Arizona's history of producing versatile, prosperous student-athletes is recognized on a national level. Arizona has produced four NCAA Women of the Year, honoring the woman in the NCAA that displays excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership -- Tanya Hughes, Track and Field, 1994; Whitney Meyers, Swimming and Diving, 2007; Lacey Nymeyer, Swimming and Diving, 2009; Justine Schluntz, Swimming and Diving, 2010. In the award's 30-year history, Arizona is tied with Georgia for the most award winners in the country as well as being the only school in the Pac-12 to have a winner of this prestigious award.
 

Trailblazer. Change agent. Legend.

Former Administrator and Athletic Director, Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose credits Title IX with changing not only women's sports but also her life.#TitleIX | @AZATHLETICS pic.twitter.com/98Cjtyf3MW

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) June 2, 2022

Arizona Women's Legacy

• 46 Olympic Medals

• 115 Individual National Champions

• 4 NCAA Women of the Year

• 834 All-Americans

• 45 Academic All-Americans

• 41 Team Conference Titles

• 15 Team National Championships

Trailblazers

Ina Gittings

• Following her efforts as a physiotherapist with the Army Medical Corps during World War I, moved to Tucson where she became the University of Arizona Director of Physical Education for Women – where she took physical education and intramurals for women at Arizona to a previously unseen level
• Introduced women undergraduates at Arizona to Women's Athletic Association (WAA), which included archery, horseback riding, swimming, track and various intramural team sports
• The most influential trailblazer in the early years of women’s physical education at Arizona

Marguerite Chesney

• Became Arizona’s Director of Physical Education for Women in 1951
• Expanded the intramural offerings of the WAA
• Was the first woman to attend the National Meeting of the Lawn Tennis Association, became the first woman president of the SWTA in 1939 and developed the sport of tennis in the southwest

Mary Roby

• Was Arizona’s first and only Director of Athletics for Women in 1972
• Helped create the AIAW, women’s equivalent of the NCAA, in 1971
• Was instrumental in joining Arizona’s men’s and women’s athletics departments at Arizona, and taking national initiative as well
• Built the foundation for women's intercollegiate athletics at the University of Arizona

Rocky LaRose

• A student-athlete and coach with Arizona Softball, and one of the most influential administrators in the country
• Became first woman to serve as UA’s Director of Athletics and first woman as Deputy AD to oversee operations of Division 1 Football and men’s Basketball programs
• Three times Pac10/12 Vice President and charter member of the NCAA Management Council

Meg Ritchie

• An Arizona Athletics and Pac-12 Hall of Fame thrower
• Became the first woman in the country to be the head strength and conditioning coach for all sports, including football, in the country
• Two-time Olympic competitor

Sue Hillman

• First woman to oversee the medical services area and be head of medical training for football in the nation
• Went on to become the first female in NFL history to work on an AT staff - Steelers 1997
• Has served on the editorial board of the journal Athletic Therapy Today (now titled International Journal of Athletic Therapy & Training)

Irma Lozano

• Arizona’s first female Olympian
• Competed for Mexico in the 1952 Olympics, 10 meter platform.
• Placed 13th at the Olympics

Patty Kempner

• Arizona’s first Olympic medalist
• Olympic Gold Medalist: 1960 400 Meter Medley Relay 
• One of the first two Olympians who represented Arizona Women’s Swimming & Diving

Tanya Hughes

• Arizona’s first NCAA Woman of the Year in 1994
• Finalist at 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, finishing 11th
• 1991 NCAA Outdoor champion with a 6-4 1/2 jump as well as NCAA Indoor champion, jumping 6-2
• World University Games Champion
• Inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2022

Susie Parra

• Arizona’s first Honda Award Winner in 1994 – awarded to the most outstanding student-athlete in the nation for each sport
• Three-time NCAA All-American and three-time NCAA College World Series All-Tournament Team
• Pitched Arizona to three national titles

Annika Sorenstam

• One of the best female golfers of all-time
• Named National Player of the Year, first Wildcat to earn that honor
• All-American freshman year by winning the 1991 NCAA individual title
• Won the 1995 US Women’s Open, Arizona’s first major winner

May Mickleson

• Competed for Arizona’s rifle program from 1961-65
• Became the first woman to wear the varsity sweater
• Received the highest mark in marksmanship awarded

 

Arizona Women's Athletics Timeline

• 1918 – The Women’s Athletic Association [WAA] is formed, giving women an opportunity to compete/participate in extramural sports

• 1920 – Ina Gettings became the University of Arizona Director of Physical Education for Women and transformed the program, taking it to unseen heights and serving as a trailblazer for physical education at Arizona

• 1952 – Irma Lozano [Diving] becomes Arizona’s first female Olympian in 1952, competing for Mexico

• 1955 – Women’s sports at Arizona are expanded greatly by Director if Physical Education for Women, Marguerite Chesney, who expanded the program to include 16 sports

• 1960 – Patty Kempner [Swimming] becomes Arizona’s first Olympic medalist [gold]

• 1971-72 – Mary Roby helped create the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), and later she and then athletics director Cedric Dempsey were involved in joining the university’s men’s and women’s sports in the early 1980s, taking a national leadership role in combined programs

• 1971-72 – Arizona Women competed in their first intercollegiate conference ever, the Intermountain Conference, beginning in the Fall of 1971

  1971-72 – Mary Roby founded the UA’s women’s athletic department, becoming the first and only "Director of Women’s Athletics” for the W-ICA [Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics Department

• 1972 – On June 23, Title IX is passed, giving women athletes the right to equal opportunity in sports in educational institutions that receive federal funds

• 1978 – Diane Johnson [Swimming] is Arizona’s first woman to win an individual national championship, winning a AIAW title in the 400 IM.

• 1979 – Arizona Women’s Golf wins the first conference championship by a women’s team in school history [Intermountain Athletic Conference Champions]

• 1979 – Arizona Women compete in the Western Collegiate Athletic Association beginning in 1979

• 1980 – Arizona Women’s Synchronized Swimming wins the AIAW national title – the first women’s team title in school history – repeating again in 1981 and 1984

• 1981 – Arizona Women joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] in the 1981-1982 school year

• 1983 – Sue Hillman becomes the first woman to oversee the Medial Services area and be head of medical training for football in the nation

• 1984 – Meg Ritchie, an Arizona Athletics and Pac-12 Hall of Fame thrower, becomes the first woman to oversee the Strength and Conditioning area and be the head strength coach for football in the nation

• 1985 – The Pac West – the female equivalent to the Pac-10, which only men competed in – is formed

• 1986 – The Pac West is dissolved, and the women’s teams join the Pac-10, ending the 71-year history of an all-male Pac-10

• 1991 – Arizona Softball wins Arizona’s first women’s team NCAA title

• 1992 – Rocky LaRose becomes first woman administrator to oversee operations of Football and Men’s Basketball in the country

• 1993 – Arizona Softball wins its second NCAA title

• 1994 – Tanya Hughes [Track & Field] becomes the first Wildcat to win NCAA Woman of the Year in 1994

• 1994 – Susie Parra [Softball] becomes Arizona’s first Honda Award Winner

• 1994 – Arizona Softball wins its third national championship

• 1995 – Annika Sorenstam [Golf] wins the U.S. Women’s Open, Arizona’s first major winner

• 1996 – Both Arizona Softball and Arizona Women’s Golf win national titles

• 1997 – Arizona Softball wins its fourth NCAA championship in the last five years – fifth overall

• 2000 – Arizona Women’s Golf wins its second NCAA title

• 2001 – Arizona Softball wins national championship No. 6

• 2006 – Arizona Softball wins its seventh national championship

• 2007 – Arizona Softball goes back-to-back, winning its eight NCAA title

• 2007 – Whitney Myers [Swimming] becomes Arizona’s second NCAA Woman of the Year winner

• 2008 – Arizona Women’s Swimming and Diving wins its first national title

• 2009 – Lacey Nymeyer [Swimming] is named NCAA Woman of the Year, Arizona’s third recipient

• 2012 – Justine Schluntz [Swimming] receives NCAA Woman of the Year honors, Arizona’s fourth recipient – Arizona’s four winners are tied for the most in NCAA history

• 2018 – Arizona Women’s Golf wins its third national championship

• 2021 – Arizona makes the Women's Basketball Final 4, the Women's Golf National Semifinals as well as the Softball Women's College Series, the first time in UA history to accomplish all three in one year

Arizona Wildcats' Rise in Women's Sports
Arizona Athletics' has a rich history and tradition in women's sports that goes back to the early 20th century. Arizona has been the home of generational Trail Blazers, iconic women's sports programs and championship excellence from women's athletic programs. On an episode of the BearDown Podcast, Arizona Athletics icon Rocky LaRose discusses the impact of Title IX and the rise of Arizona's women's sports.