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 athletics website will feature stories about the great people, teams and events in women's athletics at Clarion University.
This month, we look at the only pair of sisters in the Clarion Sports Hall of Fame, Taryn Carter Wyche and Laurie Carter.
There have only been two pairs of siblings to earn election to the Clarion Sports Hall of Fame, including just one pair of sisters. And from 1978 through 1984, the Golden Eagle track & field team featured two of the best to ever wear the uniform in Taryn and Laurie Carter. Their staying power can best be illustrated with this simple fact – despite having graduated roughly 40 years ago, their names continue to dot the program's all-time performance lists.
Taryn was the first to make her way to Clarion, competing for coach Bill English from 1978-81 and excelling in the hurdle events. The Golden Eagles went undefeated in dual meets in her four-year career, but the individual achievements she compiled in 1980-81 made her the most decorated women's track & field athlete in Clarion history to that point. Taryn Carter won back-to-back PSAC championships in the 100 Hurdles and four times placed at the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championship meet. Taryn took third place in the 400 Hurdles and eighth in the 100H as a junior, and in her encore performance took third and fourth, respectively, in those events. Her 100H time of 14.2 set as a junior in 1980 remains to this day the program record.
That senior season for Taryn Carter also marked the freshman campaign for her younger sister Laurie, and the latter put her own mark on the program in her time. Laurie was a two-time AIAW national qualifier, and as a freshman in 1981 set the program record in the 400H with a time of 1:05.43. That mark stood for 26 years. She also hit a mark of 14.5 in the 100H, second only to her sister and a time that would not be bested again until Alexis Carter (no relation) ran a 14.39 in 2011.
Taryn Carter Wyche was inducted into the Clarion Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, making her the first women's track & field athlete to earn entry into the Hall. Laurie Carter followed four years later, entering the Hall in 2018.
