How Women's Athletics Have Changed and Evolved Over 50 Years Since the Passing of Title IX
The year 2025 is of significance for Colorado Mesa University not only because the institution turns 100 but because it is celebrating 50 years of women’s sports on campus. Today, women’s sports are growing exponentially in viewership, attendance, revenue and reputation. This momentum is driven by a number of factors, but recognizing success and growth today is impossible without mentioning the women who were there at the beginning.
The Inagural Teams
Women’s sports existed perpendicular to men’s before 1972. Recreational groups would pull teams together to compete in gym classes or leagues, but equal opportunity to formally compete was made possible by the passing of Title IX.
What seemed as just a mere 36 words would change the course of women’s sports participation seen today:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Before any women’s sports were sanctioned by Mesa College, men’s teams like football and basketball had been around since the school’s inception in 1925. The first women’s teams funded by CMU were basketball and softball, both of which alumna Terry Porter was an inaugural member.
Porter, a Grand Junction native, joined the first official intercollegiate basketball team during her sophomore year. On her team were Rosemary Scott, Sheryl Gunter, Helena Whalen, Karen Scott, Janet Bilbas, Annette Adams, Jan Abbott, Michelle Radice, Terri Freund and Sheri Colpitts.
Porter was no stranger to competition but did not experience it at the same level as her male classmates. During her high school years, she played on a school club team and would compete against other women’s teams, unofficially, at Central High School and Fruita Monument High School.
A standout memory from Porter’s time as one of the first women’s basketball and softball student-athletes was hitting the road for a tournament or two. The first year, the basketball team qualified to compete in a tournament in Idaho. During the whole trip the team was overwhelmed with the feeling of weight on their shoulders. They had a bit of a chip on their shoulders too.
“You’re getting to forge a path and kind of have new experiences that someone else hasn’t had. Kind of felt like we were fighting for it a little bit too,” Porter said.
Even though Title IX sanctioned funding for men’s and women’s sports, the team felt they needed to earn their uniforms and the number of games added to their schedule. They were starting from square one and felt they had something to prove.
“It just wasn’t there. Yet,” she said.
Retiring from collegiate basketball after a recurring knee injury, Porter continued to play on the softball team before continuing her education and completing her bachelor’s degree in math at the University of Northern Colorado. Following graduation, she transitioned from a player mindset to coaching young, up-and-coming players at the high school and middle school level once she returned to Palisade, Colorado.
Women’s sports funding was still a roadblock, but schools were doing what they could to fund and support their teams.
Beyond being an inaugural player in competitive women’s sports, Porter bore witness to the evolution of athletics in the Grand Valley, both in investment and in players’ abilities. She has been a volleyball referee for over 50 years and has enjoyed watching the speed and skill of the game change over time.
But the change comes with little to no surprise.
“Well duh, of course it’s got to change. Everything changes, you know?” Porter said.
Spotlight on Women's Sports
One of the contributors to the evolution of sports we see today stems from the growth of media attention and the storytelling behind standout players, both on the national level and at CMU.
Patti Arnold, a longtime sports reporter for the The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and late beat writer for CMU athletics, wrote hundreds of stories about the successes and milestones of student-athletes in the region.
Beyond reporting on stats, Arnold got to speak one-on-one with prime female student-athletes through the years and witnessed their successes both on and off the field.
A recent standout player during Arnold’s career was Ally Distler. Distler dominated on the softball field, racking up 19 accolades throughout her five years on the team. During her last season though, she had to overcome adversity with injuries. Her adaptiveness as a player, accompanied by her competitiveness and drive to be great, helped her and her team discover that her talents went beyond her position as catcher.
She turned out to be a star left fielder in the conference, even when she was splitting her time between two positions.
Not only was she a star on the field, but her academic successes also defined her as a student-athlete. She became a two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Player of the Year (2022 and 2024) in recognition of her athletic accomplishments, as well as her dedication to time in the classroom.
At CMU, being a student first, athlete second is a value prided from the administration down through the coaches and players. When a student is successful in the classroom, they are investing in more than their degree. They are investing in themselves as people.
“Athletics is people saying, ‘Yeah, I want to go to school, and I want to play.’ And it opens doors for them, and it teaches them things that they wouldn’t get just by simply being a student,” Arnold said.
People who participate in extracurricular activities like sports are successful communicators, team members and time managers. These skills and abilities shine bright through another recent softball player, Myah Arrieta. Arrieta, a Grand Junction native, decided to stay close to home versus choosing a school away because of her value in family. Her decision didn’t hold her back either and she became one of the best softball players in the nation at the Division II level.
Arrieta became a 15-time accolade achiever and holds five records, one of which is a National Collegiate Athletic Association all-division record for consecutive games with a home run, her statistic being 10.
“My mentality was ‘What can I do in this game to help my team win?’ I tried not to put too much pressure on myself to win the whole game because our roster one through 22 was untouchable,” Arrieta said.
Her holistic, team-centric frame of mind is a testament to her values and who she is as a person. One of the many characteristics developed through a lifetime of competition and teamwork.
Porter echoed Arnold’s sentiment: that athletics is more about the opportunity to compete. It opens the door for people to grow in other capacities of life beyond the court and field.
“I love athletics for the fact that it teaches you life skills that you’re not going to get anywhere else,” she explained. “You learn how to deal with people, get the best out of people, and how to find the best in yourself.”
The passing of Title IX in 1972 created opportunities for women beyond what 36 words could outline.
Defining the Next Decade
As attention and celebrations of women’s sports continue to climb, it is exciting to know how invested the Grand Junction community is in CMU’s student-athletes.
Arnold said her experience as a reporter helped her look behind the stats to find out just how great the student-athletes are as people. By peeking behind the curtain and finding out who the student-athletes are off the field, the community only grows in its affection for women’s sports, leading to the success of each individual program.
One standout season in Arnold’s mind was recalling how integral the fans were to the success of the Women’s Basketball Team making it to the Elite Eight in 2013.
“They always had decent crowds, but they hosted regionals for the first time ever. The girls walked up the stairs and into the gym, and they were ready to run onto the floor, and they looked and it’s an overflowing crowd. Their eyes were as big as saucers,” Arnold said.
She credited the town rallying behind those student-athletes to their successes, also stating that “The whole town fell in love with that team.”
Throughout the years, media attention and the stories of star athletes have pushed women’s sports into the spotlight. It’s stories like Porter’s, Arrieta’s and Distler’s that continue to define CMU athletics and the development of the game is a credit to generations of standout student-athletes like them that have shaped a half-century of Maverick spirit. As women’s sports continue to gain recognition and value — not only at CMU but worldwide — it’s inspiring to see how far athletics have come in just over 50 years and exciting to imagine where they will go in the next 100.
In Memoriam: Patti Arnold
This story was written before Patti Arnold’s unexpected passing in October 2025. Patti covered Maverick Athletics beginning in 1985 as a journalist for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and spent her retirement years continuing to share Maverick stories as a beat writer for CMU Athletics. We re deeply grateful for Patti’s decades of dedication and her lasting love for CMU Athletics. She will be greatly missed.