From the first women’s intercollegiate sporting events in 1896 to the groundbreaking Iowa and UConn basketball game of 2025, women’s sports have come a long way. Thanks to the blood, sweat, tears and determination of millions of women, female athletics has become a force to be reckoned with. 

The accomplishments should be appreciated throughout the year, especially on Feb. 5: National Girl’s and Women’s Sports Day. The day honors the multi-faceted world female athletics from struggles to successes. 

Marshall is no different: running, swimming, dribbling, kicking, sprinting, jumping, catching — the women of Marshall’s nine varsity sports programs can do it all. Behind any success, though, is a long line of powerful, dedicated women building the opportunities. 

One such woman is Bella Thompson, Marshall senior and former volleyball player. Her hard work has been awarded with the naming of Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. 

Thompson began her journey as an athlete at the age of three months when her mother started her in water babies swim lessons. Since then, she has played a myriad of sports, from volley and basketball to gymnastics and swimming. 

“I was doing stuff year-round, and the older I got, sports were my structure and my life,” Thompson said. “The community I found and the friendships I formed … That becomes almost more your family than your family in some ways.” 

Thompson started Marshall volleyball as a freshman in 2022. Her time as a Division I athlete opened her to a new world of stress, time management and expectations.

“When you look at it from the outside, you see the lifts, and you see the gym time and you see the games,” Thompson said, “but it’s budgeting time super early to get up, so that you eat an hour beforehand because you know it’s what’s best for your body and all of this stuff you do outside of it to guarantee that those moments are the best possible.”

For Thompson and other female volleyball players, the sacrifices are unique to many other collegiate sports. Where athletes in sports like basketball, soccer or tennis may work to compete at the professional level, women’s volleyball offers very little in the way of upward mobility. 

“For a lot of women, even going Division I, that’s the end point,” Thompson said. “You’re not walking into that thinking, ‘I’m going to the league,’ so these women have to put in the same amount of effort, if not more than, the men’s programs without there being something that you’re working towards.” 

Thompson’s time as a player elevated Marshall Women’s sports through her leadership and skill on and off the court. She continues to contribute to Marshall as a member of the Society of Yeager Scholars and president of Women in Cyber student organization. 

Another woman elevating Marshall Women’s sports is Kathryn Mueller, assistant swim coach for Marshall Swim and Dive. Mueller began sports as a seven-year-old on her local swim team. 

“I fell in love with the sport almost immediately,” Mueller said. “It opened my world up to an incredible community of people and brought me a profound sense of satisfaction watching my hard work in practice translate into tangible time improvements.”

Mueller swam through high school and eventually landed a spot on Purdue University’s team. She pursued a degree in education but fueled her true passion part-time as a youth swim coach. After graduating, she was offered a permanent coaching position at Marshall. 

“I was thrilled to ultimately be offered the position at Marshall and have served as the assistant coach for the past two years,” Mueller said.

As an athlete, Mueller cultivated her self-confidence and resilience through her many pressures, challenges and successes. 

“Being an athlete taught me the value of setting daunting goals and empowered me with the confidence to pursue them,” she said. “It also taught me that challenges and setbacks in pursuing these goals, while inevitable, are opportunities for growth.” 

Now, as a coach, she hopes to instill these values in her own athletes.

“I hope to empower future generations of female athletes with the knowledge and self-assurance to fearlessly pursue their own aspirations, both on and off the pool deck,” Mueller said.

Two members of the future generation are freshman distance runner Ella Hardin and freshman soccer player Mackenzie Mackreth. Both are now a full season into their respective sports and continuing to learn the ropes of Division I athletics. 

For Hardin, the road to Marshall Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field began in sixth grade with an invitation by her best friend to join the middle school cross country team. After that, she became a runner at Hurricane High School and was picked up to be a member of the Herd. 

Mackreth, on the other hand, is a native of England. She played for Leeds United before being recruited to Marshall. 

Despite the chaos of surviving freshman year, both Hardin and Mackreth have embraced their Division I experiences, using them as an opportunity for consistency and growth.

“The first year of college has definitely been stressful, but running is something that can always be my constant,” Hardin said. “If it’s a stressful or bad day, I can go rep laps on the indoor and feel free.”

Mackreth, too, uses her goals as a player and athlete to ground and direct her. 

“My main goal is to play at the highest level possible while continuing to develop and improve as much as I can. I want to push myself every day to become the best player I can be and see where that journey takes me,” Mackreth said. 

For Hardin, running is about more than feet pounding the ground. The long runs, hard workouts and pre-meet stresses are a recipe for even the worst of enemies to bond. Hardin sees her fellow athletes as a valued community of support and friendship. 

“Running has changed my life entirely, and my favorite thing is the friends I’ve met along the way,” Hardin said. “Thanks to running, I have made so many wonderful connections that have changed my life for the better.” 

For Mackreth, the diversity of the soccer team has provided an opportunity for cultural exposure she hadn’t anticipated. 

“Being a part of a team made up of players from so many different cultures with me being from England has been incredibly special,” Mackreth said. “All of these backgrounds coming together through Women’s Soccer has broadened my perspective both on and off the field.”

Despite the accomplishments and dedication of Thompson, Hardin, Mackreth and Mueller along with the countless other female coaches and athletes at Marshall, women’s sports still have ground to cover. Even today, women’s sporting events yield little turnout and coverage compared to men’s events.

“We need more engagement from students,” Thompson said. “We’ve started to see it with Women’s Basketball. I love it. I love the support that’s started to gain there, but Women’s Swimming is fun to go watch; Women’s Volleyball is a fun thing to go watch; Women’s Tennis is a fun thing to go watch.” 

As an athlete, Mueller also saw the lack of attention on women’s sports. 

“Historically, women’s athletics and the stories of female athletes are highlighted less frequently through media,” she said.

In recent years, however, she has felt a monumental pushback against the problem. She feels positive about the atmosphere of women’s sports at Marshall and hopes it will remain a progressive environment for female athletes. 

“I hope the university continues to expand the promotion of women’s athletic events and the personal stories and testaments of its female athletes,” Mueller said.

Claire Johnson can be contacted at [email protected].