Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships

The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women’s athletics and to administer national championships. During its existence, the AIAW and its predecessor, the Division for Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS), recognized via these championships the teams and individuals who excelled at the highest level of women's collegiate competition.

After the 1981–82 academic year, the AIAW discontinued sponsorship of national championships and later was legally dissolved. At this time, the NCAA assumed sole sanctioning authority of its member schools' women's sports programs.

Governing bodies of women's collegiate athletics through 1982

The Division of Girls and Women's Sports (DGWS), a division of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER), was the first nationally recognized collegiate organization for women’s athletics and the forerunner of the AIAW. The Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) operated under the auspices of the DGWS. The CIAW governed from 1966 until February, 1972,[1] and conducted championships in eight sports.

During the 1972–73 season, the first full academic year of its operation, the AIAW offered its first eight national championships in the same eight sports (badminton, basketball, golf, gymnastics, softball, swimming & diving, track & field, and volleyball).

In years when small-college championships (Division II or III) were not contested, and in sports without divisions, there was open competition among eligible teams.

Except as noted below, the NCAA sponsored its first women's championship in each sport in the 1981–82 academic year. Individual athletic programs and, in some cases, individual teams within a program were permitted to choose to participate in either the AIAW or NCAA competitions (or both in a few instances). The NCAA has never sponsored championship competition in badminton, synchronized swimming, or slow-pitch softball.

In the sports of fencing, lacrosse, rowing and tennis, for completeness, the champions listed below include those bestowed by each sport's governing body prior to the beginning of AIAW championships in those sports.

Compilations of collegiate records by the NCAA, continuing into 2006, have ignored or segregated the contributions of AIAW athletes.[2][3][4] Major college basketball's career women's scoring leader, Lynette Woodard of the University of Kansas, speaking on the exclusion of AIAW statistics, said, "Basketball doesn't just start with when the NCAA blessed it. And it's not about Jackie [Stiles, NCAA career scoring leader] and it's not about Lynette. It's about history. History is history."[2]

Sports with AIAW/DGWS team championships by year

Year Badminton Basketball Cross
country 		Fencing Field
hockey 		Golf Gymnastics Lacrosse Rowing Skiing Soccer Softball Slow-pitch
softball 		Swimming
& diving 		Synchronized
swimming 		Tennis Track & field
(Indoor) 		Track & field
(Outdoor) 		Volleyball Total
1967–68 Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X 1
1968–69 Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X 5
1969–70 Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 8
1970–71 Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 8
1971–72 Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 8
1972–73 Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 8
1973–74 Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 8
1974–75 Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 8
1975–76 Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick 10
1976–77 Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick 13
1977–78 Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick 13
1978–79 Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick 13
1979–80 Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick 15
1980–81 Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick 17
1981–82 Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick 19
Totals 13 14 7 3 7 13 14 2 1 6 1 14 2 15 6 6 3 14 13 154

Badminton

AIAW championship 1973–82. Previously administered by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS).

After the last AIAW competition, collegiate badminton assumed the authority of its own national tournament committee in conjunction with the United States Badminton Association. The USBA continued the sponsorship of national collegiate championships from 1983. Wisconsin won in 1983. Arizona State won all ten titles from 1984 through 1993, when ASU dropped badminton.

Basketball

Pre-NCAA statistics, based on AIAW Archives, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.[5]

Division I (no division 1968–1974, Large College 1974–1979)

AIAW championship 1972–82. Previously administered by the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW).

Division II (Small College 1974–1979)

Division III

Junior/Community College

Cross Country

Division I (no division 1975–1979)

Division II

Division III

Fencing

AIAW championship 1980–82. Previously administered by the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association. The IWFA became the National IWFA in 1964 and called for a National Championship.

AIAW, 1980–1982:

The NIWFA has continued to sponsor national collegiate championships from 1983 through the present. From 1990 through the present the NCAA has sponsored a combined men's and women's team championship.

Field Hockey

Division I (no division 1975–1979)

Co-sponsored 1975–78 by the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA).

Division II

Division III

Golf

Division I (no division 1970–1980)

Team

Individual

Prior to the era of the CIAW/AIAW, the DGWS also crowned an individual collegiate golf national champion from 1941 to 1965.

Division II

Team

Individual

Division III

Team

Individual

Gymnastics

Division I (no division 1968–1977, Large College 1977–1979)

Division II (Small College 1977–1979)

Division III

Lacrosse

Division I

AIAW championship 1981–82. Administered 1978–80 by the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA).

Division II

Division III

Rowing

Only AIAW championship was in 1982. The National Women's Rowing Association (NWRA) sponsored an annual open eights national championship from 1971 to 1979, among college and non-college teams. (There were no eights prior to 1971.) During this period, only in 1973 and 1975 did a college team win the national eights championship outright. According to USRowing, contemporary news reports in 1976 and 1977 do not mention a national collegiate title. Beginning in 1980, the NWRA sponsored the Women's Collegiate National Championship in varsity eights.

NWRA Open Eights top college finishers, 1971–1979 (champion in parentheses):[7]

National Collegiate Varsity Eight Champions, 1980–1982:

1982 Rowing Event Winner
Varsity 8 Washington
Varsity 4 Pennsylvania
Lightweight 8 Harvard
Lightweight 4 Minnesota
Novice 8 Boston University
Novice 4 Minnesota
2nd Varsity 8 Washington

Additional notes:

Skiing

From 1983 through the present the NCAA has sponsored a combined men's and women's team championship.

Soccer

The 1980 tournament was not officially sanctioned by the AIAW. North Carolina, Harvard, Texas A&M, UCLA, Cortland State, Northern Colorado and Colorado State participated. One reason for the tournament was to earn an official sanction for the sport, by complying with and fulfilling guidelines set forth by the AIAW.

From Fall 1982 through the present the NCAA has sponsored a women's championship.

Fastpitch Softball

Division I (no division 1969–1979)

Women's College World Series

From 1969 to 1982, the women's collegiate softball championship was also known as the Women's College World Series and was promoted as such.[9] The Women's College World Series was played in Omaha, Nebraska, through 1979 and in Norman, Oklahoma, during 1980–1982.

AIAW championship 1973–82. Previously administered by the Amateur Softball Association and sanctioned by DGWS from 1969 to 1972. Co-sponsored by the AIAW and ASA through 1979.

Division II

Division III

Junior/Community College

Slowpitch Softball

After the last AIAW competition, a collegiate national championship in slow-pitch softball was held in 1983. The University of South Florida won. It appears that most of the college women's slow-pitch teams at that time were from Florida and North Carolina.

Swimming and Diving

Division I (no division 1968–1976, Large College 1977–1979)

Division II (Small College 1977–1979)

Division III

Synchronized Swimming

United States Synchronized Swimming has continued to sponsor national collegiate championships from 1983 through the present. From 1983 through 2004, Ohio State won 19 of the 22 titles. Arizona won in 1984. Stanford won in 1998, 1999, 2005 through 2008, 2013 and 2016. Ohio State won in 2009 through 2012, and 2015. Lindenwood won in 2014.

Tennis

Division I (no division 1968–1976, Large College 1977–1979)

AIAW championship 1977–82. Team championships were also bestowed from 1968[14] to 1979[15] by the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA). From 1958[16] to 1979,[15] the USLTA also crowned individual collegiate national champions in singles and doubles. (The 1979 USLTA team award appears to have been based on the AIAW results.[17][18])

‡ 1977, 1978 USLTA champion: USC[17][18]

Division II (Small College 1977–1979)

Division III

Indoor Track and Field

From 1983 through the present the NCAA has sponsored a women's team championship.

Outdoor Track and Field

Division I (no division 1969–1980)

AIAW championship 1972–82. The first National Intercollegiate Track and Field Championship was sponsored by DGWS in the spring of 1969.

Division II

Division III

Volleyball

Division I (no division 1969–1974, Large College 1975–1978)

AIAW championship 1973–82. Previously administered by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS).

Division II (Small College 1975–1978)

Division III

Junior/Community College

Bowling

The USBC (formerly ABC/Women’s International Bowling Congress) has conducted a women's intercollegiate bowling championship annually since 1975, although it was not an AIAW sport.[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ Su, Mila Chin Ying (May 2002). "Collegiate Women's Sports and a Guide to Collecting and Identifying Archival Materials" (PDF). The Pennsylvania State University. p. 99. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  2. 1 2 Hartsock, Andrew (March 3, 2001). "Woodard wants place in college record book / NCAA doesn't recognize AIAW accomplishments". KUsports.com. Lawrence Journal-World. Archived from the original on April 27, 2005.
  3. ↑ Blomenberg, Jennifer, ed. (November 2006). "Official 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball Records Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 18.
  4. ↑ "2005 Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2005.
  5. ↑ "Pre-NCAA Statistical Leaders and AIAW Results" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  6. ↑ "Utah Athletics Tradition" (PDF). UtahUtes.com. 2004. p. 82. Retrieved 2015-12-20. The women’s cross country team won the Division II AIAW Championship in 1981 (it joined the other Ute teams in Division I the following year).
  7. ↑ "Private email from USRowing Communications Director, January 10, 2006, Indianapolis, Indiana".
  8. ↑ "Private email from SUNY Cortland Sports Information Director, March 23, 2009, Cortland, New York".
  9. ↑ Mary L. Littlewood (1998). Women's Fastpitch Softball - The Path to the Gold, An Historical Look at Women's Fastpitch in the United States (first ed.). National Fastpitch Coaches Association, Columbia, Missouri. pp. 145, 208. ISBN 0-9664310-0-6.
  10. ↑ Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
  11. ↑ "Arizona State Sports Hall Of Fame Inductees - Women's Swimming". Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  12. ↑ "Individual National Champions By Year". Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  13. ↑ "Arizona State Swimming History". Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  14. ↑ "USTA supporting women’s collegiate tennis for nearly half a century".
  15. 1 2 "2008 USTA Yearbook - USTA Awards (Women’s National Collegiate Awards)". Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  16. ↑ Official USLTA Yearbook 1975. Lynn, Mass.: H. O. Zimman, Inc. 1975. p. 307.
  17. 1 2 "Trinity University 2008-2009 Women’s Tennis Media Guide" (PDF). p. 14. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  18. 1 2 "2004 USC Women's Tennis Media Guide" (PDF). p. 22. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  19. ↑ "Intercollegiate Bowling Past Champions". Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2007-01-23.

Sources

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