It’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week. Your contribution to the AC sport of your choice will assist that sport’s coaching, equipment, & travel. See a link in the comments to give and thank you in advance.
The landmark Title IX law recently celebrated its 50thanniversary. To encourage giving over the five days, I will be writing about the five decades of Roo women athletes & Title IX.
Roo women fought and won admission to AC in 1919 and competed in athletics until the Great Depression. But that decade of tight budgets and political backlash in the 1930s brought about an injustice across the nation from which AC was not immune: no more women sports at the collegiate level.
Roo woman athletes on the AC Chromascope staff took to the 1931 yearbook to criticize the backlash:
“This space will give us a chance to say just a word further about support of the girls’ team. We can truthfully say that it hasn’t been what it ought to have been either from the faculty or the student body. They are entitled to every bit of support that nay of the other teams have.”
That support would eventually return in 1972, with the arrival of Title IX.
Five Marc posts over five days will list all Roo women athletes in the Hall of Honor from that decade, with particular focus on one Roo woman athlete from that decade.
Who have I picked the represent each decade? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. Alternatively, I’ll let you know early via PM if you give to the Crimson & Gold Challenge.
We’ll call it: “Five Days of the Crimson & Gold Challenge + Five Decades of Roo Women Athletes & Title IX.” See y’all tomorrow.
Monday 8/14: 1970s – Who will the Roo woman athlete be?
Tuesday 8/15: 1980s – Who will the Roo woman athlete be?
Wednesday 8/16: 1990s – Who will the Roo woman athlete be?
Thursday 8/17: 2000s – Who will the Roo woman athlete be?
Friday 8/18: 2010s – Who will the Roo woman athlete be?
Unless you give, only Marc knows the answer.
Five Days of the Crimson & Gold Challenge + Five Decades of Roo Women Athletes & Title IX
It’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week. Your contribution to the AC sport of your choice will assist that sport’s coaching, equipment, & travel. See a link in the comments to give and thank you in advance.
The landmark Title IX law recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. To encourage giving over the five days, I will be writing about the five decades of Roo women athletes & Title IX.
Five Marc posts over five days will list all Roo women athletes in the Hall of Honor from that decade, with particular focus on one Roo woman athlete from that decade.
Who have I picked the represent each decade? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. Alternatively, I’ll let you know early via PM if you give to the Crimson & Gold Challenge.
Monday 8/14: 1970s – Leslie Day McGee Tuesday 8/15: 1980s – Who will it be? Wednesday 8/16: 1990s – Who will it be? Thursday 8/17: 2000s – Who will it be? Friday 8/18: 2010s – Who will it be?
Leslie Day McGee (’71) was inducted into the Austin College Hall of Honor in 2013. An exceptional member of the AC tennis team, McGee won an NAIA District Championship for Austin College her senior year. She lettered in tennis all four years, was AC Intramural Director for three years, and served two terms on the Athletics A-Board as an alum. She also comes from a family of Roo athletic royalty.
Leslie’s mother Gene Day was a coach and P.E. instructor for Roo women in the 1960s, an era when women rarely got to play. But that all began to change in the early 1970s, thanks to Title IX. By the end of that decade, AC women under Day’s leadership were competing in multiple sports in the TIAA conference. The Austin College Most Outstanding Female Athlete award is named after Gene Day.
Around the same time that Roo Leslie Day McGee was winning a NAIA District tennis title, Roo Paul Pearce was working with Billie Jean King to create the first women’s professional tennis circuit (Virginia Slims) in Houston. The story of that work, alongside King’s famous victory over Bobby Riggs in the Astrodome, is the theme of the 2017 movie “Battle of the Sexes.” It’s also the theme of one of my all-time favorite Roo Tales. See the comments.
As a Virginia Slims ad campaign famously put it about women & sports, “you’ve come a long way, baby.” That’s true for Roo women athletes since the 1970s. Leslie Day McGee was present at the creation of a 50-year march towards greater gender equity in competition. It’s been a long struggle. Yet, Leslie and her mother Gene both knew what former Texas Governor Ann Richards famously said about AC Trustee Ginger Rogers:
“But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.”
The Russell tennis stadium I called home in 1990 was built in 1974, just a few years after Title IX and Leslie’s NAIA District title. That tennis stadium was inaugurated in a ceremony attended by two women: AC Trustee Ginger Rogers & Gene Day, the matriarch of AC Women’s Athletics and the mother of Hall of Honor inductee Leslie Day McGee.
If you enjoyed this 1970s chapter about Roo Women Athletes & Title IX, how about a dime for AC during the Crimson & Gold Challenge? See the comments.
Five Days of the Crimson & Gold Challenge + Five Decades of Roo Women & Title IX
It’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week. Your contribution to the AC sport of your choice will assist that sport’s coaching, equipment, & travel. See a link in the comments to give and thank you in advance.
The landmark Title IX law recently celebrated its 50thanniversary. To encourage giving over the five days, I will be writing about the five decades of Roo women athletes & Title IX.
Five Marc posts over five days will list all Roo women athletes in the Hall of Honor from that decade, with particular focus on one Roo woman athlete from that decade.
Who have I picked the represent each decade? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. Alternatively, I’ll let you know early via PM if you give to the Crimson & Gold Challenge.
Monday 8/14: 1970s – Leslie Day McGee Tuesday 8/15: 1980s – Amber Sprouse Macgregor Wednesday 8/16: 1990s – Who will it be? Thursday 8/17: 2000s – Who will it be? Friday 8/18: 2010s – Who will it be?
John Cotton (AC ’84) has been a UT System colleague of mine for nearly 25 years. A nearly five-year gap separates his 1984 departure and my 1988 arrival in Sherman. But I’ve joked in the past with John that we do have a Sherman tie that connects us: Amber Sprouse Macgregor.
Amber was raised in Sherman, where she swam competitively. She was a regular on the Sherman-Denison Sharks swim team, a team which competed at AC’s Hannah Natatorium and was coached by Roo swimmers. One of those Roo swimmers in the early 1980s was John Cotton. See a 1980 photo of John & Amber in the comments.
Not long after her arrival at AC in 1986, Amber began to leave her mark. As a freshman, she qualified for NAIA Nationals in seven events, including the 200 free, 200 back, and as a member of multiple relay teams. That same year, she received the Hannah MVP Award for outstanding swimmer and the Tim Jubela Award for outstanding freshman athlete.
Amber chose to be a C/I leader in 1988-89, teaming up with All-American wide receiver Otis Amy to welcome another batch of freshman. I was one of those freshmen; Amber & Otis were my introduction to Austin College. That year, Amber qualified for NAIA nationals for a third consecutive year.
In her senior year of 1989-90, she’d make it four. Macgregor qualified for NAIA nationals on five relay teams and in three individual events, breaking AC school records in the 100, 200, and 500 free in the process. She finished her career in 1990 as an NAIA All-American.
Not surprisingly, Amber was again selected for the Hannah MVP Award in 1990. And lucky me, I got to share the stage with Amber after I was selected for the Carroll Pickett MVP Award in tennis. While Amber’s 1980 arrival at AC was under the swimming tutelage of Roo John Cotton, her 1990 departure was alongside me at the AC Sports Convocation. See a 1990 photo of Marc & Amber in the comments.
Amber Sprouse MacGregor was inducted into the AC Hall of Honor in 1998. You’d be hard pressed to find a better example of what it means to be an AC student-athlete. If John and I were to pick anyone to tie our separate experiences in Sherman, it might as well be one of the top Roo Women Athletes of the 1980s. Thanks Amber, for my welcome to Austin College.
If you enjoyed this 1980s chapter about Roo Women Athletes & Title IX, how about a dime for AC during the Crimson & Gold Challenge? See the comments.
1980 Roo Women in the AC Hall of Honor:
Anne Perreault Hartnett (’81) Elizabeth Jenkins Mosier (’83) Amy Arnold Hussmann (’83) Deborah Myers (’84) Lorraine Vassberg (’85) Lisa Lucky Brown (’89) Heather Woods Sanders (’90) Amber Sprouse (’90)
Five Days of the Crimson & Gold Challenge + Five Decades of Roo Women & Title IX
It’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week. Your contribution to the AC sport of your choice will assist that sport’s coaching, equipment, & travel. See a link in the comments to give and thank you in advance.
The landmark Title IX law recently celebrated its 50thanniversary. To encourage giving over the five days, I will be writing about the five decades of Roo women athletes & Title IX.
Five Marc posts over five days will list all Roo women athletes in the Hall of Honor from that decade, with particular focus on one Roo woman athlete from that decade.
Who have I picked the represent each decade? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. Alternatively, I’ll let you know early via PM if you give to the Crimson & Gold Challenge.
Monday 8/14: 1970s – Leslie Day McGee Tuesday 8/15: 1980s – Amber Sprouse Macgregor Wednesday 8/16: 1990s – Cherry Craig Lee Thursday 8/17: 2000s – Who will it be? Friday 8/18: 2010s – Who will it be?
Oh, so many Roo women athletes to choose from in the 1990s!
Do I pick multisport athlete Jennifer Kyle Hernandez, a Roo “Bo Jackson?” Or Maggie Roe, the first AC Women’s Basketball (ACWBB) All-American? How about Natasha Rodgers, Marisa Hesse, Polly Thomason, Allison Mckinney Tarpley, or Amy Scull Skaggs, who led ACWBB to three post season (NAIA/NCAA) tournaments years in a row?
All of these Roo women have been written about in the past or will be written about tomorrow. So instead, today we are going to go with a Roo woman athlete who definitely needs more ink spilled. She’s the greatest diver in AC history: Cherry Craig Lee.
Cherry is a six-time NAIA All-American. Yes, you read that right. SIX. Cherry arrived at AC as a freshman in 1991-92, and immediately broke the school record on the 3m (11) springboard. She earned two All-American designations for her performances at NAIA Nationals that year, finishing 3rd in the nation on the 3m (11) and 5th in the nation on the 1m (11) springboards.
As her career progressed, the All-American honors kept rolling in and the school records kept falling. By the time of her 1995 graduation, Cherry had earned four trips to NAIA nationals, acquired six All-American awards, and captured AC school records in three of the four events in which collegiate diving competed. Not surprisingly, Cherry Craig Lee was inducted into the AC Hall of Honor.
But here’s the kicker. Records are made to be broken, and AC women swimming records have fallen one by one over the decades since 1995. But not diving. Nearly 30 years later, Cherry’s three school diving records remain untouched. And one of those records was set as a freshman in 1992, just months before my own AC graduation. I should have headed to Hannah to watch while I had the chance.
Maggie Roe & Cherry Craig Lee were roommates at AC. They both attended Legends last month, and even dropped by Hannah to take a picture in front of all of Cherry’s still standing records. I commented online to Maggie that Cherry deserved a Roo Tale. Thankfully, it’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week and the 50th anniversary of Title IX. So, this Marc “dive” into Cherry’s diving past turned out to be perfectly executed.
If you enjoyed this 1990s chapter about Roo Women Athletes & Title IX, how about a dime for AC during the Crimson & Gold Challenge? See the comments.
Five Days of the Crimson & Gold Challenge + Five Decades of Roo Women & Title IX
It’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week. Your contribution to the AC sport of your choice will assist that sport’s coaching, equipment, & travel. See a link in the comments to give and thank you in advance.
The landmark Title IX law recently celebrated its 50thanniversary. To encourage giving over the five days, I will be writing about the five decades of Roo women athletes & Title IX.
Five Marc posts over five days will list all Roo women athletes in the Hall of Honor from that decade, with particular focus on one Roo woman athlete from that decade.
Who have I picked the represent each decade? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. Alternatively, I’ll let you know early via PM if you give to the Crimson & Gold Challenge.
Monday 8/14: 1970s – Leslie Day McGee Tuesday 8/15: 1980s – Amber Sprouse Macgregor Wednesday 8/16: 1990s – Cherry Craig Lee Thursday 8/17: 2000s – Katy Williams Friday 8/18: 2010s – Who will it be?
AC Women’s Basketball? Hey, I’m a fan.
When I started this Roo writing kick back in 2015, one thing was clear. AC women’s basketball (ACWBB) was good. Over the next five years, the women earned SCAC regular season and tournament titles, advancing to the NCAA tournament. ACWBB won 100 games over those 5 pre-Covid seasons, averaging 20 wins per year. The last thing I did before Covid lockdown? I watched the team compete in the NCAA D3 tournament alongside John Cotton and AC Trustee Scott Austin.
The success of ACWBB in the present piqued my interest in the entire 30 years since my AC graduation. Turns out, the women were good in the past too.
The arrival of All-American Maggie Roe in the early 1990s began a winning tradition, which accelerated exponentially in the late 1990s. From 1997 to 1999, Natasha Rodgers, Marisa Hesse, Polly Thomason, Allison McKinney Tarpley, and Amy Scull Skaggs led AC to three straight 20-win seasons and post season appearances. My favorite of those seasons might be 1997.
The 1997 Roos took a 24-3 record into the Sweet 16 round of the NAIA National Tournament. They faced top-seeded Northwest Nazarene (ID) and took the Crusaders all the way to the buzzer. A last second three pointer was just off the mark, allowing Northwest Nazarene to survive and advance with a 74-72 win on their way to the 1997 national title.
“They came to play. They didn’t bow to us,” said Crusader star guard Erica Walton of their Roo opponents. AC’s buzzer beater attempt was “close enough for everyone in Hershey Hall (Angola, IN) to gasp.”
The average margin of victory in the NAIA tournament for Northwest Nazarene excluding AC was a whopping 24 points, which means that this 1997 group was the second-best team in the nation. And had one final haphazard flight of a distant ball found the net, the 1997 Roos might have been national champions.
The story of ACWBB was so neat, I turned it into a 100-year Roo Tale. This tale documents women’s basketball at AC over 100 years, from its initial birth in 1918 to its re-birth after Title IX. The teams of the late 1990s are featured prominently, as are the teams in the late 2010s. See the comments.
Which brings us to Katy Williams.
Between the glory years in the late 1990s and the glory years in the late 2010s, Katy Williams was a force for the Roos in the late 2000s. She earned SCAC All-Conference honors in all four years of her playing days and set the SCAC conference rebounding record (over 1,000) in her senior campaign.
Katy Williams graduated in 2010 and was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2017. I was honored to serve on the AC Athletics A-Board alongside her and to watch her 2017 induction in Sherman. Katy is not found in the 100-year Roo Tale I wrote about AC Women’s Basketball, but that’s my bad y’all. Now that I’m fully aware of her career today, I’ll be revising that story to include the best Roo player of the 2000s.
If you enjoyed this 2000s chapter about Roo Women Athletes & Title IX, how about a dime for AC during the Crimson & Gold Challenge? See the comments.
Five Days of the Crimson & Gold Challenge + Five Decades of Roo Women & Title IX
It’s Crimson & Gold Challenge week. Your contribution to the AC sport of your choice will assist that sport’s coaching, equipment, & travel. See a link in the comments to give and thank you in advance.
The landmark Title IX law recently celebrated its 50thanniversary. To encourage giving over the five days, I will be writing about the five decades of Roo women athletes & Title IX.
Five Marc posts over five days will list all Roo women athletes in the Hall of Honor from that decade, with particular focus on one Roo woman athlete from that decade.
Who have I picked the represent each decade? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. Alternatively, I’ll let you know early via PM if you give to the Crimson & Gold Challenge.
Records are made to be broken. Lauren Elizabeth Hutton is familiar with this concept.
In the elite world of NCAA D3 swimming, an A-cut time is an automatic NCAA tournament qualifier while a B-cut time is a potential qualifier depending upon the number of A-cuts. At Austin College, All-American Lauren Elizabeth Hutton earned an NCAA B-cut time in the 200 backstroke, placing 70th in the nation in 2013. That incredible effort just barely missed qualifying for the NCAA D3 Meet.
After her 2016 graduation, Hutton held an astounding NINE AC swimming records. By the time she departed Sherman, Hutton was the fastest female Roo ever in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly, 100 medley, 200 medley, and as a part of the 200 free relay team. Her 2015 SCAC conference winning time of 57.99 in the 100 backstroke not only set a school record, it was also the first time a Roo to ever won a conference event in the new SCAC.
But Lauren’s records are falling quickly.
Sammi Thiele, a 2023 Roo superstar swimmer who earned an invitation to the NCAA D3 meet this year, is coming after all of them. Thiele has broken seven of those nine school records; Hutton now only has two. Hey, that’s how it goes in the world of competitive swimming.
However, with every cloud there’s a silver lining.
Sammi Thiele’s success was also a Lauren Elizabeth Hutton project wake up call for me. Hutton was an obvious candidate for the AC Hall of Honor, and by 2023 she was eligible. Working closely with her, I nominated Lauren in the same week Thiele was competing at the NCAA D3 meet. The A-Board met to review nominations, and in their infinite wisdom voted yes. Lauren will be a part of the Class of 2024 at Legends next summer.
Every summer in August, I get together with a group of Roos from my fraternity. Our weekend often conflicts with Legends, forcing me to choose between the two. I often choose my fellas. But I’ve already given them a heads up that 2024 will be different if there’s a conflict. I’ll be at Legends to celebrate Lauren and the rest of the Class of 2024 (Mike Foster, Wilson Renfroe, Andrea Bauer, Ned Munoz, Al Hockaday Jr).
Lauren, after all, is not just a nominee of mine. She’s also a friend and yet another outstanding Roo woman athlete in the 5 decades since the adoption of Title IX 50 years ago.
If you enjoyed this 2010s chapter (or any of the five chapters) about Roo Women Athletes & Title IX, how about a dime for AC during the Crimson & Gold Challenge? See the comments.
