DENVER – MSU Denver has for decades been a leader in providing equal opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics.
 
Today is the 36th 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, women's soccer star Ymara Guante is featured.

Guante was the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year in 2004, when she helped lead MSU Denver to a national championship. She was also the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Player of the Year.
 
In her two seasons with the Roadrunners, she scored 19 goals and had 29 assists – she's tied for second in program history for career assists and her 18 assists in 2004 is the second-most in program history for a single season. She matched the school record with four assists in a game against Colorado Christian on Sept. 24, 2004.
 
Guante had six goals and 11 assists for the 2003 team that went 21-1-1 overall and won a regional championship, and followed that up with 13 goals and 18 assists for the 2004 team. In Guante's two seasons, the Roadrunners were 46-2-1 overall and were 28-0 against RMAC regular-season competition.
 
Guante was named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's all-century team in 2009.

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.