The Title IX Honor Roll recognizes 50 athletes, coaches, administrators, media, and supporters identified for their contributions to women’s athletics in Minnesota by a selection committee formed by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota.

Gabe (Anderson) Grunewald-Perham
MN native Grunewald was a University of Minnesota Track All-American and selected to the All-Big Ten seven times. She holds the Gophers' school record for the 1,500 and is a part of two school-record relay teams. She was also a national runner-up in 2010 for the 1,500-meter race.

Rachel Banham
As an 8th grader, Banham was a standout starter for the Lakeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team, and she went on to win every award possible by her senior year. She chose to play for the University of Minnesota winning both the Freshman All American First Team and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. After being redshirted as a senior, Banham set a Big Ten career scoring record and climbed to sixth in all-time NCAA Division I scoring, also becoming one of 11 players in NCAA women’s basketball history to put up 3,000 points. She was selected 4th overall in the 2016 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Suns, however, she came back home to play for the Minnesota Lynx in 2020

Patty Berg
A Minneapolis native and former University of Minnesota golfer, Berg was the founder and first president of the LPGA. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for the most major wins by a female golfer. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and won the inaugural U.S Women's Open. She was honored as the Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year 3 times.

Rachel Blount
A seasoned sports reporter for the Star Tribune since 1990, Blount covers a variety of topics, including the Olympics, MN Wild, college sports, and horse racing. She won several state and national writing awards. Blount is originally from Iowa.

Winny Brodt-Brown
Brodt-Brown was the oldest player in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). She was the first winner of the Minnesota Ms. Hockey Award in 1996. A silver medalist at the 2001 IIHF Women's World ice hockey championships, Brodt-Brown is a Roseville native.

Margaret Chutich
A current member of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Justice Chutich was the co-captain of both the varsity tennis and basketball teams at Anoka High School. She won the MSHLS tennis championship in 1975 and was the runner-up in 1974. Chutich was the starting point guard at Stanford University her freshman year. After transferring to the University of Minnesota, she played on the tennis team; she won the Big Ten Championship in #6 Singles and was the Big Ten Runner-Up in #1 Doubles. Even as a Supreme Court Justice, she finds the time to play tennis or golf every week.

Janet Cobbs
A California native, Cobbs attended Concordia Academy High School in Minnesota, where she became a multi-sport athlete. In 1984, she led the volleyball team to the Class A state championship, and in 1985, she was named Metro Basketball Player of the Year. She played on the US National team and won a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics. She also played professional volleyball with the Minnesota Monarchs.

June Courteau
Courteau, a St. Paul, MN native, recently retired after 51 years as a women’s basketball official and most recently as a NCAA national coordinator of officiating. She is one of the most respected officials in the history of women’s basketball and a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Courteau has officiated 12 NCAAW Final Fours, five NCAAW championship games, 13 WNBA Finals, two WNBA All-Star games, and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

John and Sage Cowles
Sage and John Cowles Jr. supported sports and arts initiatives throughout the Twin Cities including the Guthrie Theater, Walker Art Center, and local dance community. They supported the funding of the Cowles Conservatory in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, and the Minneapolis Cowles Center for Dance. The University of Minnesota's Jane Sage Cowles Softball Stadium is named after their daughter that was built through their funding.

Ronda Jo Donatucci (Miller)
As a deaf athlete, Donatucci was inducted into the Gallaudet University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, where she was an outstanding basketball and volleyball player. She was a three-time Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American first-team selection, three-time Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Player of the Year and holds numerous records.

Jean Freeman
Freeman was the women's swimming team head coach for the University of Minnesota for 31 years. She coached the team to two Big Ten titles and was named Big Ten's Women's Coach of the Year four times. The world-renown Aquatic Center was renamed after her. She is also in the Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Belmar Gunderson
Gunderson was the Women’s Athletic Director of the University of Minnesota. She is credited with beginning 10 women's varsity sports and hired Jean Freeman as the head swimming coach. She was also a top-ranked tennis player in the US, reaching No. 11 in singles and competed at Wimbledon four times.

Susan C. Hagel
Hagel has competed in 6 Paralympic Games, winning 3 gold medals in archery, 1 gold medal for wheelchair basketball, plus, multiple silver and bronze medals. She was National Wheelchair Archery Champion for 20 years in a row and is a member of the National Wheelchair Athletic Association Hall of Fame. As a member of the national championship women’s wheelchair basketball teams at the University of Illinois and as a Minnesota Rolling Gopher/Minnesota Rolling Timberwolf, she was honored as only the second woman to be inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame. Her participation in 14 USA National Basketball Teams led to being the first woman to receive the International Wheelchair Basket Federation Gold Medal Triad Award. She has served on local, national, and international committees while promoting sports opportunities for girls and women.

Charles Hallman
Hallman is a contributing writer at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder in Minneapolis, the oldest Black newspaper in Minnesota. A long-time supporter of women's sports, he focuses on more representation of athletes and sports in society.

Rose Hollermann
At the age of 6, a tragic accident put Hollermann in a wheelchair. Going through rehabilitation at Courage Center, she became a multi-sport wheelchair athlete. At age 15, she was the youngest person to qualify for the national wheelchair basketball team. The team won a gold medal, and she went on to compete and win medals in two Parapan American and 2016 Paralympic Games as a University of Texas athlete. She is from Elysian, MN.

Carol Howe-Veenstra
Howe-Veenstra was a trailblazer and champion for women in athletics during her 30 years as a coach and administrator at College of St. Benedict. Serving for 15 years as the head volleyball coach, she coached 10 All-Americans and led the Blazers to 11 NCAA Division III Tournaments. In 2011, she received the Nell Jackson Administrator of the Year Award from Women Leaders in Sports.

Faith Johnson-Patterson
Minneapolis native, Johnson-Patterson is one of the greatest coaches in Minnesota prep history. She was the first African American woman to coach a team to a Minnesota girls’ basketball state championship in 1998 and went on to win a record eight state titles. A Hall of Fame basketball coach at North HS and DeLaSalle HS, she came out of retirement and currently is coaching again at Visitation HS.

Mary Jo Kane
Kane received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Champaign with an emphasis in sports sociology. She taught at the University of Minnesota School of Kinesiology and served as director from 2005-2011. As the Founder of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women Sport, she has been honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the MN Coalition of Women in Athletic Leadership. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sports.

Janet Karvonen
The pride of New York Mills, MN, Karvonen was a pioneer for girls’ basketball in Minnesota, becoming the tenacious face of Minnesota girls’ high school sports from 1977-1980. She set the MSHSL career scoring record, for boys and girls, with 3129 points which stood until 1997. She was Ms. Basketball her senior season when she scored 845 points. She made Final Four appearances for both teams.

Pat Lamb
Lamb was the first director of the Women's Athletic Department at Carleton College from 1972-85. She was instrumental in establishing varsity sports programs for women and served as the Carlton tennis coach, leading the team to eight ACM championships. Inducted in Minnesota Tennis Hall of Fame and recognized as NCAA Div. III National Coach of Year in 1992, Lamb was a Title IX pioneer.

Jocelyne Larocque
As a Canadian, Larocque led the University of Minnesota- Duluth hockey team to two national championships. In her final year at Duluth in 2010-11, she was selected a First Team All-American and was one of the finalists for the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top college player in the country. An Olympian for Team Canada, Larocque finished her four-year career at UMD as the highest-scoring defensive player in school history, garnering 105 points in 127 games.

Peggy Lucas
Peggy Lucas is a founder and partner in Brighton Development, a housing development company known for its small, inner-city infill projects and historic preservation. Lucas, the co-chair of the 1995 Women’s Final Four, is a former member of the Board of Regents at the University of Minnesota. Her previous activities include the University of Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees, the Humphrey School Dean's Advisory Council and the Women's Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Council, and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.

Judy Mahle Lutter
St. Paul native, Lutter discovered running as a graduate student and finished 16th in the 1978 Boston marathon with a time of 2:56:30. It gave her the platform to co-find the Melpomene Institute, bring cutting-edge research to ordinary girls and women, and develop programs to engage them in leading healthy lives. She is a member of the Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame.

Shani Marks-Johnson
Marks, a former Golden Gopher standout in Track and Field, went on to win multiple USA Championships and ultimately compete in the Olympic Games. She previously served as a coach for the Gophers in the long jump and triple jump from 2003-2009 and 2012-2014. She coached at her high school alma mater, Apple Valley High, and is currently the head coach at Southwest Christian High School in Chaska, MN.

Joel Maturi
Maturi, originally from Chisholm, Minnesota, is a retired educator, coach, and athletic administrator. He served 20 years as a high school coach and administrator, including June 1972 when Title IX was passed, before entering college athletic administration. He was named the Director of Athletics at the University of Minnesota in 2002 and served 10 years. He helped merge the Men’s and Women’s Athletic Departments and, as a strong and dedicated backer of gender equity, became the first director of both the men’s and the women’s departments. In addition, Joel assisted in a new football and multi-purpose stadium in 2009 and opening new tennis, women’s hockey, boathouse, and baseball facilities during his tenure.

Dorothy McIntyre
McIntyre was the first woman employed by the Minnesota High School League in 1970. Because of her efforts and commitment to gender equity, today, over 3,659 teams participate in 23 different sports, including adaptive athletics. A Title IX advocate and pioneer, she served Minnesota State High School League for 3 decades and is in the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.

Dave and Linda Mona
Dave and Linda Mona have been huge supporters of the University of Minnesota athletics. Linda advocated the benefits of Title IX as they actively recruited volunteers and donors to invest in the student-athletes. Linda was the co-chair of the 1995 Women’s Final Four and together they co-chaired the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship at Interlachen

Maya Moore
A beloved WNBA MN Lynx player hails from Jefferson City, MO. She was called the greatest winner in the history of women's basketball by Sports Illustrated, winning two college national basketball championships at Connecticut, four WNBA titles with the Lynx, and two Olympic gold medals. Moore worked off the court for racial justice around prison reform and prosecutorial reform in the American justice system. She took a sabbatical from basketball in 2019, 2020, and 2021 to focus 100% on her racial justice advocacy.

Tamara Moore
A Minneapolis native, Moore played basketball for Minneapolis North HS. She went on to play basketball in Wisconsin - Madison and was drafted 15th overall in the 2002 draft by the Miami Sol. She is the current men's basketball head coach at Mesabi Range College in Virginia, Minnesota. Moore is the second female head coach of a men's team and is the 1st African American female. Moore also owns a Men’s and Women’s Minor Basketball League (OBA/WOBA).

Cindy Nelson
A former World Cup alpine ski racer from Lutsen, Nelson has raced in all five disciplines and made the US Ski Team at age 16. In 1974, she was the first-ever American to gain a World Cup victory in downhill skiing. A member of four U.S. Winter Olympic teams, she won a silver medal at Worlds in 1982 and a bronze in 1976.

Wendy Nelson
Minnesota native Nelson’s athletic career started by leveraging Title IX and successfully competing on all-boys teams in baseball, soccer, and hockey. Nelson turned her focus to tennis, given it was the only sport that had a clear pathway to compete professionally. She competed on the pro-tour after playing as a Division I scholarship athlete for Northwestern University, ranking in the Top 25 and earning a birth into the NCAA tournament. At Northwestern, she founded the Champions for Wildcat Women, an organization to celebrate, inspire and raise funds to ensure equity for women athletes. Nelson is Chair of the Carlson Family Foundation and holds board positions in both for-profit and non-profit entities including Positive Coaching Alliance and Inner-City Tennis of Minneapolis.

Elvera “Peps” Neuman
Neuman started playing basketball as a young girl using a hoop attached to her family farm's dairy barn. She became instrumental in helping to develop the Girls Athletic Association for Eden Valley - Watkins during her senior year in 1962. She's a pioneer in women's basketball and the gymnasium in her hometown is now named after her. Her enthusiasm for the Gopher women’s basketball is legendary – she is known as “the Blanket Lady” – waving her maroon and gold fleece at all the games.

Maggie Nichols
A former collegiate artistic gymnast, Nichols was the ninth NCAA gymnast to complete a Gym Slam - scoring a perfect 10 on each apparatus as a University of Oklahoma student-athlete. She won the Arthur Ashe Award for speaking out against the USA Gymnastics team doctor and the Inspiration NCAA Award & Honda Sports Award. Nichols is currently an assistant coach at Oklahoma. She is from Little Canada.

Lea B Olsen
Olsen began her basketball career in her junior year at Minneapolis South High School. She went on to play two seasons at Minneapolis Community College and then became the first walk-on to become a captain for the Golden Gophers basketball team. A journalism major, Olsen worked on ESPN's national WNBA coverage, as a game analyst for the Minnesota Lynx, TV sideline reporter for the Timberwolves, along with numerous college and high school games. She is the founder of Rethink the Win, an organization that champions young athletes as complete people and the positive impacts of sports beyond the game.

Cheryl Reeve
Head coach and general manager, Reeve led the Minnesota Lynx to four WNBA championships. As the assistant coach for the women’s USA Basketball team, the teams garnered two Olympic Gold medals. Reeve has won the most games of any female coach, and the most postseason games of any coach. Coach Reeve is an Honorary Chair of the 2022 Women's Final Four.

Kathleen and Robert Ridder
A strong advocate and supporter of women's athletics, philanthropist and businessman Robert Ridder co-chaired the task force to build a rink for the women's hockey team at the University of Minnesota but died before completion. Kathleen, a dedicated and ardent support of women's athletics, dedicated her life to give access to opportunities in education and athletics for women. Ridder felt that supporting women's athletics was a means to help women succeed in life and the business world. A scholarship in the Ridder's name is given to a woman on the hockey team each year.

Linda Roberts
Roberts’ exploits on the basketball court are legendary. As the starting center and team captain of Central’s 1976 state championship girls’ basketball team (the first girls' state championship), she earned all-conference and all-state honors. At the University of Minnesota, she was one of the most highly respected basketball players in the Big Ten. She was twice nominated for the prestigious Margaret Wade Trophy. Roberts is in three halls of fame—the Minnesota State High School League, University of Minnesota, and Central High School. A visible and recognizable role model, Roberts served in different valuable positions in the University of Minnesota Athletics Department for 27 years.

Amanda Rome
Rome, a Chaska High School volleyball standout, is a former DI volleyball player and won the national championship at Penn State University. After graduating from Penn State, she went on to get a law degree at Georgetown and is now the first-ever female EVP and General Counsel at Xcel Energy. In addition, Rome is a 2022 Women’s Final Four Local Organizing Committee Executive Board member.

Mark Rosen
Rosen, the legendary sportscaster who spent 50 years at WCCO-TV, has been covering women’s sports for 50 years since Title IX was enacted in 1972. A St. Louis Park native, Rosen began his broadcasting career as an unpaid intern in 1969 and went on to anchor, report, and interview some of the sport’s greatest legends. One of his first live interviews was with Teresa Tierney Mauer, the co-captain of the St. Paul Central girls state championship basketball team in 1976. Today, you can find Rosen on KFAN and working with the MN Vikings.

Alexis Shifflett
Shifflett, a Waseca native, is a current athlete for the Women’s Paralympic Sitting Volleyball team that won a silver medal in 2014 and a gold medal in the 2016 Paralympic Games. She was awarded the 2016 Wilma Rudolph Award as a part of the 2016 Minnesota National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Toni Stone
Stone was one of the first women to play professional baseball full-time for the Indianapolis Clowns in the previously all-male Negro leagues. In 1953, she was signed to play 2nd base, the position Hank Aaron played before joining the major leagues. Stone, a St. Paul native, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

Glen Taylor
Taylor is the owner of the four-time WNBA championships winning Minnesota Lynx and Minnesota Timberwolves. He always had faith and persistence in the Lynx. He remained committed to making the Lynx a winning franchise by bringing top talent to the team, including hometown hero and former Golden Gopher Lindsay Whalen and the winningest coach in women's basketball, Cheryl Reeve.

Penny Tollefson-Nelson
Class of 1992 graduate, Tollefson-Nelson was an Academic All-American in each of her four seasons on Hamline University’s swimming and diving team and a four-year MIAC All-Conference performer. For her efforts, Nelson was named the NCAA Woman of the Year in 1992 and inducted into the Piper Athletic Association Hall of Fame 2004. She has coached swimming and been involved in promoting girls in leadership and athletics. She currently is an Occupational Therapist for the Saint Paul Public Schools.

Kelly (Underkofler) Delander
Delander is a three-time Nordic Skiing Paralympian with top ten finishes in 2002, 2006, and 2010. She won the Third-Place Overall title in Biathlon for the 2006-2007 World Cup season. Previously working as an Adaptive and Youth program coach for The Loppet Foundation, she now serves in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry. She is in progress toward her Master of Divinity degree and is passionate about building strong, useful, beautiful lives in the community.

Heather Van Norman
A former track runner at the University of Minnesota and Louisiana State University, Van Norman was a 12-time NCAA All-American for the Tigers winning three-straight NCAA outdoor titles from 1991-93, two indoor national titles in 1991, and 1993 and won both indoor and outdoor SEC titles in 1993 and 1995. However, a Windom, MN native, her career began at the University of MN where she was named Freshman Track Athlete of the Year in 1988 and was inducted in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Hall of Fame in 2017. Over a 28-year span of coaching Division I Programs, she worked for Rice University, Georgia Tech, was a head coach at Tulane University, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and was a head coach at Nicholls State University. Van Norman currently serves as the Executive Director of the OBJ Foundation and is an advisor for Black Women Initiative at LSU.

Chris Voelz
From 1988 to 2002 Voelz was the longest-tenured women's athletic director at the University of Minnesota. She set attendance, academic, and fundraising records added eight athletic facilities and added three sports. She co-authored the NCAA Guidelines for Gender Equity. Voelz is the Collegiate Women Sports Awards executive director and owns her own consulting business (Athletics Plus).

Mallory Weggemann
An Eagan native, Weggemann was a Gold and Bronze Medalist as a swimmer at the 2012 Paralympic Games. She won an ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability. Author and motivational speaker, Weggemann is training for the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Krissy Wendell-Pohl
Wendell-Pohl, an American ice hockey player, set an NCAA record for most short-handed goals in one season as a University of Minnesota Golden Gopher. After her college career, she held the record for most career short-handed goals, with 16. Wendell-Pohl was one of the United States women's national ice hockey team stars and served as their team captain. She was a member of the US team at the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal. She was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

Niltooli Wilkins
Wilkins, a Native American athlete, played tennis for the University of Minnesota, and University of North Carolina - Greensboro. As a junior, Wilkins set the school record for singles wins with a 30-6 mark. She was a nationally ranked double player and went 26-11 in doubles to win the Southern Conference Player of the Year Award. She is now a tennis professional and teaches at Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center.

Alise (Post) Willoughby
A St. Cloud native, Willoughby is a BMX Cycling Bicycle Motocross racer who has the moniker of "The Beast." She is headed to Tokyo for her third Olympics. She won silver in Rio 2016. She has won 5 medals in the World Championship – 2 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronzes. Willoughby is a St. Cloud Technical HS and the University of San Diego graduate.