It is a great honor to be inducted into the North Penn High School Sports Hall of Fame, and Barbara would like to thank all those involved in selecting her for this honor. She is grateful for the experience of playing for talented coaches, two of whom are in the NPHS Sports Hall of Fame. This is an honor she credits to all of her teammates who worked toward winning championships together. Barbara was left wing and co-captain of the undefeated field hockey team, winning the Bux-Mont Championship in 1958. The Lansdale Reporter newspaper wrote of her athletic prowess at left wing, stating her ability was “proving to be quite sensational.” Barbara played defense but also scored goals, unusual for a left wing.

Barbara’s basketball team was also undefeated and claimed the Bux-Mont Championship in 1959, the girls’ third consecutive championship. Despite having missed playing her junior year due to an appendectomy, she returned to the team as a senior contributing to a strong defense that kept many opponents from scoring.

Playing other positions and having no pitching experience, she was called upon to pitch her senior year. The wind-milling, fast-pitch lefty led her team to an undefeated season, North Penn High School’s fourth championship in five years. Barbara hit .500 for the season with 2 home runs. She had the second highest batting average on the team, with 34 at-bats, 18 runs scored, 17 hits, 5 putouts, and 17 assists. In the championship game, the North Penn Knights handed Souderton their only loss of the season, winning 7-5 in a come-from-behind victory. Barbara allowed the Soudertonians just six hits and struck out four Big Red batters.

During high school, Barbara held various offices, including Class Treasurer, Homeroom Secretary, and Treasurer, was a member of the yearbook staff, and was voted “Most Courteous Girl in Class” award. She was a member of the Prom Queen’s court and a featured speaker at her graduation ceremony. She was also in the top 10% of her class.  After high school, Barbara continued to play field hockey and softball competitively. She married William Burnett in 1978 and together they raised 6 children and enjoy walking and playing tennis and golf. Barbara also enjoys playing Bridge. 

Barbara and Bill are proud of the values they instilled in their children. All of their children have been successful in various endeavors. Daughter Deb (Burnett) Nehlig is a life-long fitness instructor while daughter Lin (Burnett) Bloomquist teaches speech and hearing-impaired children and is a dedicated distance runner. Daughter Alison (Cuthbert) Bronico was inducted into the Central Bucks West High School Sports Hall of Fame for Field Hockey, Basketball, and Lacrosse and inducted into the Lafayette College Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 for field hockey and lacrosse. Daughter Kelly (Cuthbert) Jameson was inducted into the Bloomsburg University Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 for Lacrosse and was named by the Bloomsburg University newspaper as the lacrosse player of the 20^th century.  Son Tad Burnett was a member of the Central Bucks West varsity golf team and after graduating college designed golf courses for professional golfer Greg Norman.  Randy Cuthbert was inducted into the Central Bucks West High School Sports Hall of Fame for football, basketball, and track.  He was also inducted into the Bucks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2011. He set records as a running back at Duke University and played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in ’93 and ’94. Barbara and Bill’s grandson Brandt Bronico was drafted into major league soccer in 2017 and plays for the Chicago Fire.