women’s sports have been or are becoming consistent national contenders in all 11 sponsored sports — basketball, cross country, equestrian, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball. In 1993 the university expanded to 10 women’s sponsored sports with the addition of soccer as a scholarship sport, and as a unit the Aggie athletic program ranked among the best in the nation. In 1997 A &M was ranked first in the Big 12 and fifth in the nation in the Gender Equity Report Card, published by the Women’s Sports Foundation. And in 1999, Texas A &M bolstered its commitment to women’s athletics with the addition of NCAA emerging sports archery and equestrian. Although the A &M archery team won six national team titles in six years, the sport did not grow as rapidly as expected at the collegiate level and was downgraded back to a club sport at A &M following the 2004-05 academic year.
EQUESTRIAN
T
he list of accomplishments compiled by A &M teams and athletes is impressive. After establishing a solid foundation as a nationally elite club team, the equestrian team has spent the last nine years riding high as a varsity athletic sport. The Aggie riders have won six national team titles with the most recent coming in western riding in 2007. This past season, the hunter seat, or English, half of the team stepped to the fore making it to the national championship match while the western team finished fifth, allowing A &M to earn a second straight runner-up overall finish at the national championships.
The Texas A & M softball team captured both the 2008 Big 12 regular season and tournament titles while earning its second consecutive berth into the Women's College World Series and reaching the championship series for the first time since 1987.
bronze-medal finish from freshman Jessica Beard in the 400 led to a program best seventh-place team finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
SOCCER
T
he women’s soccer team quickly developed into a perennial powerhouse once soccer became an intercollegiate scholarship sport at A &M 15 years ago. It only took two seasons before the surging Aggies burst into the national limelight. The A &M soccer team finished ranked No. 13 in the nation in 2007. The Aggies won the Big 12 regular season
title and made their 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. A&M, which has captured a total of 10 Big 12 regular season and tournament championships since the league formed in 1996, has hosted NCAA first-and second-round matches each of the past 13 years, and in 2005 and 2007 A &M had the prestigious privilege of hosting the Women’s College Cup. The Aggies will also serve as hosts of the national championship in 2009.
The women's soccer team celebrates after capturing its fourth consecutive Big 12 regular season title.
SOFTBALL
TRACK
&
FIELD
A
nother superlative season in Aggie track and field resulted in a program best finish on the NCAA level while Texas A &M successfully defended Big 12 titles during the indoor and outdoor seasons. In placing third outdoors at the NCAA Championships, the Aggies defended their 4 x 100 national title by running a school-record and collegiate-leading time of 42.59 seconds while senior Simone Facey and sophomore Porscha Lucas achieved a rare 1-2 finish in the 200. A silver-medal effort in the 4 x 400, along with a
2008-09 WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Porscha Lucas and Simone Facey team up to lead A & M to its second consecutive NCAA Championship in the 4 x 100 meter relay.
&
DIVING
he Aggie softball team has won three national titles — an AIAW crown in 1982 and NCAA championships in 1983 and 1987. The team has played in seven NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS), including back-to-back trips in 2007 and 2008, and has earned a berth in the NCAA playoffs 19 of the last 26 years. Under the direction of All-American pitcher Megan Gibson and fellow seniors Jamie Hinshaw and Jami Lobpries, A &M finished the 2008 season ranked No. 2 in the nation after reaching the WCWS championship series. The Aggies set a record for wins in a season after finishing the year at 57-10, while capturing their second Big 12 regular season title and first ever Big 12 Tournament title.
T E X A S A &M
T
The A & M hunter seat riders led the Aggies to their second consecutive second-place finish at the Varsity Equestrian National Championships.
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