National Titles (15)
1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2015, 2016
National Runner-Up Finishes (18)
1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014
Eastern Regional Titles (25)
1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
With 15 national titles, 33 appearances in the national finals and 23 Eastern Regional titles, no school has participated as long or as successfully in women's polo.
In 1932, the U.S. Women's Polo Association (USPWA) was founded. In the next 10 years, most club (25) and members (300) were from the southwest and California. Mrs. Leone Hart was considered to be the founding "mother" of women's polo.
In 1935-37, under the auspices of the ROTC (major Chas Ferrin, coach), a Cornell women's polo team was formed consisting of Ruth SHarp, Alice (Nat) Colvocoresses, Anne Simpson and Virginia Yoder. The team played two or three games per year against the Wilkes Barre, Pa. "Whipettes", a women's team associated with the Wilkes-Barre Whips at the 109th F.A. of that city.
Women's polo ceased when Major Ferrin was transferred by the Army. Also, the Dean of Women decided polo was not a sport for women when the front teeth of one of the players was knocked out with a mallet (prior to the introduction of faceguards).
Since 1972, women's polo teams were found in many colleges, Women's Intercollegiate Tournaments and Championships have been held with the U.S. Polo Association and collegiate approval since 1976. Cornell and the University of California combined to win the first 12 national titles.
After polo was abandoned in 1937, Cornell's first regular team was in 1973 under the coaching of Dierk TerLouw and Irving Allen. The members were Holly Fuess, Julie Wilson, Tici Supples and Dana Drenna. Ten years later in 1983, Cornell was one of the nine teams entering the Women's Intercollegiate Tournament at Griffith's Park in Los Angeles, Calif. The other schools were UC Davis, Colorado State, Skidmore, Stanford, Cal Poly, Virginia, Connecticut and Yale, indicating the rate and extent of the growth of women's polo in the present era.
With David Eldredge, who ranks first among all Cornell coaches in vicories with more than 900 and counting, women's polo has continued to be a signature sport. The Big Red has won 14 regional titles since 2000, while also winning eight national titles and finishing as runner-up six other years.
