DECEMBER 2020 23
BY VINCE BRIEDIS
• 1954 — Mary Slaughter became the
first woman to letter in any sport at the Uni-
versity of Virginia and the first to participate
officially for a Virginia athletics team when
she participated on the men's tennis team.
• 1970 — The first undergraduate class
of women were admitted to the University
of Virginia.
• 1973 — Women's tennis, field hockey
and women's basketball become varsity
sports.
• 1973 — Lindsay Burn (women's ten-
nis), Chesley Garrett (field hockey) and
Barbara Kelly (women's basketball) were
named the first head coaches for UVA's first
women's varsity sports.
• 1974 — Women's
swimming and diving
became a varsity sport.
• 1976 — Women's la-
crosse became a varsity
sport.
• 1976 —
WENDY
W E I N B E R G
b e c o m e s
UVA's first female Olym-
pian. She won the bronze
medal in the 800-meter
freestyle at the Summer
Olympics in Montreal.
• 1977 — The Univer-
sity of Virginia offers the
first athletic scholarships
to women.
TIMELINE OF
WOMEN'S SPORTS
HISTORY AT UVA
Barbara Kelly (center) was instrumental in bringing about UVA's first three women's varsity intercol-
legiate teams in 1973-74 and served as the school's first women's basketball coach for two years.
PHOTO COURTESY UVA
Women's cross country became a varsity sport in 1978 and went on to be the first UVA women's team to win a national title just three years later.
PHOTO COURTESY UVA
YEARS OF WOMEN AT UVA
