Celebrating Iowa sports: Women's History Month
Iowans have made their mark in athletics on a grand scale
It certainly seems like 2024 is the Year of the Woman for Iowans. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is getting a lot of attention as she has become the NCAA’s all-time top scorer.
March is Women’s History Month, and so it’s fitting for me to recognize some of the Iowans that made an impact on and off the athletic stage.
Before I get started, let me say there are so many names I could list that I’ve tried to keep things short. I simply don’t have enough space — and would hate to leave out someone I think is deserving of mention.
But as someone who has followed girls’ and women’s sports in Iowa for decades and has a long career of writing about sports, I feel qualified as anyone to mention some notables.
I’ve selected 10 history makers — limiting my list to contributors that I’ve personally interviewed or covered in my 40-plus-year career of sportswriting.
A poster of record-setting Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark was displayed in a hallway near the locker rooms at the state girls’ basketball tournament in Wells Fargo Arena. (Photo by John Naughton.)
*Let’s start with Clark, who I first met when she was in middle school. She’s drawn unprecedented attention for women’s basketball this season while setting the NCAA Division I scoring record. She now has 3,771 points after Iowa defeated Nebraska for the Big Ten Conference tournament title.
Clark had a fantastic high school basketball career at West Des Moines Dowling Catholic. She still ranks No. 5 on the state’s five-player reaccareer scoring list with 2,547 points.
*Shawn Johnson. Like Clark, Johnson captured the hearts and minds of the state. Johnson grew up in West Des Moines, attended Valley High School and trained at Chow’s Gymnastics & Dance. She earned a gold medal in the Olympic balance beam competition in 2008 and took silver in the all-around and floor exercise. I was fortunate to write about her during her training days.
*While we’re on the topic of gymnastics, let’s recall that Gabby Douglas also trained at Chow’s. She moved to Iowa with the intent of Olympic success. In 2012, she won Olympic gold in the all-around competition and led the USA to a team gold medal.
*I’ve covered two Iowa high school volleyball players that went on to Olympic fame. Kayla Banwarth — perhaps the greatest defensive player ever to come out of Iowa — went from Dubuque Wahlert to the 2016 games, which won a bronze medal. Nancy (Meendering) Metcalf, who graduated from Western Christian of Hull, was a member of the 2004 USA Olympic team.
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