Soon after Western celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX by inviting hundreds of its early women athletes back to campus to award them varsity letters, alum Terri McMahan, who spearheaded the committee to track down those pioneers, made a startling discovery.
Just two of eight women’s sports at Western were “fully funded” — meaning the number of scholarships paid for by the school fell short of the number allowed by the NCAA Division II.
In some cases, far short. Welcome to the flip side of college athletics. While Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) dollars and transfer portal news dominate NCAA Division I headlines, it’s a different story in Division II, where money for athletic scholarships, especially women’s, is hard to come by.
The NCAA declares a sport “fully funded” with 90% of its equivalency limit reached. For 2023–24, no women’s sport is at 90, with basketball closest at 89%.
“WWU has not had the funding (sponsor, donor and institutional) support to fund scholarships to the full NCAA D2 limits either for our female or male sports,” wrote Western athletic director Jim Sterk.
Example: In women’s soccer, the NCAA allows 9.9 scholarships. Western, which has seen the team win two national titles in nine years in women’s soccer, provides funding for only 5.62, or 56.8 percent (see chart).
“That surprised the heck out of me,” wrote McMahan, a Western hall-of-fame volleyball and tennis player who went on to state renown as a teacher, coach and school district director of athletics. She set out to “right that wrong” on scholarships with the help of people who support women’s athletics.
In the past two years, McMahan’s endowment and annual fund, named “Honoring Women in Sport and The Historic Impact of Title IX,” is trying to help close the gap. Its goal is to provide athletic scholarship funding annually for one athlete in each of Western’s eight sports.
The first year, basketball’s Mollie Olson was a recipient, then soccer’s Mie Cairns and volleyball’s Adele Holland got help the next year. This year, Cairns and Holland were joined by track’s Bec Bennett, basketball’s Jadyn Watts, rowing’s Emma Clark, softball’s Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez, cross country’s Ila “Gabi” Davis and golf’s Kenzie Walsh.
McMahan’s fundraising is just getting started, boosted by a significant first endowment legacy gift from 1968 alum Mike Pittis, a longtime English teacher and coach in the Edmonds School District, along with contributions from Western hall of famers like Lynda Goodrich and Evelyn Ames.
With National Girls and Women in Sports Day set for Wednesday, Feb. 5, it’s a good way to support women’s athletics at Western. McMahan said contributing to Western women athletes is significant because you’re supporting a true student-athlete who is already competing on campus and committed to the school.
Western women athletes are “more balanced, more loyal,” she said. “They don’t come into Western with an eye on where they’re going to go next. They’re coming to Western with an eye on staying there, getting their degree, getting out in the world and using their Western education. So it’s an investment worth supporting. I think the return on that investment will pay off, and that’s why I encourage people to give to this program and help Western get a closer balance than this.”
To donate, use this link: alumniq.wwu.edu/page/GiveNow?iqfund=3204110
For questions, call or email the WWU Foundation at 360-650-3027 or giving@wwu.edu. You can also make a check payable to WWU Foundation (include Title IX in the note box), 516 High St., MS 9034, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Here are the numbers for 2023–24:
Sport; equivalency limit; actual equivalency; percentage.
Women’s basketball: 10 8.92 89%
Volleyball: 8 6.79 84.9%
Women’s soccer: 9.9 5.62 56.8%
Rowing: 20 5.34 26.7%
Track & Field/Cross country 12.6 5.18 41.1%
Softball 7.2 5.76 80.0%
Golf 5.4 2.41 44.6%
Men’s basketball
After trailing most of the game, Western’s defense held Simon Fraser scoreless for the game’s last two minutes and Garrett Levesque’s clutch 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left gave the Vikings a 79-77 win for their fourth-straight conference victory Saturday, Jan. 25 in Burnaby, B.C.
Heading into Thursday, Jan. 30’s game at eighth-place Alaska Anchorage, Western (4-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference, 12-7 overall) is in sixth place in the GNAC at the season’s halfway point. The top six teams qualify for the GNAC Championships set for March 6–8 in Lacey.
Women’s basketball
Western’s 27-point third quarter, along with Alyson Deaver’s 23-point, 11-rebound effort and 20 points from Libby Stump off the bench, led the Vikings (6-3 GNAC, 11-7 overall) to a win over Simon Fraser (3-6 GNAC, 10-8 overall) in Burnaby Jan. 25. Western is in fourth place in the conference heading into Jan. 30’s game against Saint Martin’s at Carver Gym. The Vikings also host Western Oregon Saturday, Feb. 1.
Notable
True freshman Kaden Miller, from Cashmere, was third in the heptathlon in his Western debut at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open in Moscow, Idaho, Jan. 25. The heptathlon consists of the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run.
What school record will fall next? We’ll see when Western’s indoor track season continues with the full squad competing this weekend at the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
BEST BETS
7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 – Women’s basketball vs. Saint Martin’s, Bellingham. Former Lynden Christian star Libby Stump is bolstering Western’s bench output in a big way. She’s expected to make her home debut after a knee injury kept her out this season following Stump’s transfer from the University of Montana.
7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 – Women’s basketball vs. Western Oregon, Bellingham. Western, fourth in the conference and rising, should handle seventh-place Western Oregon (3-6 conference, 7-10 overall) after beating them by more than 30 points three weeks ago.
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 – Men’s basketball vs. Montana State Billings, Bellingham. Vikings try to continue their move up the GNAC ladder after a slow conference start.
Tickets. See wwuvikings.com/Tickets or in person one hour prior to game time.
Parking. Free for sports. For basketball, lot 19G for general audience; 9G for season ticket holders. See the map at wwu.edu/parking.
Can’t make it? Stream it
All home games and most road contests are streamed via a live and free YouTube webcast. Find links online at cascadiadaily.com.
If you have a smart TV, search for “WWU Athletics” on YouTube.
We want to hear from you
Got a WWU sports-related news tip or interesting item for this notebook, or a good story idea? We’re all ears. Send to newstips@cascadiadaily.com, subject line: WWU sports notebook
Meri-Jo Borzilleri is a freelance journalist and former 20-year sports reporter.
