Lowry joining Butler's HOF
This is the third in a series of articles profiling the 2014 Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame inductees.ARLINGTON, Va. — Soccer entered Annie Lowery’s life at age 4.It doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.“My fiance played soccer at William & Mary, I played against his sister in college ... the sport will be ingrained in my life forever,” said Lowry, a 2007 James Madison University graduate. “I love coaching now and giving back.”Lowry, second on the all-time girls soccer scoring list at Butler and sixth on James Madison’s career list, will be inducted into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame during a 5 p.m. ceremony Sept. 5 in the high school cafeteria.She joins Shawn Bellis, Lyneil Mitchell, Mark Maier, Troy Mohney and Mark Farabee in comprising the Butler HOF’s fifth induction class. The six will also be recognized on the field prior to the Golden Tornado’s home football opener against Baldwin that night.Lowry said she played “every sport under the sun” as a youngster.“Basketball, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, dance, you name it,” she said. “I think I gravitated toward soccer because the coaches pushed me in that direction.“Jeff Schnur and my dad, Bob Lowry, were great influences on me. They showed that I could have fun with the sport and make lasting friendships.”Lowry played soccer with the same core group of girls from age 10 straight through high school, culminating with an appearance in the PIAA championship game in Hershey.“Myself, Meghan Schnur, Abby Schmidt, Jen Kienzle, Ashton Graham ... those friendships have lasted,” she said. “In high school, getting to the state finals was the ultimate achievement. We worked so hard as a team.”Lowry scored 84 goals and 122 points as a four-year starter at Butler. She was a three-time Butler Offensive MVP and was named MVP of the WPIAL All-Star Game her senior year.She also served as captain of the Beadling Soccer Club, which won the Region I Premier League championship in 2002 and 2003.Moving on to James Madison, Lowry wound up scoring 28 goals and 74 points. Her 12 game-winning tallies rank third on JMU’s all-time list.Lowry made National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America her senior year.“I was proud of that because of the grind I went through in college,” she said. “I tore my ACL my sophomore year against VCU, then came back to score a hat trick against them the following year.“That meant a lot. It showed I was still there, that I wasn’t going anywhere.”Lowry often took a physical pounding during her high school games as well.“It was more mental than anything else, handling that,” she said. “One thing I learned playing sports is that your body will do anything your mind tells it to do.”Lowry still plays soccer today for multiple teams in the Washington D.C. area. She plays for a traveling team that has won tournaments in Dallas, Texas, and Virginia Beach.She’s also been a prominent coach in the Arlington (Va.) Soccer Association for the past four years, working with girls ages 6-12 and some 14-year-olds.“Playing helps keep me in shape,” she said. “And I love coaching. I’m teaching things my dad taught me when I was growing up. I’ve come full-circle that way.“I’m honored and grateful to be going into the (Butler) Hall of Fame. It’s nice to see all of that hard work pay off and it gives me a chance to recognize all of the coaches who helped me along the way.”
