Leading their respective sports and in our top three would be Billie Jean King, Diana Taurasi and Lisa Fernandez. Photos: tennisfame.com & usab.com & @UCLASoftball / Twitter.com.
With the men’s list getting an update after Tom Brady’s latest Super Bowl win, it’s also past due to complete one for the women. Based on CIF sanctioned sports only, we have Billie Jean King of Long Beach Poly in the top position not just for what she did on the court in tennis, but off-the-court as a leader for all females in all sports. Rounding out the top three are Diana Taurasi of basketball and Lisa Fernandez for softball.
Note: This is a post for Gold Club members only on CalHiSports.com. We will be getting back to covering current accomplishments by players, teams and coaches on the field and on the court very soon based on newest state public health guidelines. To check out getting a Gold Club membership to see all of our state record updates (five sports), totally authentic historical features, recruiting ratings and more, CLICK HERE.
Notes: A version of these rankings were done in 2008 for our most recently printed Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac. That one included high school accomplishments as part of it. This version has been done just looking at it for after high school. We know it is an apples and oranges type of comparison, but it’s still fun to learn about all of these people from so many different sports. For the record, sports included are water polo, cross country, basketball, wrestling, soccer, softball, track & field, swimming, diving, golf, volleyball and tennis. Not included would be those from non-CIF sports such as auto racing, shooting, gymnastics, figure skating, MMA, snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, boxing, and more. We also did not consider anyone who didn’t graduate from a California high school.
FOR UPDATED STATE’S ALL-TIME 100 GREATEST ATHLETES (MEN), CLICK HERE.
