The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics and to administer national championships. During its existence, the AIAW and its predecessor, the Division for Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS), recognized via these championships the teams and individuals who excelled at the highest level of women's collegiate competition.

After the 1981–82 academic year, the AIAW discontinued sponsorship of national championships and later was legally dissolved. At this time, the NCAA assumed sole sanctioning authority of its member schools' women's sports programs.

Governing bodies of women's collegiate athletics through 1982

The Division of Girls and Women's Sports (DGWS), a division of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER), was the first nationally recognized collegiate organization for women's athletics and the forerunner of the AIAW. The Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) operated under the auspices of the DGWS. The CIAW governed from 1966 until February, 1972, and conducted championships in eight sports.

During the 1972–73 season, the first full academic year of its operation, the AIAW offered its first eight national championships in the same eight sports (badminton, basketball, golf, gymnastics, softball, swimming & diving, track & field, and volleyball).

In years when small-college championships (Division II or III) were not contested, and in sports without divisions, there was open competition among eligible teams.

Except as noted below, the NCAA sponsored its first women's championship in each sport in the 1981–82 academic year. Individual athletic programs and, in some cases, individual teams within a program were permitted to choose to participate in either the AIAW or NCAA competitions (or both in a few instances). The NCAA has never sponsored championship competition in badminton, synchronized swimming, or slow-pitch softball.

In the sports of fencing, lacrosse, rowing and tennis, for completeness, the champions listed below include those bestowed by each sport's governing body prior to the beginning of AIAW championships in those sports.

Compilations of collegiate records by the NCAA, continuing into 2006, have ignored or segregated the contributions of AIAW athletes. Major college basketball's career women's scoring leader, Lynette Woodard of the University of Kansas, speaking on the exclusion of AIAW statistics, said, "Basketball doesn't just start with when the NCAA blessed it. And it's not about Jackie [Stiles, NCAA career scoring leader] and it's not about Lynette. It's about history. History is history."

Sports with AIAW/DGWS team championships by year Year Badminton Basketball Crosscountry Fencing Fieldhockey Golf Gymnastics Lacrosse Rowing Skiing Soccer Softball Slow-pitchsoftball Swimming& diving Synchronizedswimming Tennis Track & field(Indoor) Track & field(Outdoor) Volleyball Total 1967–68 1 1968–69 5 1969–70 8 1970–71 8 1971–72 8 1972–73 8 1973–74 8 1974–75 8 1975–76 10 1976–77 13 1977–78 13 1978–79 13 1979–80 15 1980–81 17 1981–82 19 Totals 13 14 7 3 7 13 14 2 1 6 1 14 2 15 6 6 3 14 13 154

Badminton

AIAW championship 1973–82. Previously administered by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS).

1970 Long Beach State (DGWS) 1971 Arizona State (DGWS) 1972 Pasadena City College (DGWS) 1973 Pasadena City College 1974 Long Beach State 1975 Arizona State 1976 Arizona State 1977 UCLA 1978 Arizona State 1979 Arizona State 1980 Arizona State 1981 Arizona State 1982 Northern Illinois

After the last AIAW competition, collegiate badminton assumed the authority of its own national tournament committee in conjunction with the United States Badminton Association. The USBA continued the sponsorship of national collegiate championships from 1983. Wisconsin won in 1983. Arizona State won all ten titles from 1984 through 1993, when ASU dropped badminton.

Basketball

Pre-NCAA statistics, based on AIAW Archives, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.

Division I (no division 1968–1974, Large College 1974–1979)

AIAW championship 1972–82. Previously administered by the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW).

1969 West Chester (Pennsylvania) def. Western Carolina 65-39 (CIAW invitational tournament, six player format) 1970 Cal State-Fullerton def. West Chester 50-46 (CIAW invitational tournament, six player format) 1971 Mississippi State College for Women def. West Chester 57-55 (CIAW qualification tournament) 1972 Immaculata (Pennsylvania) def. West Chester 52-48 1973 Immaculata def. Queens (New York) 59-52 1974 Immaculata def. Mississippi College 68-53 1975 Delta State (Mississippi) def. Immaculata 90-81 1976 Delta State def. Immaculata 69-64 1977 Delta State def. LSU 68-55 1978 UCLA def. Maryland 90-74 1979 Old Dominion def. Louisiana Tech 75-65 1980 Old Dominion def. Tennessee 68-53 1981 Louisiana Tech def. Tennessee 79-59 1982 Rutgers def. Texas 83-77

Division II (Small College 1974–1979)

1975 Phillips University (Oklahoma) 1976 Berry College (Georgia) 1977 Southeastern Louisiana 1978 High Point (North Carolina) 1979 South Carolina State 1980 University of Dayton 1981 William Penn College (Iowa) 1982 Francis Marion College (South Carolina)

Division III

1980 Worcester State College (Massachusetts) 1981 Wisconsin–La Crosse 1982 Concordia College (Minnesota)

Junior/Community College

1973 Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College 1974 Anderson College (South Carolina) 1975 Anderson College 1976 Anderson College 1977 Anderson College

Cross country

Division I (no division 1975–1979)

1975 Iowa State 1976 Iowa State 1977 Iowa State 1978 Iowa State 1979 North Carolina State 1980 North Carolina State 1981 Iowa State

Division II

1979 Air Force (Colorado) 1980 South Dakota State 1981 Utah

Division III

1979 Cal State-Hayward 1980 Cal State-Hayward 1981 College of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

Fencing

AIAW championship 1980–82. Previously administered by the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association. The IWFA became the National IWFA in 1964 and called for a National Championship.

1964 Paterson State (New Jersey) 1965 Paterson State 1966 Paterson State 1967 Cornell 1968 Cornell 1969 Cornell 1970 Hunter College (New York) 1971 NYU 1972 Cornell 1973 Cornell 1974 Cal State Fullerton 1975 San Jose State 1976 San Jose State 1977 San Jose State 1978 San Jose State 1979 San Jose State

AIAW, 1980–1982: 1980 Penn State 1981 Penn State 1982 Yale

The NIWFA has continued to sponsor national collegiate championships from 1983 through the present. From 1990 through the present the NCAA has sponsored a combined men's and women's team championship. Effective in 2026 the NCAA men’s and women’s championships were again separated.

Field Hockey

Division I (no division 1975–1979)

Co-sponsored 1975–78 by the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA).

1975 West Chester (Pennsylvania) def. Ursinus (Pennsylvania) 2-1 (penalty strokes) 1976 West Chester def. Ursinus 2-0 1977 West Chester def. Ursinus 1-0 1978 West Chester def. Delaware 3-2 1979 Long Beach State def. Penn State 2-0 1980 Penn State def. California 2-1 1981 Penn State def. Temple (Pennsylvania) 5-1

Division II

1979 Southwest Missouri State def. Colgate (New York) 2-0 1980 La Salle (Pennsylvania) def. Southwest Missouri State 3-2 1981 Lock Haven (Pennsylvania) def. Syracuse 2-0

Division III

1979 Shippensburg (Pennsylvania) def. Franklin & Marshall (Pennsylvania) 1-0 1980 Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) def. Hartwick (New York) 1-0 (ps) 1981 Bloomsburg (Pennsylvania) def. Lynchburg (Virginia) 3-2

Golf

Division I (no division 1970–1980)

Team

1970 Miami (Florida) (DGWS) 1971 UCLA (DGWS) 1972 Miami 1973 UNC Greensboro (two player teams) 1974 Rollins (Florida) 1975 Arizona State 1976 Furman 1977 Miami 1978 Miami 1979 SMU 1980 Tulsa 1981 Florida State 1982 Tulsa

Individual Gladys Palmer from Ohio State University initiated the women's intercollegiate golf championship in 1941. After World War II, the DGWS, known as the National Section on Women's Sports until 1957, crowned an individual collegiate golf national champion from 1946 through 1971, when it became an AIAW event. YearWinnerSchoolVenue host1941Eleanor DudleyAlabamaOhio State1946Phyllis OttoNorthwesternOhio State1947Shirley SporkMichigan State Normal CollegeOhio State1948Grace LenczykStetson (Florida)Ohio State1949Marilynn SmithKansasOhio State1950Betty RowlandRollins College (Florida)Ohio State1951Barbara BruningWellesley College (Massachusetts)Ohio State1952Mary Ann VillegaOhio StateOhio State1953Patricia LesserSeattleNorth Carolina1954Nancy ReedGeorge Peabody College (Tennessee)North Carolina1955Jackie YatesRedlands (California)Lake Forest College1956Marlene StewartRollins CollegePurdue1957Meriam BaileyNorthwesternIllinois1958Carole PushingCarleton College (Minnesota)Iowa State1959Judy EllerMiamiNorth Carolina1960JoAnne GundersonArizona StateStanford1961Judy HoetmerWashingtonMichigan1962Carol SorensonArizona StateNew Mexico1963Claudia LindorWestern WashingtonPenn State1964Patti ShookValparaiso (Indiana)Michigan State1965Roberta AlbersMiamiFlorida1966Joyce KazmierskiMichigan StateOhio State1967Martha WilkinsonCal State FullertonWashington1968Gail SykesOdessa College (Texas)Duke1969Jane BastanchuryArizona StatePenn State1970Cathy GaughanArizona StateSan Diego State1971Shelley HamlinStanfordGeorgia1972Ann LaughlinMiamiNew Mexico State1973Bonnie LauerMichigan StateMt. Holyoke College1974Mary BudkeOregon StateSan Diego State1975Barbara BarrowSan Diego StateArizona1976Nancy LopezTulsaMichigan State1977Cathy MorseMiamiHawaiʻi1978Deborah PetrizziTexasFlorida1979Kyle O'BrienSouthern MethodistOklahoma State1980Patty SheehanSan Jose StateNew Mexico1981Terri MoodyGeorgiaGeorgia1982Amy BenzSouthern MethodistOhio State

Division II

Team

1981 William and Mary (Virginia) 1982 Weber State (Utah)

Individual

1981 Susan Fox, Colorado State 1982 Heidi Wallin, Weber State

Division III

Team

1981 Sacramento State 1982 UNC Wilmington

Individual

1981 Kris Elton, Concordia College (New York) 1982 Luann Johnson, Meredith College (North Carolina)

Gymnastics

Division I (no division 1968–1977, Large College 1977–1979)

1969 Springfield College (Massachusetts) (DGWS) 1970 Southern Illinois (DGWS) 1971 Springfield College (DGWS) 1972 Springfield College (DGWS) 1973 Massachusetts 1974 Southern Illinois 1975 Southern Illinois 1976 Clarion State (Pennsylvania) 1977 Clarion State 1978 Penn State 1979 Cal State Fullerton 1980 Penn State 1981 Utah 1982 Florida

Division II (Small College 1977–1979)

1978 Centenary (Louisiana) 1979 Centenary 1980 Centenary 1981 Centenary 1982 Denver

Division III

1980 Wisconsin–Oshkosh 1981 UC Davis 1982 Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota)

Lacrosse

Division I

AIAW championship 1981–82. Administered 1978–80 by the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA). 1978 Penn State def. Maryland 9-3 1979 Penn State def. Massachusetts 8-5 1980 Penn State def. Maryland 3-1 1981 Maryland def. Ursinus 5-4 1982 Temple (Pennsylvania) def. Maryland 3-2

Division II

1981 Delaware 1982 Delaware

Division III

1981 Trenton State (New Jersey) 1982 Millersville State (Pennsylvania)

Rowing

Only AIAW championship was in 1982. The National Women's Rowing Association (NWRA) sponsored an annual open eights national championship from 1971 to 1979, among college and non-college teams. (There were no eights prior to 1971.) During this period, only in 1973 and 1975 did a college team win the national eights championship outright. According to USRowing, contemporary news reports in 1976 and 1977 do not mention a national collegiate title. Beginning in 1980, the NWRA sponsored the Women's Collegiate National Championship in varsity eights.

NWRA Open Eights top college finishers, 1971–1979 (champion in parentheses):