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Tempe, Ariz. • The thought seemed to have scarcely even occurred to Arizona State's Danica Mendivil, that there might have been a time in college sports when women were not afforded the same benefits and opportunities as men.

"I never feel like we're not given everything we need," the volleyball player from Pleasant Grove High School said. "We have everything we need to be successful."

Which pretty much says everything you need to know about women's sports in the Pac-12 Conference, right there.

The league the Utah Utes officially joined last week has for years been a pioneering leader in gender equity — from supporting women's sports even before landmark legislation required it to producing some of the best women's teams and athletes in collegiate history, and making it seem to athletes such as Mendivil as if things were just always this way.

"It's tradition," Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said. The league was "ahead of its time in promoting and supporting overall competitive excellence."

In fact, the league is so proud of its rich legacy that it has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of its decision to expand in 1986-87 and officially sponsor 10 women's sports. The league (now sponsoring 11 women's sports) has won 113 national titles in that span — far more than any other conference in the country — including multiple national championships in each of the last 24 years.

"There's a fantastic emphasis" on women's sports, ASU athletic director Lisa Love said.

Love herself is an example of the commitment to gender equity in the Pac-12.

She and Cal's Sandy Barbour are two of the five female athletic directors in all of Division I, following in the footsteps of Washington's Barbara Hedges, who in 1991 became the first woman in charge of both men's and women's athletic programs in Division I.

Hedges also was among the group of pioneering women who joined Cal chancellor Michael Heyman in getting the league to establish its structure of officially sanctioning women's sports. The establishment of senior women's administrator positions helped enforce the move and allay fears that women would be brushed aside if forced under the official purview of male-dominated athletic departments.

"I just wanted the women to have the same status as the men," Heyman said.

And now look.

Not only has the league won all of those championships, but it also has produced some of the finest female athletes in college sports history — including track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee, swimmer Janet Evans and basketball player Lisa Leslie. The league also has fostered legendary women coaches such as Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, UCLA's Valorie Kondos Field and ASU's Linda Vollstedt.

The Utes figure to fit right in on that front, having fielded nationally competitive women's teams in basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and soccer for years. Recently retired Elaine Elliott is one of the winningest women's basketball coaches of all-time, too, and volleyball coach Beth Launiere enjoys a similarly respected standing in her sport.

"It's very noble," Washington women's basketball coach Kevin McGuff said. "It's the right thing to do, and I think the results are pretty impressive with the commitment that they've made."

That commitment began even before the famous Title IX legislation in 1972 mandated equal opportunity for men and women in education.

By then, Love said, the schools that comprise the Pac-12 had long since started supporting women's sports, even if they did not yet fall under the official sanction of the league. Much of that was because of the progressive culture within the league and its footprint on the West Coast.

"The league is firmly committed to broad-based success," she said.

As a result, young women athletes such as Mendivil can attend Pac-12 schools with a firm sense of belonging.

"I had never really thought about it, but definitely being here I notice it," she said. "Doing well is a huge emphasis here for the program and … I love it. I love being part of that. The feeling of being part of a family where they don't look down on you, it's great." —

Simply the best

The Pac-12 Conference has produced some of the best women athletes in college sports history:

Amanda Beard • Arizona, swimming

Natalie Coughlin • Cal, swimming

Lisa Fernandez • UCLA, softball

Jennie Finch • Arizona, softball

Julie Foudy • Stanford, soccer

Florence Griffith-Joyner • UCLA, track and field

Jackie Joyner-Kersee • UCLA, track and field

Lisa Leslie • USC, basketball

Cheryl Miller • USC, basketball

Annika Sorenstam • Arizona, golf

Jenny Thompson • Stanford, swimming

Logan Tom • Stanford, volleyball

Kerri Walsh • Stanford, volleyball