Ivy League Sports

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 to me 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 Manastyer 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 Ivy 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.