MANSFIELD, Pa. - Heather Long still knows the feeling. Every time she drives north on Route 15 and sees Mansfield come into view, something changes. For Long, Mansfield has never been just one part of her story. It is where she became one of the most accomplished two-sport student-athletes in Mountaineer history. It is where she built relationships that have lasted long after graduation. It is where she learned lessons that still guide her as a coach, detective and person.

"Mansfield is home," Long said. "Every time I return to Mansfield, everything feels better. As I come up Route 15 and see the campus, my whole mood changes for the better. Everything slows down, I feel calm and relaxed. There is no other place that has that effect on me. It's like going home."

Long, a 2005 Mansfield graduate, currently lives in northern Chester County, Pennsylvania, with her partner, her mother and their dogs. For 14 years, she worked for the Borough of Pottstown as a police officer and detective. In 2021, she was hired by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office as a detective assigned to the homicide unit within the Montgomery County Detective Bureau.

Before her career in law enforcement, before coaching and before representing the United States in Masters Field Hockey, Long found her way to Mansfield as a student-athlete who did not want to choose between the two sports she loved.

 Long visited several Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools and was strongly considering another PSAC program. Her official visit to Mansfield changed everything.

"Once I had my official athletic visit at Mansfield, I just knew it was the place for me," Long said. "It allowed me to not have to choose between two sports I loved and instead gave me the opportunity to continue to play both sports at a high level."

Long became a four-year letter winner and starter for both the field hockey and softball programs. In field hockey, she played under Diane Monkiewicz and became one of the top goalkeepers in NCAA Division II history. Long still holds the Mansfield and PSAC career saves record with 860, along with the single-season saves record with 341.

She was a Second Team All-PSAC selection in 2003, earned Second Team All-American honors and was a member of the 2001 ECAC Championship field hockey team, the first and only championship field hockey team in Mansfield history.

Her softball career was also filled with success. Long started all four seasons, earned Second Team All-PSAC East and All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors during her senior season and was a member of the 2004 ECAC Championship softball team. In 2005, she appeared in all 38 games and led the team with a .384 batting average.

Long was named the 2003 Fall Female Athlete of the Year and the 2005 Spring Female Athlete of the Year, while also earning numerous academic honors.

Playing two sports at the college level came with challenges. Long did not have a traditional offseason, which made it difficult to fully grow technically, tactically and as a teammate within one program year-round. Still, Mansfield's size and close-knit athletic community helped make the balance possible.

"Thankfully, Mansfield is a smaller school, so I was still able to connect with teammates from my offseason squad even though I was not practicing with them every day," Long said.

There were benefits, too. Moving from one sport to the other gave Long a mental and physical reset.

"My mind and body were able to reset and focus on new tasks or physical movement," Long said. "I did not have the fatigue that sometimes comes with playing the same sport nonstop. I was able to work different parts of my body and my brain. Additionally, you gain two separate teams, friends and experiences from being a two-sport athlete."

Long's time at Mansfield was shaped by the coaches who led those programs. She played field hockey under Diane Monkiewicz and softball under Edith Gallagher, two people she credits with having a lasting impact on her life.

"I do not even know where to start," Long said. "Both Diane and Edith gave everything they had to their players. They have supported me every step of my life since 2000, and that support did not stop just because I graduated."

That support extended far beyond practices and games.

Long remembered being cared for when she was sick as a freshman and needed a ride to the hospital. She remembered being supported through shoulder surgery as a sophomore and encouraged as she returned to competition as a junior.

She also remembered the loss of Helen D. Lutes during her senior year and the way Monkiewicz and Gallagher helped carry her memory forward. Lutes' legacy continues to support women's athletics at Mansfield.

"Once graduation comes, most coaches move on to the next set of athletes, but not Diane or G," Long said.

When Long returned to Mansfield a year after graduation to attend the police academy, both coaches were still there for her. Whether it was helping with housing, odd jobs around the house for income or simply making sure she was supported, they remained part of her life.

That support continued again in 2018, when Long and her sister, Danielle Lafferty, a 2013 Mansfield graduate and former softball player, lost their father to cancer.

"Both made sure we were supported during this time as well," Long said.

Long's playing career was filled with moments that still stand out.

In field hockey, she remembers a 2000 game at Kutztown that went to penalty strokes and ended in a Mansfield win. In softball, she remembers a spring 2001 game at Millersville when she was in left field with two outs and runners in scoring position. The ball was hit down the left-field line, and Long made a diving catch before being tackled by her teammates. She also remembers beating Bloomsburg and seeing Mansfield alumni in tears afterward.

"Watching alumni crying because they were so happy reminded me that we are playing for more than ourselves," Long said.

That lesson stayed with her. The wins were not only for the players on the field. They were for the people who built the programs before them and the people who would follow.

Long was part of two championship teams at Mansfield, the 2001 ECAC Championship field hockey team and the 2004 ECAC Championship softball team. To her, those championships remain meaningful because of the people who achieved them together.

"Coming together with 20-plus other athletes who want to achieve the same goal of success, there is nothing better than achieving that goal with them and winning as a team," Long said.

Even with her name still in the record books, Long's first thought goes back to her teammates.

"I would happily trade all these records for a PSAC and/or NCAA championship with my teammates," Long said. "It meant being a part of something greater than yourself," Long said. "The community and university are small, but the history and legacy are so much bigger. To have alumni return and follow the programs reminded me daily that this wasn't just about those of us currently playing, but was about those who came before us and those who come after us."

After graduating, Long stayed connected to field hockey as both a player and coach.

Through the USA Masters program, she has competed around the world. Long was selected for the 2018 Masters World Cup with the over-35 team in Terrassa, Spain, and later competed with the over-35 team at the 2022 Masters World Cup in Nottingham, England, where she was named goalkeeper of the tournament.

She also competed at the 2023 Masters Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has represented the United States in Masters Indoor World Cup competition. Long served as a co-captain at the 2024 Masters Indoor World Cup and 2026 Masters Indoor World Cup in Nottingham, England, and was selected for the 2026 Masters World Cup over-40 team in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

"I am grateful that my body and mind still allow me to continue to grow within the field hockey community," Long said. "The ability to play and coach field hockey at a high level allows me the opportunity to take a break from my full-time career. The places I've seen and the people I've met through field hockey are incredible, and I cannot imagine my life without field hockey."

Long returned to coaching five years ago at Ursinus College and also assists with X-Calibur Field Hockey Club, where she first began coaching more than 20 years ago.

Although coaching adds long days to her schedule, Long said she cannot imagine stepping away from the game.

"I am fortunate to watch, as I call them, 'the kids,' grow into strong, successful young women," Long said.

While coaching at Ursinus, Long has helped the program reach three conference playoffs, including a finals appearance, along with two NCAA tournaments.

"I wasn't fortunate enough to achieve these as a player, so I am thankful to be able to experience them as a coach," Long said.

Away from athletics, Long has built a career centered around service.

She began pursuing law enforcement while at Mansfield, majoring in Criminal Justice Administration with a minor in human development. Long was a sophomore when the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, happened, and she said her desire to serve increased.

She completed an internship with the Pottstown Police Department and, after graduation, worked for a year before returning to Mansfield to attend the police academy.

Long was hired within three months of graduating from the police academy in her hometown of Pottstown Borough. She spent three and a half years on patrol before moving into the detective division as a juvenile detective, handling sexually based offenses and crimes against children. She served in that role for 11 years before joining the Montgomery County Detective Bureau in 2021, where she is assigned to the homicide unit.

"I have been in law enforcement for almost half my life, 20 years," Long said. "The experience and exposure to a high volume of incidents and every type of crime have definitely changed me over the years. I do not see the world as I did in college. I am constantly analyzing every situation. My brain and mindset never fully turn off."

The work can be difficult, but Long said she would choose the same path again.

"I feel a constant duty to serve and solve problems," Long said. "It is easy to go to work every day when you enjoy the work you do. There is no better work than helping someone on the worst day of their lives."

When asked what advice she would give current Mansfield student-athletes, Long encouraged them to keep chasing what matters to them.

"Don't give up on your dreams and continue to do the things you love, because those things will give you space to reset so you can be successful in your career," Long said.

She also offered one more piece of advice.

"Start planning your retirement now," Long said.

For Long, the phrase "Once a Mountie, Always a Mountie" reflects a bond that remains long after graduation.

"This is a community you will be a part of forever," Long said. "A student-athlete at Mansfield is different from other universities, because of the size, location and many other factors. All of these factors bring the athletic teams closer together. Every athlete knows each other. It does not matter what team you are on, you know the athletes on the other teams too. That is what makes us special."

Long said Mansfield's impact continues to live in the people who were part of it.

"We are one community, one program, one legacy," Long said. "No matter when you attended the university, no matter what program you were a part of, it helped to mold you into who you are today, which is why somewhere inside all of us, those memories and lessons still guide us."

For Long, those memories come back every time she returns. Route 15, the campus coming into view and that familiar feeling of calm all bring her back to the same place.

Mansfield is still home, and it always will be.

Once a Mountie, Always a Mountie.