Pac-12 Conference

25 Years Women's Sports - Softball It is a landmark year for the Pac-10 as it celebrates 25 years of women's athletics in 2010-2011. Since expanding to add 10 women's sports in 1 986-87, the Conference has been the leader of excellence in women's athletics, winning more NCAA titles than any other conference. Pac-10 teams have won 123 women's national titles, 106 coming in the last 25, easily outdistancing the SEC, which is second on the list with 74. In 1993, the Pac-10 added women's soccer, for a total of 11 total women's sports sponsored by the Pac-10. Since the NCAA began conducting women's championships 29 years ago, Pac-10 members have claimed at least four national titles in a single season on 21 occasions. Pac-10 institutions have dominated a number of sports, winning 22 softball titles, 13 of the last 21 trophies in golf, and 11 in swimming and diving. There is arguably no sport that represents the Pac-10's prowess in women's sports better than softball. The Conference has won 22 of 29 NCAA softball titles, more than any other Conference in the country. UCLA leads the way with 10 titles (, ARIZONA has captured eight, and ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA and WASHINGTON each have one title a piece. All eight Pac-10 teams have made at least one NCAA Women's College World Series appearance, as 11 of the 29 championship games series played have included two Pac-10 teams. Most recently, the Pac-10 has been led by strong pitchers like Washington's Danielle Lawrie, who under the leadership of head coach Heather Tarr, led Washington to its first NCAA softball title in 2009. Lawrie set the Pac-10 career strikeout record by in 2010 and is now a star on the Canadian National Team. In 2010, UCLA made a run to the NCAA title, defeating Pac-10 rival Arizona in the final, behind the hitting and pitching of the dynamic Megan Langenfeld, the 2010 Pac-10 Player of the Year. While some schools have supported softball programs since the AIAW years, official Pac-10 play did not begin until 1987 with six schools participating. Stanford and Washington added programs and joined the league in 1993. Conference teams have consistently been at the top of the polls and in the WCWS. UCLA and Arizona dominated the 1990's and have battled for the league and national titles nearly every year. For more visit: www.pac-10.org/women25years

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