McKendree University Athletics

Mary Blanche excelled in sports at a time when women athletes did not receive varsity letters. Instead, in intramural and intercollegiate competition sponsored by the Women’s Athletic Association (W.A.A.), Mary Blanche earned awards in basketball, soccer, tennis, track and volleyball. She was captain and high scorer of the basketball team and captain of the soccer team. In the 1936 W.A.A. Field Day she won every event but the shot put. That same year she was first baseman on the Madison/St. Clair/Clinton County All Star Softball Team. Mary Blanche’s interest in athletics continued past graduation. In 1938 and 1939 she played on the Clinton County All Star Softball Team. An outstanding golfer, she won league championships in Lebanon from 1956-66 and in Evansville, Ind., from 1966-71. She participated in the Senior Olympics in Edwardsville, Ill., from 1979-83 winning gold medals in five events and a silver in a sixth.