History of Women in Sports Timeline - 2007

• 2007 - Swimmer Natalie Coughlin breaks her own American and U.S. Open record during the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:41.66.

• 2007 - Lindsey Jacobellis, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and the most successful snowboardercross rider in history, wins gold in the snowboardcross at the FIS Snowboard World Championships.

• 2007 - 25-year-old Serena Williams, ranked 81st in the world, defeats top-ranked Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 to win the Australian Open. It is her eighth Grand Slam title and her first title in 15 tournaments since the 2005 Australian Open. She becomes only the second unseeded woman to win the Australian title in the Open era.

• 2007 - Tina Sloan Green and Cherie Greer are among six pioneers being inducted into the Black Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

• 2007 - 17-year-old Kimmie Meissner is the newest gold winner at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, in addition to her world championship title.

• 2007 - U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams sets a new spacewalking record of of 22 hours and 27 minutes for woman while working on the international space station.

• 2007 - "throw like a GIRL - lead like a CHAMPION!" is the theme for the 21st Annual National Girls & Women In Sports Day (NGWSD) on Feb. 7. NGWSD is a special day for girls and women to celebrate their participation in sports and athletics. When Title IX was enacted in 1971, one in 27 girls in high school participated in athletics. Now, one in three girls participate in athletics and all women and girls have great opportunities in sports and athletics.

• 2007 - Australian Suzy Walsham, 33, wins the women's trophy in the 30th annual Empire State Building Run-up, racing up the 86 flights (1,576 steps) in 13 minites, 12 seconds. Only two people can run side by side in the 42-inch stairwell, giving the 200 runners a challenge as they jockey for position.

• 2007 - Sweden's Anja Paerson becomes the first skier to win gold medals in all five disciplines at the world championships.

• 2007 - Kay Yow, the NC State women's basketball head coach, earns her 700th victory against Florida State, becoming just the sixth coach in Division I history to do so.

• 2007 - Wimbeldon announces they will pay women players the same as men in 2007. When Wimbledon started paying players in 1968, Billie Jean King won 37.5 percent of the check earned by men's champion Rod Laver. Last year, Amelie Mauresmo got $1.117 million -- 95.4 percent of the $1.170 million that Roger Federer received for winning the men's title.

• 2007 - Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy are elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility; Hamm with a record-breaking 137 of 141 ballots for 97.16% of the vote and Foudy with 118 ballots, to comprise the first-ever all-woman class of inductees (only the top two vote-getters are inducted each year). They join five other women inducted since the Hall opened in 1950.

• 2007 - Gymnast Shawn Johnson wins the all-around title at the 2007 Tyson American Cup with a score of 62.050, leading the U.S. women’s team.

• 2007 - Parity finally comes to all four Grand Slams as the French Open will offers equal prize money to both female and male players; the purse for men’s and women’s singles will equal $1.33 million, the highest amount at any Grand Slam tournament.

• 2007 - Florida is the only state to offering weightlifting to girls officially.

• 2007 - USA Women’s national soccer team wins the Algarve Cup in a 2-0 victory over Denmark, moving into No. 1 in the FIFA’s women’s world ranking.

• 2007 - Southern Connecticut State is the new Division II women’s basketball champion, defeating Florida Gulf Coast, 61-45.

• 2007 - Canada wins its 14th world title at the 2007 World Women’s Curling Championship, beating Denmark 8-4.

• 2007 - Serena Williams defeats Justine Henin to win the Ericcson Open.

• 2007 - Schenectady County Community College becomes only the second two-year school to start a women’s rowing team, joining it's other women's sports, softball, basketball and bowling.

• 2007 - Lady Vol's coach Pat Summitt wins her seventh national title (and 947 career games in 33 seasons at Tennessee) in a 59-46 victory over Rutgers in the NCAA championship game.

• 2007 - Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors wins the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award, after leading the Blue Devils to a 29-0 regular-season record (32-2 overall). Sophomore Candace Parker is named the most oustanding player, with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

• 2007 - Tennis great Billie Jean King is ranked No. 4 by the Hall of Fame Magazine among the top 10 most influential people in sports history and is the only female on the list.

• 2007 - Christal Fitzgerald becomes the first international woman to play on a men’s collegiate baseball team in the United States at Daniel Webster College and the fourth woman to play baseball at the collegiate level overall.

• 2007 - The United States wins its second world title at the women’s water polo championships, deafeating Australia 6-5.

• 2007 - Ria Cortesio becomes the first woman to umpire a Major League Baseball game since 1989 when she officiates a spring-training match between the Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 29.

• 2007 - 102-year-old Elsie McLean from Chico, CA becomes the the oldest golfer ever to make a hole-in-one on a regulation course on the par-3, 100-yard fourth hole at Bidwell Park. "For an old lady," she said, "I still hit the ball pretty good." It was her first ace.

• 2007 - In a first, Paralympic athlete Jessica Long, 15, wins the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, given to the USA’s best amateur athlete. The U.S. Olympic Committee’s 2006 Paralympian of the Year and Swimming World Magazine’s 2006 Disabled Swimmer of the Year, Long won nine gold medals and set five world records at the International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships.

• 2007 - Deena Kastor wins the 111th Boston Marathon in 2:35:9.

• 2007 - Brittany Lincicome winds her second career LPGA Tour title at the Ginn Open.

• 2007 - Mi Hyun Kim wins her first LPGA Tour victory of the year at the SemGroup Championship.

• 2007 - The UCLA women’s water polo team wins its third consecutive national championship title and 100th national championship for the UCLA athletic department.

• 2007 - Billie Jean King is the honorary starter on Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to commemorate 30 years of women’s participation in the Indy 500, with three women in the practice field for the 91st Indianapolis 500.

• 2007 - Suzanne Pettersen wins her first major LPGA title at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship with a 5-under 67, finishing 14 under par.

• 2007 - Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor win their seventh consecutive title on the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour; giving Walsh her 73rd win and making her second-place in wins all-time.

• 2007 - Justine Henin wins her fourth overall French Open, defeating Ana Ivanovic, to become the first woman to win three consecutive French titles since Monica Seles in 1992. It is her fourth career French title.

• 2007 - June 23rd marks the 35th anniversary of Title IX -- the pivotal legislation credited with increasing gender equity in sports.

• 2007 - Serbia's Jelena Jankovic defeats Russian Maria Sharapova win the DFS Classic on grass, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

• 2007 - Justine Henin defends her International Women's Open title against Amélie Mauresmo to win her fifth title of the year.

• 2007 - This year's Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year is Nebraska's volleyball player Sarah Pavan.

• 2007 - Mexican Lorena Ochoa, 25 wins the Wegmans LPGA Tournament, defeating In-Kyung Kim for her second title in three years.

• 2007 - Cristie Kerr, 29, wins the U.S. Women’s LPGA Open for her 10th career victory.

• 2007 - Venus Williams wins her fourth Wimbledon tournament and sixth Grand Slam title, defeating Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1. At No. 31, she becomes the lowest-ranked women's winner in Wimbledon history. Williams is the fourth woman in the Open era to win four or more Wimbledon singles titles, joining Martina Navratilova (9), Steffi Graf (7) and Billie Jean King (4). 2007 marks of the first time Wimbledon is paying equal prize money to men and women.

• 2007 - Leanne Barrette wins her fourth title in three years at the United States Bowling ongress Women's Championships for a fifth overall title.

• 2007 - South Korea's Seon Hwa Lee wins the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship, defeating Japan's Ai Miyazato.

• 2007 - 25-year-old Lorena Ochoa, Mexico, wins her first LPGA major at the Women's British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland, becoming the first woman to win a major at St. Andrews. This marks the first time in the course's 500-year history of hosting golf tournaments that a women's professional tournament was hosted. Women were given an exception to go into the clubhouse, but the policy of not admitting women (or dogs) is still in force.

• 2007 - Russian Maria Sharapova defeats Switzerland's Patty Schnyder in three sets to defend her Acura Classic title.

• 2007 - Justine Henin wins the Rogers Cup in Toronto for her 6th title of the season, deafeating Serbia's Jelena Jankovic, 7-6(3), 7-5.

• 2007 - The U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team goes undefeated throughout the tournament to take the gold medal at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeatingd Canada, the 2006 world champions, 50-44.

• 2007 - Mexico's Lorena Ochoa wins her second consecutive title and fifth of the year at the Canadian Open.

• 2007 - Golfer Sheila Drummond, 53, blind by diabetes for 26 years, shot a hole-in-one on the 144-yard, par-3 fourth hole at Mahoning Valley Country Club in PA. Drummond is a member of the board of directors of the United States Blind Golfers Association; they believe she is the first totally blind woman to record a hole-in-one. Drummond carries a 48 handicap with the USGBA.

• 2007 - Top LPGA player Lorena Ochoa gets her third consecutive LPGA title at the Safeway Classic for her sixith tournament win this season.

• 2007 - Canada sweeps the U.S. in the three-game U-22 women’s hockey series.

• 2007 - U.S. Soccer Team captain Kristine Lilly scores her 100th career assist, joining Mia Hamm as the only two players in women’s soccer history to score at least 100 goals and get 100 assists.

• 2007 - 14-year old Natalie Lambert, Ontario, becomes the youngest person ever to swim across Lake Ontario, swimming from Sackets Harbor, NY to in Kingston, Ontario, in just over 24 hours.

• 2007 - Sherri Steinhauer wins the LPGA State Farm Classic for her eighth career title.

• 2007 - Belgian Justine Henin earned her second U.S. Open, defeating Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3, for her seventh Grand Slam title.

• 2007 - The Phoenix Mercury won its first WNBA Championship, defeating the Detroit Shock.

• 2007 - Lindsay Davenport, 31, wins the women's singles title at the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic, beating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

• 2007 - Sarah Thomas becomes the first woman in NCAA football history to officiate the game between Jacksonville State University and University of Memphis in the Football Bowl Division.

• 2007 - The U.S. wins its second-straight Solheim Cup when golf team Paula Creamer and Nicole Castrale defeat Europe 16-12.

• 2007 - Hungarian Agnes Szavay wins her second WTA title at the China Open, in a na upset wins over Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-2.

• 2007 - The United States women's team takes the bronze with a 4-1 victory over Norway for third place in the Women's World Cup. Kristine Lilly, 36, is the only American to play in all five World Cups; the US team has never finished lower than third, twice taking the gold.

• 2007 - Germany's national team becomes the first consecutive World Cup winner in women’s soccer history in a 2-0 game over Brazil. Nadine Angerer is named the tournament’s best goalie, when Germany becomes the first World Cup champion team (men's or women's) to win without a single goal scored on them.

• 2007 - Brazil's Marta is awarded the golden ball as the best player and gets the golden boot for top scorer of the World Cup tournament. Abby Wambach of the US gets the silver boot and Norway’s Ragnhild Gulbrandsen earns the bronze.

• 2007 - Venus Williams earns her third title of the year at the Korean Open for her 36th career title.

• 2007 - Sweden's Maria Hjorth wins Navistar LPGA Classic to finish with a 14-under 274 total, beating American Stacy Prammanasudh who finishes second, with Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa and rookie Angela Park of Brazil tying for third place.

• 2007 - Mexico's Lorena Ochoa becomes the first woman to earn $3 million in a single LPGA season with a second place finish in the Longs Drugs Challenge. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen wins in a second sudden-death hole playoff for her third title of the year.

• 2007 - Justine Henin wins the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating Tatiana Golovin in the final, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

• 2007 - Mexico's Lorena Ochoa earns her seventh golf title of the year at the Samsung World Championship for a total of 18-under 270.

• 2007 - Sportswomen of the Year honors go to LPGA player Lorena Ochoa for individual sports honors and Monica Abbott of the University of Tennessee’s softball program gets the team award at the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner. Michelle Kwan receives the Billie Jean Contribution Award and the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award goes to the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

• 2007 - Russian Elena Dementieva wins the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating Serena Williams. 5-7, 6-1, 6-1

• 2007 - The women’s Ironman Triathlon World Champion is Chrissie Wellington of Great Britian who finishes the 140.6-mile race in 9:10:00

• 2007 - Belgian Justine Henin wins Zürich Open, defeating Tatiana Golovin to win the title 6-4, 6-4.

• 2007 - Norwegian Suzann Pettersen wins the Honda LPGA.

• 3007 - Swimmer Whitney Myers of the University of Arizona swimmer is the 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year, an award that recognizes female student-athletes for their contributions in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the community. Myers set 14 school records in swimming, was named first-team All-American in seven swimming events and volunteered in elementary schools and at a local Girl Scout troop.

• 2007 - Lindsay Davenport wins her 53rd career title at the Bells Challenge, beating Julia Vakulenko 6-4, 6-1 victory.

• 2007 - New mom Paula Radcliffe wins the New York Marathon in 2:23.09.

• 2007 - Japan's Momoko Ueda wins her first LPGA title at the Mizuno Classic in her native Japan.

• 2007 - Justine Henin wins the WTA season-ending championship, beating Maria Sharapova in the Sony Ericsson Championships, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3. She is first player to surpass the $5 million prize-money mark in a single season.

• 2007 - Canada defeats the United States for the gold in the Four Nations Hockey Cup, 6-3. Finland defeats Sweden 1-0 for the bronze medal.

• 2007 - Paula Creamer takes the Tournament of Champions LPGA with a 20-under 268 total for an eight-stroke tournament win.

• 2007 - Lorena Ochoa wins the Rolex Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy honors with her eighth title of the year as well as the $1 million paycheck in the 2007 ADT Championship, the final event of the LPGA. She is the first player in LPGA history to earn more than $4 million in a season.

• 2007 - The Penn State Nittany Lions earn a second national title with a 3-2 victory over Stanfordfor the NCAA Volleyball Title.

• 2007 - Justine Henin is named the ITF World Champion of Tennis, based on performances in tournaments and at the Davis Cup or Fed Cup. Henin won two majors and 10 titles overall and put up at 63-4 record in 2007. The World Champion is Henin's for the second straight year and the third time in her career.

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