1975 WOMEN'S PRELIMINARY 2

Tennis superstar Billie Jean King was one of the founders of the Women's Sports Foundation in 1974 and the foundation began its multi-sport emphasis at the Women’s Superstars which was held at the Houston Astrodome. During the event, Olympic swimming champion Donna de Varona was present as an announcer for ABC became interested in the idea. With 23 female athletes from 18 different sports present between the two preliminaries, King had a wide representation of the top women athletes of the day. The competition in this preliminary boiled down to a duel between volleyball Olympian Mary Jo Peppler and basketball player Karen Logan. Logan won the first two events, tennis and the 352 yard run. The 352 yards was a one-fifth mile event, due to the fact that a 1/4 mile track could not fit in the Astrodome. Peppler came on to win four events, including a 207 foot, 6 and 1/2 inch toss in the softball throw, which was the most impressive performance of the event. With six spots in the final up for grabs, gymnast Cathy Rigby grabbed the sixth spot in the standings with a third place finish in the obstacle course. When qualified finalists Sheila Young and Billie Jean King could not participate, seventh place finisher Paula Sperber was added to the field of finalists.

The Astrodome; Houston, Texas

Competition Dates: December 21-22, 1974

Air Date: January 19, 1975

Announcer: Keith Jackson and Donna de Varona.

PLC. NAME, SPORT
 TEN 352y BSKT ROW SWIM 60 BOWL SOFT BIKE OC TOTAL
MONEY
1. Mary Jo Peppler, Volleyball
x
x
7
10
10
7
x
10
10
1
55
$15,500
2. Karen Logan, Basketball
10
10
x
x
7
10
x
7
7
0
51
$10,100
3. Wyomia Tyus, Sprinter
0
x
0
7
x
7
1
4
10
29
$5,400
4. Barbara O'Brien, Football
3
2
4
2
2
10
4
25
$2,500
5. Billie Jean King, Tennis
x
7
10
2
2
21
$2,100
6. Cathy Rigby, Gymnastics
4
1 1/2
4
1
2
4
16 1/2
$1,650
7. Paula Sperber, Bowling
7
4
x
2
1
2
16
$1,600
8. Barbara Ferrell, Sprinter
x
2
x
1
7
10
$1,000
9. Janet Guthrie, Auto Racing
4
1
4
9
$900
10. Judy Soutar, Bowling
3
1 1/2
1
x
5 1/2
$550
11. Debbie Meyer, Swimming
1
1
x
2
$200
12. Debbie Lawler, Motorcycling                    
0
$0

INDIVIDUAL EVENT RESULTS

TENNIS

1. Karen Logan
10
2. Paula Sperber
7
3. Barbara O'Brien
3
3. Judy Soutar
3
5. Debbie Meyer
1
Logan d. Sperber
6-3

352 YARD RUN

1. Karen Logan
49.7
2. Billie Jean King
N/A
3. Cathy Rigby
N/A
4. Barbara O'Brien
N/A
5. Debbie Meyer
N/A

BASKETBALL

1. Billie Jean King
N/A
2. Mary Jo Peppler
N/A
3. Janet Guthrie
N/A
4. Cathy Rigby
N/A
4. Judy Soutar
N/A

ROWING - 100 yards

1. Mary Jo Peppler
N/A
N/A
2. Wyomia Tyus
N/A
N/A
3. Barbara O'Brien
N/A
4. Barbara Ferrell
N/A
5. Janet Guthrie
N/A

SWIMMING - final (50 meters)

1. Mary Jo Peppler
N/A
2. Karen Logan
N/A
3. Cathy Rigby
N/A
4. Barbara O'Brien
N/A
5. Judy Soutar
N/A

60 YARD DASH - final

1. Karen Logan
7.84
2. Mary Jo Peppler
N/A
3. Paula Sperber
N/A
4. Billie Jean King
N/A
5. Cathy Rigby
N/A

BOWLING

1. Barbara O'Brien
144
2. Wyomia Tyus
N/A
3. Janet Guthrie
N/A
4. Billie Jean King
105
5. Barbara Ferrell
N/A

SOFTBALL THROW

1. Mary Jo Peppler
201' 4"
2. Karen Logan
176' 10"
3. Barbara O'Brien
N/A
4. Paula Sperber
N/A
5. Wyomia Tyus
N/A

BIKE RACE - final (half mile)

1. Mary Jo Peppler
N/A
2. Karen Logan
N/A
3. Wyomia Tyus
N/A
4. Cathy Rigby
N/A
5. Paula Sperber
N/A

OBSTACLE COURSE

1. Wyomia Tyus
N/A
N/A
2. Barbara Ferrell
N/A
N/A
3. Cathy Rigby
N/A
4. Paula Sperber
N/A
5. Mary Jo Peppler
N/A

e = estimated time

r = Superstars record

N/A = result not available

dnf - did not finish

nm - no mark

LINK: Sports Illustrated Article

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