The 2017-18 season marks the 25th anniversary of women’s athletics in the Missouri Valley Conference, and the 45th anniversary of Title IX.

The Missouri Valley Conference originated in 1907 and is the nation’s second-oldest conference in Division I athletic history; but the conference did not include women’s sports until 1992. Previously women had to compete under the Gateway Conference banner from 1982-92.

Ten sports celebrate their 25th anniversary as a part of the MVC in 2017: soccer, cross country, volleyball, swimming/diving, basketball, golf, tennis, softball, track and field. The first sport recognized was women’s soccer on October 19, 1992, and the last being field on May 8, 1993 — joining the list of official MVC sports five days after track was added.

In honoring the women and their 25 years of history, the ten institutions in the MVC have developed a list of initiatives with five goals in mind — to honor women student-athletes from the first 25 years of MVC competition, to recognize outstanding achievements during the first 25 years of women in the MVC, to bring attention to the current women student-athletes, to honor the Conference history of women’s sports and its pioneers and to enhance future progress of women student-athletes.

Although Southern originally claimed nine different women’s sports programs in the MVC — basketball, cross country, golf, softball, swimming/diving, volleyball and track and field — only eight currently remain after SIU retired its women’s tennis team following the 2016-17 season.

Saluki women have earned major success in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Southern softball team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five straight seasons, winning numerous MVC titles while appearing in the women’s College World Series four times.

“There’s been fantastic women in the MVC and it’s nice to see it being celebrated,” softball head coach Kerri Blaylock said. “There are many more opportunities for women now than there were 25 years ago.”

The women’s basketball team has finished as MVC regular season champs four times and conference tournament champions twice, leading to four visits to the NCAA tournament in the program’s history.

“The level of play in this league is outstanding,” head coach of women’s basketball Cindy Stein said. “There have been some tremendous players from this league and it’s a great thing to honor.”

Redshirt senior outside hitter for the SIU volleyball team Andrea Estrada is leaving her mark on MVC history, receiving several athletic awards in the conference during her four-year playing career while climbing the all-time kills list at SIU.

Redshirt junior cross country runner Megan Krolak has made her mark as well in MVC women’s athletics, impressing as a freshman competitor in the conference at Illinois State University before transferring to SIU to continue her competitive career. She recorded her first win as a Saluki at the first meet of the 2017 season — the Golden Eagle Invitational — hosted by Tennessee Tech on Sept. 2.

Senior freestyle swimmer Bryn Handley has recorded several event wins in the MVC during her four-year collegiate career. Currently in her final competitive season at SIU, she broke the 1,000-yard freestyle pool record at Missouri State on Oct. 7 with a time of 10:05.95 — eclipsing the previous record of 10:07.9 by a full two seconds.

Twin sophomore divers Beibei and Baobao Ji, in their first season as Salukis, have already made an impact in the MVC by combining for six wins in the one-meter and three-meter dive events this season.

Blaylock has 628 games under her belt through 18 seasons as head coach of the SIU softball team. She holds ownership to the best winning percentage out of all 500-win coaches in MVC history while also being the only coach in conference history to lead a team to five consecutive NCAA tournaments.

Since the MVC introduced women’s athletics to its list of sports in 1992, the conference has introduced a total of 22 women athletes, coaches and pioneers to the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame.

The first woman to be inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame was 1999 inductee Holli Hyche, a sprinter from Indiana State University.

Two Saluki women reside in the MVC Hall of Fame, 2005 Lifetime Achievement category inductee Dr. Charlotte West and 2012 Institutional Great category inductee Connie Price-Smith.

Dr. West served SIU for 42 years either as a coach, faculty member or administrator. She retired from the associate athletic director position in 1998 after twelve years in the office.

Price-Smith is one of the most-decorated track and field athletes to ever compete at SIU, and returned to coach both sports for 14 years before accepting the women’s track coach position at the University of Mississippi for the 2015 season.

Three more women’s athletes will enter the MVC Hall of Fame in 2018  — cross country runner Mary Ellen Hill-Schupbach of Bradley University; retired multi-sport coach and former Director of Women’s Sports Programs Lois Patton of the University of Edwardsville; and softball player and former U.S. Olympic team member Dani Tyler of Drake University.

With SIU historically represented in nine of the MVC’s ten women’s sports, it is only a matter of time till another Saluki women’s athlete receives the call to the Hall of Fame to join Dr. West and Price-Smith as representatives of Southern’s championship sports history.

Sports reporter Dillon Gilliland can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DillonGilliland.

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