LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Throughout the 2022-23 academic calendar year, Little Rock will be recognizing great moments and top female student-athletes that have worn the Maroon and Silver in its athletic history as part of the university's and Ohio Valley Conference's celebrations of the 50
th Anniversary of Title IX. Soccer standout Jaclyn Purvine is the first Trojan to be recognized.
Purvine was one of the best Little Rock soccer players to come through the program in both recent memory and program history. She finished her career in the top 10 of most statistical categories in program history as well as helping the Trojans earn their first NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in 2018.
In that magical 2018 season, Purvine was unstoppable. She led the team in three statistical categories that year including shots on goal (25), goals (12) and points (28). The most impressive personal achievement that season came in the form of six game-winning goals, a program record that still stands today.
These accomplishments led to Purvine earning Second Team All-sun Belt Conference honors at the end of the regular season. In the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, she continued her success withtwo goals in the semifinal win over Georgia State, going on to claim MVP of the tournament.
Purvine was a key piece in getting the program to a place where it had never been before and served as a mentor for players like Morgan Smocovich,
Natalee Geren and
Fanney Einarsdottir.
Title IX was a major law that prohibited federally funded schools from discriminating "on the basis of sex." It was signed into law on June 23, 1972, as part of a series of Educational Amendments. The full text of Title IX states:
"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."
Since the passage of Title IX, women's participation in college athletics has increased. Today, women make up 44% of all NCAA athletes (compared to 15% pre-Title IX, when fewer than 30,000 women played college sports).
The 50
th Anniversary of Title IX comes 90 years after the first recorded women's intercollegiate athletics team for the Trojans competed, when the school fielded a women's tennis team.
Since then, Little Rock women's athletic teams and student-athletes have combined to win:
- Two (2) team National Championships
- 10 Individual National Championships
- 26 team National Championship appearances
- Seven (7) Academic All-America honors
- 34 conference championships
You can read more about
Little Rock's Athletic history here.
For the latest information on Little Rock Athletics, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the Trojans on social media at @LRTrojans on
Facebook,
Instagram and
Twitter.
Get the latest Trojan news – including the weekly Trojan Report – delivered to you direct to your inbox by
signing up for Little Rock Trojan E-News here.
#LittleRocksTeam
