This is an except from the book "Silver Era Golden Moments: A Celebration of Ivy League Women's Athletics" written by Paula D. Welch to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Title IX in 1997.

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As a long-time coeducational institution, Cornell has a storied history of women's athletics, though before the 1970s sports were administered largely as an extension of physical education courses. 

Women at Cornell engaged in basketball and rowing as early as 1897, with interclass competitions held in those sports by 1900; the addition of rowing also brought the arrival of Ellen Canfield, Cornell's first woman physical training instructor. Field hockey was added soon after the turn of the century, and fencing was also offered early in the women's athletics program's development. In 1930, the fencing team won the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association championship by defeating the defending champions from New York University. Cornell's Elizabeth Ross won the individual fencing title in 1930 and 1931, as did Grace Acel in 1942 and 1943.

Cornell's riflery and archery teams held telegraphic competitions in the 1930s with teams from other institutions, and interclass athletic events, intramural competitions between residence halls, and play days and sports days also were popular. Dorothy Bateman was director of women's physical education from her arrival in 1920 until she retired and was succeeded by Martha Arnett in 1960.

By the early 1970s, Helen Newman Hall, a building originally used for recreational and instructional activities, had been transformed into a multi-purpose facility for women's intercollegiate sports. And by the fall of 1972, more than 300 women were representing Cornell in a dozen intercollegiate sports – more than any other college or university in the state of New York.

With the growth of interest in women's athletics in the 1970s, Arnett identified the shortage of qualified women's coaches and inadequate budgets as the primary detriments to further development of the program. The $19,000 allocated for women's athletics came from the women's physical education budget, while the men's athletic program had an independent budget of half a million dollars.

Throughout the 1970s, Arnett continued to push for more support, emphasizing the increased time commitment required of teacher-coaches when the number of students, level of competition, and frequency of travel kept increasing. "The times when a women could coach two sports in addition to her teaching responsibilities," she pointed out, "apparently are over because of the increased demands of coaching." Finally, the university allocated $5,000 for new programs for the 1976-77 academic year and authorized hiring a trainer to work with women athletes.

But even that was not sufficient to raise Cornell to where Arnett felt the program should be to compete with its peers; nor was it sufficient to meet the new Title IX mandates. In her 1976-77 annual report, Arnett cited requirements still not being met in the areas of coaching, facilities, funds for travel and equipment, sports information, and fundraising. Arnett summarized her continuing frustration: "Cornell, a few years ago, had one of the best athletic programs for women in the country, but we are rapidly falling further and further behind both New York and Ivy schools.

Cornell acted positively in response to Arnett's critiques, raising salaries of teacher-coaches and adding new tennis courts, a boathouse and locker rooms. Other important developments were the media boost provided when Cornell's sports information office began to handle publicity for the women's program (previously, Arnett and her staff had managed it themselves) and the assignment of two women coaches as liaisons with the admissions office. Arnett acknowledged the importance of attracting outstanding student-athletes to the program in her 1978-79 report: "As a staff we're becoming more concerned with recruiting, the admissions process, as well as speaking to alumni. Although we are rather new in these areas, we realize the importance of increased involvement."

Despite the challenges of the decade, Cornell's women athletes experienced success at the state, League, national, and even international level. The undefeated 1974 tennis team, for example, led by Helen Johnson, Sarah Reynolds, and Karen Krinsky, won New York State's fall championship. Cornell ice hockey teams dominated the Ivy League in the 1970s, winning the first Ivy title in 1976 and five additional titles from 1977 through 1981. By 1978, the four-year-old varsity gymnastics program was also an established power in the Northeast. The 1978 gymnasts, including five freshmen, won the Ivy League championship and finished second in the New York State AIAW meet.

At the national level, Cornell continued its dominance in fencing, winning consecutive titles at the 1972 and 1973 NIWFA championships. In 1972, Peggy Walbridge and Kathy Stevenson were named to the inaugural AIAW All-America four-member fencing team, becoming Cornell's first fencers to achieve All-American status. Walbridge was also named All-America in 1973 and 1974 and was the AIAW and NIWFA individual national champion in 1974.

Finally, swimmer Hilary Walsh competed internationally in March 1975 when, at an official United States-Soviet Union meet in Leningrad, she won the 200-meter individual medley, finished second in the 400-meter individual medley, and third in the 200-meter butterfly event. Walsh was selected for the six-woman, six-man swimming squad because of her outstanding performance at the Amateur Athletic Union's (AAU) national championship.
 

The 1980s

As Cornell women became accustomed to a comprehensive intercollegiate program, they gained satisfaction from their victories and an appreciation of the true value of amateur athletics. Lacrosse player Loretta Kennedy explained that, to her, lacrosse "was more than a game. Some of the most important lessons I ever learned were on the playing field – lessons about discipline, competition and teamwork. But the greatest thing I've gained from lacrosse at Cornell is life-long friends." Tennis player Sharon Toll recalls: "Tennis at Cornell means a lot more than just a chance at collegiate competition. The physical exercise is a great release from the mental pressures of academics. Knowing I'm an integral part of the team gives me a good feeling about myself and makes Cornell an even nicer place to be. We're all competitive individuals and have many different interests, but when the team gets together to practice, our differences take a back seat to camaraderie, support, and encouragement of one another."

Some accomplishments of the decade were recalled as small but meaningful improvements or special moments. Looking back at the fall 1981 field hockey season, Marianne Moag wrote in The 1982 Cornellian: "The biggest and best change was in the location of our home field; this year we were finally allowed to step on the [artificial] turf of Schoellkopf [Field] and leave the pastures behind Helen Newman Hall."

But teams in several sports during the 1980s also had significant accomplishments at the school, League, and national levels. The decade began with a fifth straight Ivy League title in ice hockey in 1980 and a share of the 1981 title. At one point during the 1981 season, the team was ranked third in the country. The gymnastics team also reached the top of Ivy League competition, winning the championship three times during the decade – in 1982, 1985, and 1988. In 1984, the tennis team won its first tournament with the fall New York State Championship, and continued on to its first undefeated fall season, with Jana Klein and Linda Monastyer finishing undefeated in singles competition. Two years later, the cross country team won more dual meets than any team in the history of the program. Finally, near the end of the decade, the crew ended its 1989 season by winning its first National Collegiate Women's Rowing Championship, in the regatta on Lake Wingra at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Rower Stephanie Maxwell, a member of the championship crew, had also competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

Cornell elevated its soccer program to varsity status in 1982 under head coach Randy May. Three-time All-American Laurel Collier led the soccer team to an overall record of 35-14-8 in her three-year career and a share of the 1987 Ivy title. Voted Player of the Year in 1986, Collier was a first-team All-Ivy pick as well as an All-Northeast selection for three consecutive years. She set Cornell season and career records for goals, assists, and points and established school and Ivy single-game marks for points and goals scored.

Outstanding athletes in other sports in the 1980s included two-sport athlete Linda Miller, who rewrote the Cornell record books in both field hockey and lacrosse. In field hockey, she was named the team's top offensive player from 1980 to 1983, leading the team in scoring each season. A first-team All-Ivy selection as a junior, Miller still holds the record for goals in a season (14) and career (40), while ranking second in career points (92). In lacrosse, Miller was named in 1981 as the first-ever Ivy League Rookie of the Year and earned second-team All-Ivy honors in each of her final three years of competition.

Another individual standout was volleyball player Elise Lincoln, who was named first team All-Ivy in 1981, 1982, and 1984, was an All-New York State first team pick in 1982 and 1983, and was a New York State tournament all-star selection in 1982, when the Cornell team won that title. Two years later, she captained the squad to the ECAC tournament championship and another New York State crown, and was named the state tournament's most valuable player.

Basketball player Rhonda Anderson earned All-Ivy first team honors in 1983 and was named that year's Cornell Sun Athlete of the Year, the first woman to receive the prestigious award. Her school's all-time leading scorer at her graduation, Anderson became the first player in team history to score more than 1,000 career points, finishing with 1,105 points and 762 rebounds. She set 19 school scoring and rebounding records, nine of which still stand more than 15 years later.
 

The 1990s

The 1990s brought Cornell's women athletes new successes with the elevation of softball to varsity status and the first Ivy League titles in such sports as field hockey, soccer, softball, and volleyball. In the latter part of the decade, several notable gifts to the program made possible the construction of important new facilities. In 1996, the Kane Sports Complex was dedicated, complete with new facilities for soccer, lacrosse, and track and field. Two years later, the newest women's varsity sport gained a long-awaited field of its own. Softball, a long-time club sport until its elevation to varsity status in 1994, won its first ECAC title in 1997 with a victory against Harvard. The following April, Cornell softball fans gathered for the dedication of the Niemand-Robison Softball Field, named in honor of donors Arno P. Niemand '56, a wrestler during his undergraduate years, and the late Ellis H. Robison '18, who had earmarked an earlier gift to the school for women's athletics. As fans entered the stadium, they were given Cornell Big Red caps and boxes of Cracker Jacks, and then officially welcomed to the new stadium in a ceremony presided over by Cornell President Hunter R, Rawlings, III. The momentous occasion climaxed with a doubleheader sweep of Dartmouth later that afternoon to keep the Big Red in the Ivy League hunt, but two days later, Cornell fell to eventual Ivy champion Harvard in a hard-fought doubleheader. Good things would come to the Big Red the following spring, as the sixth-year program gained a road split with the Crimson, earning its first Ivy League title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

In addition to new facilities, the decade was marked by notable team and individual athletic accomplishments. Under long-time coach Randy May, the 1991 soccer team shared the Ivy League title with Dartmouth. In 1994. Cornell used a 2-0 win against No. 4 Hartford to achieve a national ranking of 14th and a number-one seed in the ECAC tournament, in which Cornell advanced to the final for the first time. The team marked its sixth straight appearance in the ECAC tournament in 1995, reaching the final for the second year in a row.

The volleyball team won its first Ivy League tournament in 1991 and followed up that victory with championships in 1992 and 1993, the latter of which led to an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the first participation of any Ivy League volleyball team in the NCAA postseason. Also winning Ivy titles during the decade was the field hockey program in 1991 and the ice hockey team, coached by former Harvard standout Julie Sasner, in 1996.

The cross country and track and field programs not only won a combined ten Ivy League titles during the decade but also achieved national prominence. After a second-place finish at the Heptagonal championships in 1990, national coaches ranked the cross country team 22nd out of 283 NCAA Division I schools – the first national ranking for Cornell. The team placed fourth that year at the ECAC championships. The following year, the team won the 1991 Heptagonal outdoor track and field championships by three points, the closest margin in history at the time. The team then entered the NCAA championships ranked tenth in the nation and took fourth place at the competition.

The 1991 indoor track and field competitors were responsible for some of the most outstanding performances in Cornell history. The team won its first indoor Heptagonal title, while Stephanie Best and Jennifer Cobb finished second and fifth, respectively, in the one-mile run at the NCAA championships, earning All-America honors. The 1991 outdoor track and field team also won its first Heptagonal championships, and the indoor team repeated as Heps champions in 1995. After that meet, coach Lou Duesing took three runners to the 1991 NCAA outdoor track and field championships. All three - Best, Pam Hunt, and Cobb - were awarded All-America honors, and Best finished third in the 1,500-meter run. In 1995, Jennifer Watkins earned 34 points and the most outstanding performer status, while the team claimed the Heptagonal title. Watkins won the javelin and discus, while also taking second in the shot put and third in the hammer throw. The outdoor track and field teams continued to mark successes through the decade, with first-place finishes at the Heptagonals in 1995 and 1997.

With a second straight Ivy League cross country title - and star Hunt becoming just the second Ivy woman to win two straight individual titles - Cornell again took fourth place at the NCAA Division I championships in 1992. The team three-peated at Heps in 1993, finished second at the ECAC championship, and again received a bid to the NCAA championship, placing fourth for the third straight year. The Big Red's fourth Heptagonal title of the decade came in 1998.

After having won the National Collegiate Rowing Association (NCRA) championship in 1989, the 1990 crew finished second at the Eastern Sprints and third at the national championships. In 1992, the crew finished second at the NCRA championship, and in 1994, it finished third at the Sprints and at the nationals.

The tennis team won first place in the New York and ECAC championships in 1994, while making the team's first appearance in the NCAA Eastern Regionals in 1996. Olga Itskhoki received the inaugural Ivy Player of the Year award for tennis in 1995, repeated the honor the following year, and became only the fourth player in League history to achieve first team All-Ivy honors in singles three times. Itskhoki, a native of Moscow, Russia, who arrived at Cornell with three years of eligibility, did not lose an Ivy League singles match during her career.

Cornell's Olympic athletes during this period included handball player Keri Farley and rower Andrea Thies, both of whom competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Thies has served as an assistant rowing coach at Princeton since 1998.