Year for his womens tennis team in 1985 and as Co-Coach of the Year in 1987. Weber has established very competitive womens running programs in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. Bob Hill was Webers first coach for the program in 1978-1979 and 1979-1980 and Jim Blaisdell has directed these teams since 1980-1981. In cross-country the Lady Wildcats competed in Division Two through the 1981-1982 season and in Division One after joining MWAC and the NCAA in 1982-1983. Weber has always competed in Division One in its track programs. While competing in Division Two Carmen Garduno first qualified for the national cross-country meet in 1980 and in 1981 won the regional meet and placed fourth in the national meet, thereby securing Ail-American honors. Weber has always had consistently strong finishes in the conference cross-country meet. In 1984 the team placed second, one point behind Montana. Michelle Green won All-Conference honors for three consecutive years in the sport in 1984, 1985, and 1986, for finishing among the top ten runners in the league meet. Others who have received the same honor include Becky Wayment and Diana Jones in 1983, Camille Davis 1984, and Mari Green in 1986. Webers indoor track program has been carried out on a more limited basis than the other womens running programs. During its first four years of existence Weber women athletes participated in a limited regular season schedule and the AIAW region meet. MWAC meets in the sport have only been conducted in 1983, 1984, and 1988. The Lady Wildcats won the 1984 title as Connie Washington won both the 400-meter run and the long jump, Shirley K. Wilcots won the 55-meter dash, and DeAnn Edmonston, Lori Tolley, Becky Wayment, and Camille Davis combined to win the two-mile relay for the Lady Wildcats. Blaisdell was named the conference Coach of the Year and District Seven Coach of the Year after that season. Individually, Stephanie Clements qualified in 1986 for the NCAA National Indoor Track Meet in the 500 meters although the conference did not hold its own meet that year. In 1988 Paula John qualified for the national meet in the high jump, tied for sixth by clearing 6-0, thereby receiving Ail-American honors. Webers outdoor track and field program has been equally competitive. After joining the MWAC, Weber has placed sixth, second, third, second, and fourth both in 1987 and 1988 in the conference meet. During the first years of the program Carmen Garduno was Webers most successful individual performer as she gained All-American honors in the AIAW Division Two meet in 1982 in both the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. A number of individual performers have distinguished themselves recently. In 1986, when Weber placed second, Michelle Green was selected the meets Most Valuable Performer as she won all three of the distance races of 3000, 5000, and 10,000 meters. Teri Okelberry won the javelin at both the 1987 and 1988 meets. She qualified for the National NCAA Track Meet on both occasions, finishing ninth each year and earning All-American status on both occasions. Okelberry also finished sixth in the event during the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials. Several other Lady Wildcats have won All-Conference honors by placing first or second in their events. Camille Davis Tueller received this honor for four consecutive seasons from 1983-1986. Valynn Spafford and Connie Kelly Washington both did so for three seasons in 1983,1984, and 1985. Others who have been All-Conference at least twice include Michelle Green, Paula John, and Okelberry. Those who have won such recognition once include Liz Dolezal, Shellie Coleman, Shirley K. Wilcots, Tammy Coombs, Sharon Anderson, Tina McCombs, Niki Nye, Becky Wayment, Stephanie Clements, Dana Willie, Lucky Ikoh, and Shauna Turner. Webers athletic program has been directed since 1962-1963 by Reed K. Swen-son until 1968, Dale Gardner from 1968-1969 to 1976-1977, Gary Crompton from 1976-1977 to 1987-1988, and Mike Price who assumed this position in July 1988. The womens program has been supervised within the department by Joy Wood from 1972 to 1976, Jane Miner from 1976 to 1986, and Assistant Athletic Director Richard Ordyna since 1986. The college has established an athletic program that has been competitive in all conference sports. Mens athletic teams have won 44 Big Sky championships during the leagues 25-year existence. This is considerably more than its nearest rival, the University of Montana, which has won 33- Weber State has also won the Big Sky All-Sports trophy eight times: in 1968,1969, 1970, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, and 1985. This recognition is given to the school with the highest cumulative standing in all league sports for a single season. Boise State ranks second among league schools in this competition with four titles.Weber States athletic success has also been accomplished with the conferences fourth largest budget and certainly the most limited resources for athletics among Utahs Big 4 schools. Webers program has always been clean with no record of conference or NCAA penalties during its entire existence. The only tarnish upon this image was a reprimand from the Inter-mountain Conference in 1942 because Weber disbanded its football team before the season was finished and the annoyance expressed by some conference schools in 1947 as a result of Webers short-lived decision to leave the junior college league. Both the mens and womens programs have fulfilled another major purpose of intercollegiate athletics, to provide avenues of opportunity for Wildcat student athletes to secure an excellent education while participating in sports at the same time. The average GPA, for example, of all Weber student athletes for the spring quarter of 1987-1988 was 2.73. The average GPA of the Weber womens track team at the same time was 3.29 and that of the mens team in the same sport was 3.21. The graduation rates for both men and women student athletes is generally above the campus average. The intercollegiate athletic program is only part of the larger mission of the entire college. But Webers scholar athletes for over eighty years have forged a tradition of competitive excellence that has provided fond memories for their fans and a challenge to their successors who wear the Purple and White.