No. 7: Emily Goodfellow '76

For most students, playing one varsity sport is already an impressive achievement. For Emily Goodfellow '76, one sport was just not enough — and neither were two, for that matter.

During her four-year tenure at Princeton, Goodfellow earned an astonishing 12 varsity letters by participating in three varsity sports, the greatest number of letters accrued by an athlete in University history.

For her pioneering role in women's athletics at Princeton, she earned the C. Otto von Kienbusch Award in 1976, the sportsmanship award given each year to outstanding female scholar-athletes.

When Goodfellow matriculated at Princeton, women — let alone women's athletics — were still a relatively new addition to the school. Until the Trustees abolished the quota in 1974, the number of women at Princeton was capped.

In 1971, only swimming, basketball, tennis, crew, field hockey and squash offered women's programs. In 1972, the same year that Goodfellow entered Princeton, the Tigers established the women's lacrosse program.

Goodfellow attended The Shipley School, an all-girls school where she played basketball, lacrosse and field hockey.

In her first year at Princeton she continued her athletic pursuits by playing lacrosse, field hockey and squash for a school that was still a decidedly male-dominated institution.

Goodfellow led the lacrosse team in scoring during three of her four seasons. However, her career 21-3 dual-meet record in squash illustrates best her extreme athleticism. Goodfellow dominated on the court despite having played squash for the first time in college and under her leadership, the Orange and Black earned four Howe Cup Championships. During her junior year, she reached the finals of the Women's Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association Individual Championships, arguably her greatest personal achievement on the court.

In that match, the Daily Princetonian reported on Tuesday, March 4, 1975, Goodfellow was beaten by Wendy Zaharko '75, 15-4, 15-4, 15-5 in a match where Zaharko said that Goodfellow "was nervous and not playing as well as she can." Zaharko meanwhile said she "just couldn't make an error."

Goodfellow enjoyed especially strong camaraderie amongst her field hockey teammates, two of whom remain among her closest friends.

Along with the support of her teammates, Goodfellow benefited from the unwavering support of her father, Thorp Dusen Van Goodfellow '41. Himself a player on Princeton's soccer team, Thorp cheered Emily on throughout her collegiate career. He also founded field hockey and lacrosse honors for future female players.

Emily treasures the memories and friendships that she formed during her time at Princeton and lauds the school's rapid integration of women's athletics into campus life.

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"When the university decided to go coed, it made a real commitment to be supportive of women's sports," Goodfellow told the 'Prince'. "At other schools, women got the worst fields, the nastiest locker rooms and the cheapest uniforms. Not at Princeton. We were treated with respect."

Goodfellow's numerous abilities and passions extended beyond the playing field, as she also excelled academically in the Religion department.

Since graduating, Goodfellow has pursued a wide variety of activities and work experiences. After a brief professional squash career, Goodfellow manifested her love of sports by working for ABC's Wide World of Sports. Goodfellow then a business called GoodandMary, Inc.

Next, she came back to Princeton's squash courts, but this time she was on the sidelines as the Tigers' head coach, a position which she held from 1991 to 1994, when she returned to her business. She succeeded Betty Constable, Goodfellow's former coach who had led the women squash's program from its founding in 1971. Under Goodfellow's lead the Tigers earned an .800 winning percentage, just below the team's all-time record of .867. She coached two of Princeton's eight total four-time All-Ivy League players for women's squash: Hope McKay and Jen Roos, both members of the Class of '92.