A four-year letter winner in three sports for Bluffton in the early 1980s, Cynthia (Sindelar) Gilbert made her mark in Bluffton athletics and now is making her mark as a member of the Bluffton Athletic Hall of Fame. She starred in volleyball, basketball and softball for Bluffton and already is a member of one team in the Hall of Fame, the 1981-82 women's basketball squad she co-captained as a junior.
Gilbert was noted as a powerful attacker for Coach Kim Fischer's volleyball teams from 1979 to 1982 but was exceptional at all positions on the court. In her senior season she was named first team All-NAIA District 22 as she led her team to the 1982 NAIA District 22 championship and a 25-7 record. She led the team in kills (53), aces (13), serve reception percentage (.804) and digs (195) that season and was a team leader in almost every statistic throughout her four year career.
On the basketball court, Gilbert was ranked as high as #14 on Bluffton's all-time basketball scoring list and #7 on the all-time steals list. Her 155 points as a freshman was the 8th-best point total for a first-year player in Bluffton history and she was the 11th player to score more than 100 points in four straight seasons. Gilbert twice led Bluffton in assists and free throw percentage and she is one of only a handful of juniors at Bluffton to serve as a captain.
As an infielder for Bluffton's softball teams Gilbert twice hit over .400 and helped lead Bluffton to the WBCC championship her senior year in 1983. Her 25 hits and five triples as a junior both led the team.
Gilbert has taught math and computer classes and coached in the Elgin school system in Marion, Ohio, for the past 15 years. She was married in 1986, earned her master's degree from Bowling Green State University in 1998 and served as the technology coordinator for the Elgin district. She coached volleyball, basketball and softball at various levels at Elgin, including the varsity level where she took Elgin to its first-ever state softball tournament appearance.
