One of Arizona’s most influential sports figures made some history again, and even the Vatican’s leader can’t top what she accomplished this time.

“I guess I’m the first nun to ever be in the (National Federation of State High School Associations) Hall of Fame,” said Xavier Prep legend Sister Lynn Winsor during Saturday’s NFHS Hall of Fame press conference. “Too bad Pope Francis, you are not going to make this one.”

Winsor along with 11 honorees were inducted into the NFHS Hall of Fame Saturday during the association’s summer meeting in Seattle.

The longtime Xavier Prep golf coach and administrator is adept at working a room and did so again during the NFHS HOF press conference. Winsor opened by saying that she started coaching in 1972, when Moby Dick was a minnow.

During her pioneering coaching and administrative career, which is approaching 50 years, Winsor wound up becoming a big fish herself.

Her unmatched national hall of fame credentials:

• Most dual victories by a girls’ golf team (507).
• Thirty-seven state team golf championships.
• Since 1996, her teams have not lost a regular season match—285 and counting.
• From 1996-2014, Xavier won 204 consecutive matches. During that stretch, it also won 16 consecutive titles, which is tied for the national record.
• Xavier finished first or second at state for 44 consecutive years.
• She’s coached some of the state’s all-time greats, including Cheyenne Woods, Heather and Missy Farr, Grace Park and Amanda Blumenherst.

Unparalleled record aside, there is no bigger champion in Arizona for high school female athletes and administrators than Winsor. She is a founding member the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Girls Equity and Sports Committee and helped lay the groundwork for the AIA to adopt a couple of sports for girls, soccer and beach volleyball. She also barnstormed the state advocating for female athletes and administrators to receive more backing.

Winsor also co-founded and is a charter member of the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. She began coaching right around when Title IX became law, and both blossomed into powerhouses.

Now in her 46th year as an administrator, Winsor is the longest serving high school athletic director in the state. But she was quick Saturday to credit her outstanding team for helping her achieve the highest honor for an NFHS coach.

Sister Joan Fitzgerald, Xavier’s president, Sister Joanie Nuckols, Xavier’s principal, and the school’s associate athletic director and golf coach, Tui Selvaratnam, were some of the school leaders Winsor recognized. In a strong show of support for Winsor, eight nuns attended Saturday’s press conference.

“We don’t get nuns’ night out very often,” Winsor joked.