Carolyn S. Thornton-Iannuccilli (2018) - Hall of Fame

Carolyn S. Thornton-Iannuccilli

Induction:
2018
Class:
1990

A three-time All-Ivy selection, Carolyn Thornton-Iannuccilli ’90 helped Brown softball win the 1990 Ivy League title, finishing the year with an undefeated 7-0-1 mark in Ivy League play.

Thornton-Iannuccilli earned First Team All-Ivy accolades as a junior and senior and collected Second Team All-Ivy honors as a sophomore. A wide-ranging center fielder with a strong arm, she set a school record at the time of her graduation with 80 put-outs in 1989.

Over the course of her four-year career from 1987-90, Brown softball posted an 87-69-1 overall record (.557 winning percentage) and a 20-11-1 mark (.641 winning percentage) in Ivy League play.

Thornton-Iannuccilli played a critical role on the 1990 team that set school records at the time for wins (31) and games played (48). That year’s club won 13-of-18 one-run games and 8-of-12 two-run games behind stellar defense. Alongside Brown’s 1982 club, the 1990 team remains one of just two Brown softball teams to complete an undefeated season in Ivy League play.

Following graduation, Thornton-Iannuccilli became the first full-time female sports writer at the Providence Journal. She wrote for the newspaper for over 25 years before becoming the Director of Multimedia Content for the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL).

An award-winning journalist, she has earned the 1995 Media Award from the Rhode Island Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, the 1998 Rhode Island Sportswriter of the Year award, the 2005 Bob Leddy Service Award, the 2007 Media Award from the Rhode Island Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the 2009 Anne Sullivan Award from the Rhode Island Board of Girls Basketball Officials. Throughout her career, she has given special attention to the achievements of female athletes as well as the accomplishments of teams and individuals at all levels of the sports spectrum.

A native of Johnston, R.I., Thornton-Iannuccilli is a member of the Words Unlimited Hall of Fame. She has remained active in Words Unlimited, serving Rhode Island’s statewide organization of sportswriters, sportscasters and sports publicists as a vice president and president.