WARSAW — The Kosciusko County Historical Society hosted a celebration of women in sports Saturday outside the Kosciusko County Jail Museum. 

The event honored the achievements of Kosciusko County’s female athletes over the past 50 years, when the IHSAA elevated girls' sports to the same as boys

Members of the Warsaw Lady Tigers state girls’ basketball champion teams from 1976 and 1978 were called up on stage and recognized, as was the 2015 Tippecanoe Valley girls’ runner-up state champion basketball team and the Warsaw girls basketball runner-up from last year.

WRSW’s Rita Price, herself a sports broadcasting legend, emceed the event and took time to recognize Wawasee graduate Shanna Zolman as possibly one of the greatest athletes in Indiana history.

"She scored 3,085 points, held many national records, including 92 percent at the free throw line, and she carried that over the the WNBA and Tennessee," Price said. "Shanna Zolman will always be remembered as one of the best in Kosciusko County."

Many of Warsaw’s championship teams in 1976 and 1978 attende the ceremony, including head coach Jan Soyez and standouts Judi Warren and Chanda Kline.

Sue Loher, a member of the 1978 state championship team who lives in Colorado, attended Saturday’s ceremony.

Luckily, her 45th reunion coincided nicely.

“I was going to be on the road by six this morning, but I couldn’t pass this up,” Loher said. “It’s a great event.”

Loher went on to have a career in the judicial system in Colorado. She said athletics paid off later in life.

“Team sports help me in my workplace, coping with people,” Loher said.

“I wanted to see the team again. The ’78 team, we’ve stayed pretty tight. I stay in touch with the ladies. But it’s wonderful to see everybody. It’s very heartwarming, and we’re all very close still,” she said.

Price also put into perspective how far girls' sports have progressed.

"Maybe I should say it, but I’m going to — one of the members of the IHSAA board actually thought it would be unhealthy for girls to run up and down the court full court because it might inhibit them from having children,” said, drawing hoots and hollers. “That’s how far we’ve come, ladies and gentlemen, in 50 years!”  

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