The 2007 women's basketball team was perhaps the best women's team in BGSU Athletics history, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
Legacy Series 6: BG Women Create Hall Of Fame Legacy
October 02, 2014 | General, Heritage Sports
Share:
Paradigm shift leads to Hall for increasing number of female student-athletes
By: by Jack Carle, Special for BGSUFalcons.com
CLICK HERE to visit the Legacy Weekend website CLICK HERE for information about the Athletics Walk of Fame and History, featuring the Cochrane Cunningham Archive and Museum JOIN THE FALCON CLUB NOW!
Legacy Series Part One - Legacy Weekend To Take Place In October Legacy Series Part Two - Falcon Club Celebrating 50th Anniversary Legacy Series Part Three - Hall Of Fame Celebrating 50th Anniversary Legacy Series Part Four - Hall Of Fame Honors Rich History Of BGSU Athletics Legacy Series Part Five - Legendary Coaches Make Their MarkThis is the sixth in a series of stories about the upcoming Falcon Athletics Legacy Weekend planned by the Bowling Green State University Athletics Department. BGSU Athletics will be recognizing the 50th anniversaries of both the Falcon Club and the Hall of Fame, while also promoting the BGSU Athletics Walk of Fame and History, featuring the Cochrane Cunningham Archive and Museum. As well, BGSU Athletics will recognize our Heritage sports -- those no longer fielded by the University.
BGSU Athletics is proud to announce that Jack Carle, who recently retired as beat writer for BGSU Athletics after more than 35 years of covering Falcon sports, is providing his insight for our Legacy Weekend series. Please check BGSUFalcons.com regularly as Jack tells the stories of BGSU's rich athletics history.
Over the first 50 years of the Bowling Green State University Athletics Hall of Fame, 222 individuals and two teams have been inducted. While the vast majority of those Hall of Fame members are male, representation has increased steadily for females, particularly over the past two decades. Â
While individual Athletics Directors at Bowling Green have tweaked the criteria for the Hall of Fame, more females have been considered for induction over the past four decades based on increased opportunities to be recognized. The passing of Title IX in 1972 ushered in a new era of women's athletics and BGSU's women's teams were consolidated into the Athletics Department four years later. The NCAA began recognizing national champions in women's sports in the early 1980s, providing more opportunities for recognition. These changes provided a platform for women's sports to be recognized on even footing with men's sports.
"There are some people who are ready to go as soon as they are eligible," Fran Voll, the BGSU women's basketball coach from 1984-91, said. "It's been pretty amazing how this has all evolved over time."
Currently there are fewer than three dozen females in the Hall of Fame with three – Dorothy Luedtke, Sara Collas, and Laura Murphy – being inducted in multiple areas or sports. Luedtke, the first female inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, is listed as an athlete and a coach. Collas (2006) and Murphy (1991) were inducted for both cross country and track.
With nine inductees, women's basketball leads the way among female sports at BGSU. Volleyball and track and field are next each with five inductees.
Since the turn of the century, women have made a larger impact on the Hall of Fame with 19 athletes inducted from 2000-09, including four of the eight inductees in 2001, four of the seven in 2004 and four of the nine in 2009.
Linda (Popovich) Nicastro, a standout volleyball player for the Falcons who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995, said it's assured more women will be inducted.
"There are more women's sports than men's sports at Bowling Green," Nicastro said. "I trust and am confident that the criteria for the (selection) committee are fair and objective. I'm sure that it will just be a matter of time before those numbers (for women) go up."
Women's sports at Bowling Green came under athletics department governance in the 1976-77 athletic year and competition in the Mid-American Conference began in 1980-81. Through the years, there have been many magical moments including women's basketball's trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007, Marny Oestreng's 1999 national championship on the floor in gymnastics, back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for women's soccer in 2004 and 2005, volleyball's NCAA Tournament second round trip in 2012 and four softball NCAA appearances. But it took a long time for the women's teams to gain the opportunities and platforms that the men's teams have had for more than 100 years.
"When I got to BG, and not to short-change anybody else, the sports that were noticeable were volleyball and women's basketball," Voll said.
In seven seasons, Voll compiled a 144-60 record while leading the Falcons to four NCAA Tournament appearances, four MAC tournament titles and three Mid-American Conference regular season championships. His teams were 89-27 in MAC regular season play and had a 10-3 record in the MAC tournament. He was inducted into the BGSU Hall of Fame in 2002.
"We kind of put a spotlight on it," Voll continued. "We were able to put some attention to it, and that's not to short-change people who coached the other sports. All of a sudden people we're beginning to understand that these women were quite legitimate with the proficiency with how they played and what they were able to do. Now you have people coming to the forefront who were all-conference or All-Americans."
 BGSU Volleyball advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012 -- an opportunity paved by predecessors such as Linda Nicastro.Nicastro was one of the athletes who helped pave the way in the late 1980s. She is the only Falcon volleyball player to have her number in the Cast of Honor, the most prestigious award that can be presented to a former BGSU student-athlete by the athletics department.
She was a three time All Mid-American Conference selection, the MAC Freshman of the Year in 1986, the MAC Player of the Year in 1989, and -- along with Tammy Schiller -- the first Falcon player ever to earn All-Mideast honors (second team, 1989). She never missed a match during her four years at Bowling Green.
"When I came to Bowling Green, I thought they were very important," Nicastro said about women's sports. "I always thought it was an honor to play at Bowling Green. I loved volleyball, loved it much more than my other high school sports. So when I got the opportunity to get a scholarship and play at the Division I level, it was just tremendous."
Nicastro said she couldn't have had the success she did at Bowling Green without the help of her teammates.
"As an athlete who is in the Cast of Honor or the Hall of Fame, if you are from a team sport you have to share that recognition with your teammates and your coach," she said. "We did accomplish some unprecedented things when I was on that team."
In the 20th century, female student-athletes were trailblazers. Now in the 21st century, women student-athletes have many role models to follow.
"Back in the early years most of the mothers had not played sports and it was a very new thing for them, having daughters involved in athletics at all levels," Voll said. "Then you just could see it evolve where the mothers were having children and passing it down. Today it's pretty routine in relationship to where the guys have been for so many years. Now we are in that kind of a flow."
Another reason for the growth of women's athletics is due in large part to the additional opportunities at all levels.
"As a casual observer, my guess is, and I think it will be supported by data, is that women's sports have grown a lot since I was at Bowling Green," Nicastro said. "There is a lot more visibility in the media, online and on TV. There are a lot of avenues to view sports, including women's sports. There is more exposure and there are more opportunities. I also think girls start playing sports younger and more seriously than I did at that age. There are a lot more specialization opportunities for travel teams and club teams, and they are training year-round."
With all of those considerations, it is no surprise that women's sports at Bowling Green have elevated to a level once only reserved for men's teams. As women continue to excel at BGSU, groundbreaking pioneers like Luedtke and Nicastro should be viewed in the context they deserve -- as trendsetters who paved the way for the athletic opportunities all women now enjoy.
More information on the athletics Hall of Fame can be found in the Stroh Center as part of the Cochrane Cunningham Archive and Museum. A complete list of Hall of Fame members is available by CLICKING HERE.
