50 YEARS AND COUNTING
A Legacy of Firsts: Defining Moments in Vanderbilt Women’s Athletics
1896–97
1993
1997
2001
2007
2015
2020
| 1896 | Stella Vaughn becomes Vanderbilt’s first female instructor, teaching physical education, and organizes a women’s basketball team. |
| 1897 | Stella Vaughn and her Vanderbilt team take on a team from Ward-Belmont, winning 5-0 in the university’s first-ever women’s basketball game. |
| 1902 | Women’s basketball team begins playing a regular annual schedule of games. |
| 1928 | Girls Athletic Association formed at Vanderbilt, an intramural league for female student later becomes the Women’s Athletics Board. |
| 1949 | Dot Poag hired as clerk in the ticket office. |
| 1970 | Peggy Harmon is named an AIAW golf All-American and competes at the National Intercollegiate as an individual since Vanderbilt has no women’s golf team. She repeats the feats in 1971. |
| 1971 | Ann Hutcheson (Price) wins her third consecutive Tennessee State Collegiate singles championship as a member of Vanderbilt’s non-scholarship tennis team. |
| 1977 | Women’s varsity athletics begins five years after the passage of Title IX. The original sports included basketball, cross country/track, tennis and swimming. Emily Harsh serves in a part-time role as women’s athletic director. All four coaches were hired in a part-time capacity. |
| 1978 | June Stewart (sports information director) hired as the first full-time employee of women’s athletics. |
| 1979 | Volleyball is elevated from a club sport to varsity status, with Debbie Boykin as coach. The team disbands midway through the 1980 season, however, and is not revived until 2025. First basketball scholarships awarded to Sheila Johannson and Cathy Bender. |
| 1980 | Financial responsibility for women’s athletics shifts from the university to the Athletic Department. Joe Pepper hired as the first full-time coach of a women’s team (basketball). |
| 1981 | Five members of the swim team earn AIAW All-American honors. |
| 1982 | As part of a national reorganization, women’s athletics comes under the direction of the NCAA after previously being a part of the AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women). Track is dropped (cross country remains). Competing in NCAA Division II, Mary Lou Baldwin wins a national championship in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard medley relay team also captures a national title (Baldwin, Stephanie Otis, Ming Hsu, Julie O’Daniel). Eight members of the swim team are AIAW All-Americans. |
| 1984 | Basketball wins the WNIT. Lucy Jones named ticket manager. |
| 1985 | NCAA requires that members sponsor at least two team sports for women. Soccer is added. |
| 1986 | Track program reinstated. June Stewart named first Senior Woman Administrator. Mary Cline receives first golf (partial) scholarship. |
| 1988 | Wendy Deacon becomes first NCAA DI swimming All-American. Laura Vaughan earns first track (partial) scholarship. |
| 1989 | Janis Rose receives first (partial) soccer scholarship. Ken McDonald hired as first exclusive women’s soccer coach (Randy Johnson had coached both the men and women previously). Cindy Parrot becomes first female head golf coach. |
| 1990 | Peggy Omohundro hired as first women’s-only tennis coach (Bill Tym had coached both men and women previously). Wendy Scholtens becomes basketball program’s first All-American. |
| 1991 | All women’s teams were known as the “Lady Commodores” until basketball coach Jim Foster changes the name of his team to “Commodores.” Other sports follow suit. |
| 1992 | Swimming dropped as an intercollegiate sport. Evelyn Watson hired as assistant football secretary – first Black woman Athletic Department employee. |
| 1993 | Basketball earns its first #1 national ranking, plays Tennessee before a sold-out crowd at Memorial Gym, wins its first SEC Tournament title and advances to the NCAA Final Four. Nakia Davis becomes the first Black golfer in SEC history. Soccer wins first-ever SEC regular season and tournament championships. |
| 1994 | Beth Tallent becomes the track program’s first All-American. |
| 1996 | Lacrosse added as a varsity sport, with Wendy Stevens as coach. |
| 1997 | Ryan Tolbert becomes the first Vanderbilt student-athlete in any sport to win an NCAA DI championship, capturing the title in the outdoor 400-meter hurdles. |
| 1998 | Asta Helgadottir becomes soccer program’s first All-American. |
| 1999 | Sheri Sam becomes the first Vanderbilt player selected in the WNBA Draft. Julie Ditty becomes first tennis ITA first-team All-American. |
| 2000 | Lori Shepard becomes first female head track coach. |
| 2001 | Tennis advances to NCAA Finals, the first time a Vanderbilt team in any sport has competed for a DI national championship. Ronnie Woodard becomes first female soccer head coach. |
| 2004 | Bowling added as a varsity sport. Lacrosse advances to NCAA Final Four. Melanie Balcomb becomes the first female women’s basketball head coach. May Wood becomes golf program’s first 1st-team All-American, while Michelle Allen becomes the first 1st-team All-American for lacrosse. |
| 2006 | Swimming program revived. Michelle Peloquin named first All-American in bowling team history. |
| 2007 | Bowling wins a national championship in just its third year of existence, becoming the first Vanderbilt team in any sport to win an NCAA DI national title. D’Andre Hill named head track coach, becoming Vanderbilt’s first Black head coach in any sport. |
| 2011 | First SEC cross country championship and first NCAA cross country appearance in school history. |
| 2015 | Tennis wins its first SEC Tournament and NCAA championships. Astra Sharma named SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament MVP. |
| 2018 | Bowling wins a second national championship. |
| 2020 | Former Commodore basketball player Candice Lee named athletic director, becoming the first woman, and first Black woman, AD in the history of the SEC. Sarah Fuller becomes the first woman to score a point in a major conference football game when she kicks two extra points vs. Tennessee. |
| 2021 | Lily Williams (former cross country runner) wins bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics cycling team pursuit event |
| 2022 | Anders Nelson hired to coach revived volleyball program three years ahead of first match. |
| 2023 | Bowling wins a third national championship. |
| 2024 | Lily Williams wins a gold medal in the Paris Olympics (cycling team pursuit) and Veronica Fraley wins an NCAA title and competes in the Olympics in the discus. |
| 2025 | Revived volleyball program plays its first season. Soccer wins the SEC Tournament and earns a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history |