Bravo, ladies
BY RONDA ADDY

For every name synonymous with a particular sport there are names not so well known. Let's take a look at some ladies that have made significant contributions to their sport but lack widespread name recognition.

Donna Adamek, or "Mighty Mite," was a dominant force in women's professional bowling from 1978 to 1981. Each year during that period, Adamek was named Woman Bowler of the Year. She also won five major titles during that period, including the Women's Open in 1978 and 1981, and led the WPBA tour in winnings from 1978 to 1980. In 1980, Adamek and Nikki Gianulias won the WIBC doubles title, and in 1981, Adamek and Pat Costello tied with Shirley Hintz and Lisa Wagner for the title. Adamek bowled three perfect 300 games in the 1981 to 1982 season.

Theresa Blanchard, or "Tee," was the daughter of A. Windsor Weld, a charter member of the Skating Club of Boston. Blanchard started lessons at age 12 and performed many athletic loops and jumps, which at the time were considered unladylike and often resulted in lower marks. In 1914, Blanchard won the first of six U.S. single championships, and in 1918, she teamed up with Nathaniel W. Niles and went on to win nine national pairs titles. At the 1920 Winter Olympics, Blanchard won a bronze medal, and in 1923, Blanchard and Niles founded Skating Magazine, whi ch would become the official publication of the U.S. Figure Skating Association. Upon retiring, Blanchard served as a world judge and member of the USFSA executive board for 13 years. She died in 1978.

Lillian Copeland was the first female athlete to excel in throwing events. She won the AAU championship in the shot put five times from 1924 to 1928 and then again in 1931. She won the discus throw title in 1926 and 1927 and the javelin throw title in 1926 and 1931, breaking the world record in that event three times in 1926 and 1927. Copeland won a silver medal in the discus throw at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a gold medal in the discus throw at the 1932 Summer Olympics. She boycotted the 1932 Summer Olympics in protest of the Nazi government's refusal to allow Jewish athletes on the team but competed in the 1935 Maccabiah Games, where she won gold medals in the javelin, discus and shot put. Afterwards, Copeland retired from the sport, and in 1936, she joined the Los Angeles county sheriff's department where she worked until 1960. Copeland died in 1964 and was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994.

Mary Jo Peppler helped establish the sport of women's volleyball in the United States and is considered by many to be one of the best players of all time. While a high school senior, Peppler played for the Long Beach Shamrocks, which went on to win the national championship, and later she helped organize the Los Angeles Renegades, which won the championship in 1964. Peppler was a member of the U.S. Olympic volleyball team in 1964 and 1968 and earned a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1967. In 1970, she was voted the best female player in the world at the world championships, and over the course of her career, she was named a First-Team All-American six times and Player of the Year four times. Peppler began playing for the Association of Volleyball Professionals in 1984 and remained there until 1993. She coached at Utah State, Kentucky and Florida, and mentored the number one women's beach volleyball team of Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan from 1991 to 1996. In 1990, she was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame and named the "third most influential person of the century in volleyball" by Volleyball Magazine. Today, Peppler remains active in the sport, currently serving as the director of coaching for Coast Volleyball in San Diego, CA.