crazy. I didn't have a lot of words when Kathy Beauregard called me. It is something that I have always thought about because I pride myself in what I did and what I worked hard to do at Western Michigan. When you look at the wall and see the time it took others to get recognition, I did not expect it to come this early at all.

Q: Do you have some favorite memories from your time playing at WMU?
I would say the number one was the MAC Tournament my freshman year in 2003 along with the NCAA Tournament first round game against Illinois. It was huge for the program and huge for us as a team. Nine of us freshman were starters and our class was leading the way. It was surreal to be a part of that my first year and for myself to have a significant role in getting the team to that point.

Q: Who were some of the people at Western Michigan that made your time memorable?
Chelsea McNally was a roommate of mine that was a year ahead of me. She was an amazing player and also had a bum leg almost because of her ACL tear in high school. She still had issues with it but was able to do a lot more than most of us so she was always inspirational and is a good friend of mine. Obviously I have my fellow classmates. Mandi Marsh was my go to girl for any long kicks, she had blazing speed. I could send the ball as far as I wanted to and I knew she could beat anyone on the field. Even the girls below me like Ashley Caliendo, who was like a spitting image of the way I played soccer. I really took her under my wing to help mold her into a stronger player and was an amazing player and friend. Those are the three that I can think of off the top of my head.  

Q: Have you kept up with the program since you left?
Facebook certainly makes things easier these days. I came back and saw the team play a few years back and watched them play one of the MAC Tournament games. I definitely keep tabs and follow along with what they're up to when the season starts. I am farther away now, but when I was in town I would catch a game every once in a while.

Q: What has life been like for you since leaving Western Michigan?
It has been kind of a crazy road since leaving Western. Finishing something that you have been playing since you were three years old and always having a plan ahead of you is a really weird thing to all of the sudden have nothing. So getting adapted to just working and finishing up school was definitely difficult at the beginning. I took a year and a half off of school to work then graduated in 2009.

After that with the economic downturn, I ended up moving out to Colorado to see if there were any jobs there. In Colorado I decided to join the Army Reserves and then moved back to Michigan in 2012. After six months I wasn't sure what to do next, so I went back to Western Michigan to get a second bachelor's degree and was in the ROTC program in which I received commission as an officer. I eventually met my future wife there, moved to northern Indiana, and now I am in law school at Valparaiso University.

With how I approached soccer growing up, especially in college, every time something got in my way I tried to look to another path and keep moving forward. I think being in organized sports in general gives you a sense of problem solving, teamwork, and overcoming adversity. That has really helped me go all these different ways with everything that got thrown in front of me. I've had a weird history with work and school and have ironically came to law school with no plans of doing that before. When I went to Western Michigan, the plan was soccer, and that was it. It has been a crazy ride but I've enjoyed it and I think I have finally found what I want to do.