In 1979, Nevada’s swimming and diving team captured the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) small college national championship at the Lombardi Rec Center in Reno. It marked the first national championship for a Wolf Pack women’s team, while the squad became the first team of either gender to be inducted into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Wolf Pack headed into the national event with a 13-0 record in dual meets and scored 349 points in the meet which featured 81 teams and 400 participants. The 1979 team roster included student-athletes Ann Belikow, Paige Bryant, Shari Buonomici, Barbara Buck, Connie Gerling, Pam Gordon, Patti Gordon, Janette Jackson, Mary Mirch, Karen Petterson, Gale Reeder, Teresa Roth and Cathy Trachok and head coach Jerry Ballew, assistant coach Loren Cordain and diving coach Clyde Devine.
During the AIAW championship, Belikow scored 77 points individually, winning national titles in the 50, 100 and 200-meter breaststroke. She also set national records in both the 50 and 100 en route to winning Nevada’s first individual national titles by a woman. She was a finalist for the prestigious Sullivan Trophy for the United States’ female athlete of the year following her performance.
The team was honored with a commendation from the Nevada Legislature that spring and was congratulated for its “skill, stamina and talent” and its “impressive feat.”
