DENVER – MSU Denver has for decades been a leader in providing equal opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics.
 
Today is the 12th installment of a 52-part tribute by Roadrunners Athletics to pioneers and leaders in intercollegiate athletics at MSU Denver.

Each Thursday, a key female figure in Roadrunners athletics history will be recognized.
 
Today, volleyball star Kathy Crusan is featured.

Inducted into the MSU Denver Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998, Crusan was a top player in the late 1970s and early 1980s, playing in 1978, 1979 and 1982. The Roadrunners went to the NAIA national tournament in all three of her seasons. The 1978 team won its first 36 matches before finishing 36-3, while the 1982 team made a run to a third-place finish at nationals.
 
After MSU Denver, Crusan-Walker began a professional career that included doubles and mixed 6-on-6.  She competed at numerous doubles tournaments in the 1980s, never placing lower than fourth in a tournament and capturing the Shoreline/U-Trau Women's AA championship in 1988.
  
Title IX, the groundbreaking law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at schools that receive funding from the federal government, went into effect just over 50 years ago – on June 23, 1972.