June 22, 2012

Women's Sports Legacy

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TUCSON - With Saturday, June 23, 2012 marking the 40th anniversary of the passing of the Title IX legislation, Arizona Athletics embraces the opportunity to recognize and highlight some of its most impactful women.

Simply stated, Title IX reads "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity". But these words mean so much more to the women and girls whose lives, in the past and currently, expanded because of the opportunities provided to them through the groundbreaking initiative that passed in 1972.

Arizona's prestigious athletics program boasts 11 women's teams, more than 150 female student-athletes, four female head coaches and eight assistant female coaches, along with more than 50 female members of the intercollegiate athletics staff.

Arizona's resume includes 14 national team titles, 38 conference team titles, 107 NCAA event titles, 46 Olympians and countless All-America honors - all earned by female student-athletes. Add in 19 National Athlete of the Year awards, three National Freshman of the Year awards and 41 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and that makes for an impressive awards list.

Additionally, UA's tradition with the NCAA Woman of the Year award runs deep. It's like a school winning the Heisman Trophy three out of four years. Or an institution snagging the John Wooden Award three times.

At the U of A, having four NCAA Woman of the Year honorees is another stupendous accomplishment. It was in October 2010 when former swimmer Justine Schluntz joined high jumper Tanya Hughes (1994), and fellow swimmers Whitney Myers (2007) and Lacey Nymeyer (2009) as Arizona student-athletes accorded the association's top honor for competitive and scholastic achievement.

The UA can add 'NCAA Woman of Year U' to its 'Point Guard U' nickname. The four NCAA Woman of the Year winners and UA's rich tradition of Honda award winners - 11 in all - put a special emphasis on the Women's Sports Legacy at the University.

On Sat., Oct. 23, 2010, Arizona Athletics hosted its Women's Sports Legacy celebration in conjunction with Homecoming activities. The program included recognition of the various achievements by women in Arizona Athletics history, memories from UA letterwinners and a fashion show displaying uniforms and athletic gear throughout the decades.

The heroes of the past - Mary Roby, Rocky LaRose, Meg Ritchie Tanya Hughes, and Diane Johnson, just to name a few - paved the way for the superstars of now and the future.

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