Athletics Women

In 1984, Judith Fontaine, head of one of the largest modeling agencies in the world, had big plans for Kathryn Zahlis, booking the 5-foot-10 blonde on the "Grand Tour"--New York, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, key stops on the road to stardom in the modeling business. For a woman of 20, it is a coveted chance to see the world and live like a glamour queen. But Zahlis came into Fontaine's Hollywood office one day and "says she's quitting the business," Fontaine remembers. "I couldn't believe it.

The 30-second spot is called "Dunk. " Its script has six lines of dialogue, the cast numbers seven. It stars Sparks forward Candace Parker -- she of NCAA title, Olympic gold medal, WNBA rookie of the year and MVP all-in-one-year fame. Thirty seconds, and with that, she joined what is mostly an athletic boys club whose members include ESPN "SportsCenter" anchors, athletes and a roly poly, furry, fruity collection of college mascots tapped to do wickedly funny "SportsCenter" promo spots.

The future stars of American women's gymnastics sat at a long table in Myriad Arena Thursday, giggling and adjusting their pony tails. Six of them sat on three metal folding chairs. Their futures may be big, but these athletes are not. The smallest, and best, is Kim Zmeskal, who is 4 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 65 pounds. She is 13. The biggest, but not the worst, is Kelly Pitzen, who is 4-10 and 86 pounds. She is also 13.

A Supreme Court decision making it harder to sue agencies for systemic discrimination may have effects on such varied fronts as women's sports funding, environmental justice, racial profiling by police and discrimination by private charities, legal experts said Wednesday.

For the second time in two years, tragedy struck the racing family of Arthur Hendrick of Chino. Hendrick's daughter, Kara, 22, was killed in a crash during a U.S. Auto Club midget car race Saturday night at the Cajon Speedway. She was pronounced dead at 11:17 p.m. at Sharp Memorial Hospital in nearby San Diego. An autopsy Sunday found head injuries to be the cause of death.

A 1966 World Championships gold medal in the women's downhill may be retroactively awarded to former French skier Marielle Goitschel because the winner turned out to be a man, a skiing official said Friday. Erika Schinegger of Austria, who won the gold medal at Portillo, Chile, discovered during medical tests later in her career that she was in fact a man, according to a new autobiography.

When high school students DeAnne (Wilson) Nicholas, Carolyn Woods and Dana Schroeder-Butler stepped off the airplane at Los Angeles International Airport in September 1972, they obviously were not returning from a high school field trip. After clearing customs, they were greeted and driven home by then-mayor Robert Root of Fullerton. When classes resumed at Sunny Hills High School, they were honored by the student body at an assembly.

In Lithuania, where her parents grew up, the name, Daiva, means goddess of the goddesses. But in Canoga Park, where Daiva Tomkus grew up, that goddess stuff is a little too much for the modest 6-foot 1-inch star of UCLA's volleyball team, who prefers to do her shining on the court. All the better for UCLA, because Tomkus is a major reason for the Bruins' home-court advantage tonight against Brigham Young in the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Margaret Groos, a former University of Virginia All-American who all but gave up competitive running a couple years ago because of medical problems, sprinted to victory Sunday in the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trial in the best time run by an American woman in 2 1/2 years. With five miles left in the Pittsburgh Marathon, Groos, from Nashville, pulled away from Nancy Ditz to win in 2:29:50. Ditz, of Woodside, Calif., came along 24 seconds later.

A star soccer player, wanting to run a little faster and play a little better, cuts down on her eating and throws up after every meal. Five months later she is hospitalized with medical complications from an eating disorder. A national-class distance runner goes more than 10 years without having a regular menstrual cycle. A college swimmer fractures two ribs while coughing during an asthma attack. Three athletes, three different ailments, but one thing in common--the Female Athlete Triad.

Marion Jones failed to reach her goal of five gold medals at the Sydney Games. All she did was win more medals than any female track athlete at a single Olympics. That record-setting haul--three golds, two bronzes--in a personally stormy month was enough for Jones to be chosen as the Associated Press female athlete of the year.

The transportation system was a mess. The computers churned out inaccurate results. Commercialism was overwhelming. A bomb explosion killed a woman and injured 110 people. From a logistical and artistic perspective, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics were a nightmare in many ways. But for female athletes in team sports, the Games were the realization of a dream. While the U.S. men's basketball team was criticized for its arrogance and lack of interest while routing opponents, the U.S.

Can female athletes sell their sports by showing off their skills--or must they also show a lot of skin? By posing for a Sports Illustrated photo topless, with her fists over her breasts, five-time Olympic gold-medal winner Jenny Thompson ignited a debate over how women athletes promote themselves. Recently, four U.S. swimmers posed for Women's Sports and Fitness magazine with only a towel in front of them, and members of the Australian women's soccer team posed for a nude calendar.

With schools out for winter vacation, about 50 girls took advantage of their free time and the warm weather Monday to hone their skills at Cal State Northridge's three-day Home for the Holidays Softball Camp. "I just thought it would be better to practice and get better than sit around and watch TV," said Nicole Dinowitz, 11, of Northridge.

After a year and a half of legal arm-wrestling, the city's offer of four softball fields for a suburban girls league may not seem like much. But experts, steeped in a quarter-century of battles to level the playing field for women, say it was. Since 1972, when Congress passed a federal statute known as Title IX that banned sex discrimination in public and private education, most skirmishes have played out at schools and universities.

Los Angeles officials settled a lawsuit Tuesday that charged that girls are routinely assigned second-rate sports fields while boys enjoy access to prime playing turf. The deal ends a dispute that has triggered other changes in the way the city treats girls' sports programs. The settlement provides the West Valley Girls Softball League a five-year lease, with a 10-year renewal option, to play on a field at Hughes Middle School in Woodland Hills.

While Maureen Holohan's neighbors in upstate New York were dreaming of debutante balls, she was dreaming of basketballs. But it's hard to be like Mike when everyone expects you to be like Michelle. Or Mary. "My biggest worry during those tough years . . . was not over who was going to ask me out. I didn't sweat it the way other girls really worried about it," she says. "My biggest concern was what we were playing in gym class. I looked forward to that every day."

This is getting to be a habit. The U.S. women's softball team threw yet another no-hitter, its fourth in six games, beating Venezuela, 6-0, Thursday night. This one had a trick to it, though. Michele Granger, who no-hit Puerto Rico, 10-0, on Monday, threw nine consecutive balls to start the game. She then left with a blister on her ring finger and was replaced by Lisa Fernandez. Fernandez, the only U.S.

Los Angeles officials on Tuesday settled a lawsuit that charged girls are routinely assigned second-rate sports fields while boys enjoy access to prime playing turf, agreeing to a deal called a milestone for gender equity in athletics. The deal ends a dispute that has already triggered other major reforms in the way the city treats girls' sports programs. "This says, 'Girls matter,' " said Paula Pearlman of the California Women's Law Center, one of the lawyers for the league.

Nearly 800 youngsters, mostly girls, gathered at Cal State Northridge on Sunday afternoon to watch a college softball game and meet Olympic gold medalist Dot Richardson. The afternoon outing was the first of a series of events scheduled this year as part of the city's "Raise the Bar" program aimed at encouraging girls from all over Los Angeles to participate in athletics. "It's a chance for them to watch high-level women's sports," said Gary Baer, the city's municipal sports supervisor.