Local Olympian reflects on Title IX and career

While she was at Capuchino High School, there were no programs for girls. 

“It was by a stroke of luck that someone discovered I had long legs, and instead of running away to the circus, I ran away to the Olympics.” 

While her school didn’t have a track program for girls, she found a spot on a youth girls running club, but still, they had nowhere to train. They weren’t allowed on the track during football practice or the boys track practice, so they had to wait until after the gate was locked and all the hurdles and equipment were put away, when they would hop the fence, determined to run. 

“There was nothing but adversity,” Connolly said.

Connolly went to her first Olympics in 1960 in Rome, between her junior and senior year of high school, after setting an American record in the 800-meters while winning the 1960 Olympic Trials. 

“I was overwhelmed,” she said about her first Olympic Games. “Walking into the Olympic Stadium, and at that time in 1960, everybody was happy and proud to be an American, we had just won the war, and there were American flags waving, and you really felt a lot of pride. 

Connolly said that at the Olympics, while you compete with other nations, it’s really about all the people of the world together. 

“While everybody here thought I was going over to the Olympics to beat a Russian, I ended up dancing with the Russians in the rec center,” she said. “It’s really about meeting kids from all over the world, and getting to experience different cultures, different foods. It was the most eye-opening and broadening experience a kid could have.” 

Connolly came to the College of San Mateo in 1962 and became the U.S. pentathlon champion from 1961 to 1967, and became the first female combined event participant when the pentathlon was added to the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo — finally allowing women to compete in Olympic multi-events. 

Connolly went on to win the pentathlon gold medal at the 1967 Pan Am Games and competed in her third Olympic Games in 1968 in Mexico City where she broke the American record in the pentathlon for the seventh time, and finished sixth. She also set America records in the 400-meter and 440-meter, and was the 1967 national champion in the long jump.

“My whole life ultimately was changed in a very significant way by Title IX,” she said. “It changed my life, I never would have been able to coach without it.”  

 Connolly was UCLA's first women’s track coach and coached world record-breaker Evelyn Ashford, “the fastest woman of the 20th Century,” and Allyson Felix, the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history. Felix expressed appreciation for her first professional coach during her own “retirement” press conference at the recent World Championships in Eugene, Ore.

 While she grew up overthe hill, Connolly has always considered Half Moon Bay home, and would come over to run in the sand dunes every single week growing up.

“This is home,” she said. “I love it.” 

Recently Connolly has been assisting the new track program at Pescadero High School. 

“I just love working with kids,” she said. “I’m really hoping the track takes off at Pescadero High School. There were kids there that were really talented, and track can open doors.” 

As for her induction into the Hall of Fame at College of San Mateo, Connolly said it’s particularly heartwarming and gratifying because while she was there, there were no women’s teams, so she was never formally recognized.

“To finally be recognized after all these years, it feels quite good,” she said.

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

On Friday there will be a Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the College of San Mateo, 1700 W Hillsdale Boulevard, San Mateo. The events begin at 4:30 p.m. with an inductee plaque unveiling, followed by a ceremony at 5:15 p.m., and a reception at 7 p.m. Tickets are $75, and can be reserved at collegeofsanmateo.edu/hof. 

Local inductees: 

Half Moon Bay High School alumni, Cami Carroll was the 2001 California Community Colleges state champion in the hammer throw, and placed second in the discus throw for the College of San Mateo. Carroll also competed in the sprints and relays for the Bulldogs, and played on the soccer team at Cañada College. At San Francisco State University, Carroll finished third in the 2004 NCAA Division II hammer throw. 

Harley Donovan, a former Cougar, was the state home run champion (20), and RBI leader (78) on the 2015 College of San Mateo softball team, which is the first team being inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. They had an undefeated (43-0) regular season, before losing to Palomar College in the state finals. Donovan was named a 2015 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American, and was the California Community College Athletic Association state player of the year, and set a state career home run record of 37. She went on to earn NAIA player of the year honors at Southern Oregon University. 

Gavin Long, who coached baseball in Half Moon Bay for more than a decade, and served as a Coastside volunteer firefighter, was San Mateo County’s Athlete of the Year when he got to the College of San Mateo, after All-County campaigns in both baseball and basketball at Westmoor High School in 1973. He had a 7-3 pitching record as a Bulldogs freshman in 1974 and was 10-5 in 1975, completing every game he started, including 12 and 16 inning marathons. He had been drafted by the Giants out of high school and the Dodgers while at the College of San Mateo, but accepted a scholarship to the University of Miami, where he had a 15-0 first year record and was named first team All-America. He was 10-4 in 1977, leading the Hurricanes to top national ranking entering post-season play. He signed with and played with the Atlanta Braves for one season.