University Of Washington Women’s Athletics Deserve High Praise

“Oooooh ladies first, ladies first.  Oooooh ladies first, ladies first!”  This powerful female anthem from Queen Latifah’s debut album, All Hail the Queen, is what comes to mind when I think about all the success the University of Washington women’s athletic program has had over the past year.  I think it is time that the UW women’s athletic program garners more recognition.

Ayo let me take it from here Queen excuse me but I think I’m about do
To get into precisely what I am about to do
I’m conversating to the folks that have no whatsoever clue
So listen very carefully as I break it down for you

Yes! I think I will break it down for every sports fan out there, but first let me congratulate the UW women’s golf team for winning its first national championship.  It always feels good to reach the pinnacle especially when the game was sent to extra holes in overtime.  It took head coach Mary Lou Mulflur 33 years to win her first title.  The UW women’s golf program is led by newly appointed athletic director Jennifer Cohen, who is the first female athletic director in the Pac-12 conference.  The team denied Stanford the chance to win back-to-back national championships.  It was just another case when a lower seed, Washington was ranked fourth, beats a higher seed, Stanford was ranked second.  Speaking of a lower seed beating a higher seed, does a UW women’s basketball Final Four appearance sound familiar?  They were the lowest seeded team throughout the 2016 tournament to advance to the main event.  The last time that the lowest seed advanced to the Final Four was Minnesota, also a no. 7 seed in 2004.

The UW women’s softball team was just one series shy of playing in this year’s Women’s College World Series.  The first game against the Alabama Crimson Tide went extra innings where both pitchers duked it out and pitched their way out of jams.  The Huskies played well but could not advance the runners in crucial moments late in the game.  Their hitting was better in Game 2, but costly errors gave Alabama four unearned runs to seal the win. This was the Huskies’ 10^th NCAA Super Regional Appearance and 23^rd consecutive NCAA tournament.

To enable you to aid yourself and get paid
And the material that has no meaning I wish to slay
Pay me every bit of your attention
Like mother, like daughter, I would also like to mention

So far this has been a very successful year for the UW athletics program and the women have a lot to do with that.  I would also like to mention that the UW women’s sports teams have won seven of the eight NCAA sanctioned titles.  It is a fact that these sports teams have been bringing home national titles for the past 20 years. Now this is no slight against the men.  It’s just that the women’s program has been consistently good over a long period of time and this is the reason that they should be more celebrated!

The next man, or the next woman
It doesn’t make a difference, keep the competition coming
And I’ll recite the chapter in verse
The title of this recital is “Ladies First”

So I say to UW women sports, keep the competition coming.  I look forward to more tournament appearances and even the men earning a national championship in the near future.  Now I’ll go back to singing my song, “Ooooh ladies first, ladies first.  Oooooh ladies first, ladies first!”