When you first step on the campus of Husson University, there’s a sense of belonging and support. It’s this belonging and supportive nature that has played a pivotal factor in helping to shape the men and women who grace its hallways, classrooms and athletic facilities into productive members of society and champions.

For track & field standout Eric Hathaway ’20 this wasn’t any different. Husson provided Eric the avenue needed to step out of his comfort zone and push his boundaries and become the first men’s track & field student athlete voted into the Husson Sports Hall of Fame.

“It sounds like a cheesy saying, but it is true,” said Hathaway. “If you put your mind to something, you can achieve it. Husson's soil is the foundation of that saying for me. It taught me how to push myself outside of my comfort zone, if there's something that I fear, I should probably do it because I will grow in some way, shape, or form for the better. Husson was the foundation in learning those life lessons.

It was outside of his comfort zone that Eric developed into arguably the best thrower in program history and one of the best throwers in North Atlantic Conference history.

Eric reshaped the track & field program, a young program in the making when he joined, Eric lifted the Eagles to a NAC contender throughout his time in the green and gold and played a big scoring factor in Husson’s 2018 conference championship — winning conference field athlete of the year that season. 

“I was shocked and was wondering why coach Kate Goupee was trying to get in contact with me, but it was actually a very cool phone call,” noted Hathaway. “It was a cool moment to catch up with my coach that I hadn't talked to in a few years, and it was cool to hear it coming from her. It's certainly a cool accomplishment. It wasn't something that I was trying to go for or thinking about when I was doing track and field at Husson. I was just doing track and field because I loved it. It was fun and I was good at it, but it wasn't a goal of mine to be inducted into the hall of fame.” 

“I owe it a lot to my parents, to my friends and the huge support system that I had going through,” continued Hathaway. I had a huge support system. My brother also has a hand in it because I competed against him a couple of times at the University of Maine at Farmington.”

One of the top throws in the state coming out of Maine Central Institute, Hathaway was one of those recruits that coaches work hard to land and when they commit, can immediately impact a program overnight. 

Hathaway’s impact can still be seen and felt around the track & field program to this day. He still holds three outdoor records in the shot put (14.49 meters), hammer (50.35), discus (39.92) and the indoor record in the shot put (14.28). 

Eric is one of only two athletes in program history to earn All-New England honors in both indoor and outdoor track & field in the same season, both in the shot put during the 2018 season. 

Additionally, Eric is the only thrower in program history to win two conference titles in three events, winning the conference championship in the shot put in 2017 and 2019, discus throw in 2017 and 2019 and the hammer throw in 2018 and 2019, further cementing Hathaway’s claim as one of the top throwers in conference history. 

Furthermore, Hathaway is the only men’s track & field athlete in program history to be named an All-New England recipient twice, becoming the first All-New England selection in program history during the 2017 season and again following the 2018 season. 

Although he is no longer with the program, Hathaway’s record-setting marks continue to push the next great throwers who walk onto the Husson campus and are something Hathaway takes great pride in. 

“It means even more that my name is there in the record books,” acknowledged Hathaway. “Generations to come are going to be shooting for that mark, trying to break that mark. That means that they too are doing their best and they're trying their best. They're trying to make a name for themselves. Although I have the records now, it's really cool to me that that number is a standard. Generations to come are going to be trying to break that.”

A 2020 graduate of Husson with his Bachelor of Science in criminal justice, Hathaway went on to work as a corrections office and now serves as a police officer in Cape Elizabeth. 

“I first started out as a corrections officer at the Penobscot County Jail, and then became a police officer in the town of Dexter for a little while,” added Hathaway. “I then had moved down to Southern Maine and became a police officer in Cape Elizabeth and have been doing that since January of 2023.”

As Eric’s induction into the Husson Sports Hall of Fame nears on November 1, the Pittsfield, Maine native speaks highly of the belonging and supportive environment that Husson provided him, allowing him to succeed in the classroom and excel on the playing surface. 

“It really is a family-like feeling up there,” concluded Hathaway. “It’s a very small, tight-knit school. It's not a big school, it's not anything like the University of Maine. It's a small university and some people may call it Husson-high as a bad thing. But I think it's Husson-high as a good thing. It's a small community, it's a tight-knit community, and they're very supportive.”