Earlier this year, the NCAA began its Title IX at 50 celebration during the 2022 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The celebration commemorates the anniversary of the landmark federal law signed in 1972 that prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
 
Simply put, the story of Clarion University Athletics would not be complete without the contributions of the many women - student-athletes, coaches and administrators alike - who have represented the Golden Eagles over the years. Because of them, women's athletics continue to grow and prosper, and to inspire new generations to achieve their athletic and academic goals at the collegiate level.
 
In celebration of the historic legislation and its impact on our campus community, the Clarion athletics web site will feature stories about the great people, teams and events in women's athletics at Clarion.
 
In this entry, we look at the most successful era in the history of the Golden Eagle tennis program.
 
The1980s were the golden era of the Clarion tennis team, with the Golden Eagles morphing over the span of the decade from also-ran to one of the toughest teams in the nation. In fact. from 1986-90, there may not have been a better team on the East Coast than coach Norb Baschnagel's Golden Eagles. Clarion ranked first in the NCAA Division II East Region in three consecutive years from 1987-90 and recorded two top-ten national finishes in that span, placing eighth in 1988 and seventh in 1989.
 
The Golden Eagles went undefeated in dual match play from 1986-88, winning 28 straight regular season dual matches entering the 1988 NCAA Championships. That was part of an incredible four year run where the Golden Eagles went 57-1 in dual match play, with the only loss in that span coming to Division I Penn State. Clarion was the only team selected from the East region while future Clarion Sports Hall of Famers Lisa Warren and Susie Fritz were also selected to compete in the individual championships, with Warren playing both singles and doubles. The Golden Eagles finished 16th in the final Volvo/ Collegiate final rankings, Warren ranked 28th in the nation in singles and the doubles pairing of Warren and Fritz ranked 21st in the final rankings.
 
Things kept rolling in 1989, when Warren became the first ever four-time PSAC No. 1Singles championship as well as her second straight PSAC Player of the Year award. Baschnagel earned his second consecutive coach of the year laurel as Clarion became the first women's tennis team to win four straight PSAC team championships, doing so from 1987-90.