Olympian to Celebrate Title IX at CSB

Join Olympian Amanda Smock as CSB celebrates the 40^th anniversary of Title IX.

Amanda Smock, a 2012 U.S. Olympian in the triple jump, will take part in a panel presentation in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1 at the Gorecki Dining and Conference Center on the campus of the College of Saint Benedict. The event is free and open to the public. 

A native of Melrose, Minn., Smock will be joined on the panel by Peg Brenden a Title IX lawsuit pioneer and Val Rogosheske, a member of the Boston Marathon "Class of 1972," as one of the first women to compete in the event. 

Smock competed in her first Olympic Games this summer in London. Competing in the triple jump, she was Olympic Trials champion with a mark of 45-feet-9, before placing 11th in the qualifying round with a jump of 44-feet-8. 

She was USA Indoor champion in 2012, a two-time USA Outdoor champion in 2011 and 2012, and World Championship Pre-Meet champion in 2011. 

She competed collegiately at North Dakota State, where she graduated as a three-time NCAA Division II champion. 

Rogosheske, a current St. Cloud, Minn. resident and 1969 St. Cloud State graduate, was at the starting line for the Boston Marathon in 1972.  The first year that women were allowed to officially enter the race, she and seven fellow pioneers were the only women in the field of over 11,000.  In 2012, about 11,000 women were among the 27,000 runners. Today, she is the fitness coordinator at the Whitney Center in St. Cloud. 

Brenden, a St. Cloud native and St. Cloud Tech High School graduate, was one of the first females to play high school sports in Minnesota. In one of the first Title IX cases in the country, she earned the right to play on her high school boys' team and eventually went on to play collegiately at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Today, she is a compensation judge for the Minnesota State Office of Administrative Hearings. 

During the discussion, Smock, Rogosheske and Brenden will share stories of their history and the growth of women's athletics in the Title IX era. 

Signed into law by President Nixon on June 23, 1972, the Higher Education Act - and specifically its Title IX provision - gave equal access to female and males in any federally assisted program. But without a doubt, its greatest effect has been felt in high school and collegiate athletics. 

Since its inception, Title IX has spurred exponential growth in opportunities for females in both interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics, helping to build the athletic world we know today. 

Don't miss this unique opportunity hear first-hand stories and celebrate the positive effect of such a landmark movement. 

Information courtesy of USA Track & Field, the St. Cloud Times and U of M Tucker Center