Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame


Terri McFarland (92BBA)

Softball 1989-92

Terri McFarland wasn’t sure she was going to play softball in college.

A visit with two legends in Iowa’s athletic department changed her mind.

For McFarland, her induction into the UI Athletics Hall of Fame is a credit to her coaches and her teammates. But she also credits coach Gayle Blevins and women’s athletic director Dr. Christine Grant (70BA, 74PhD) with helping her make the final decision to come to Iowa from California.

“It was an exciting time because I was in Coach Blevins’ first recruiting class,” McFarland says. “I wasn’t going to play softball in college—I always wanted to go to a big school, and there weren’t as many programs as there are now. I was limiting myself completely, and I wasn’t going to play college softball.

“Then Coach Blevins came along, and she had such credibility with what she had done at Indiana (where she won three Big Ten titles and finished third in the Women’s College World Series). And then I met Dr. Grant on my recruiting trip, and she was such a force.”

Blevins and Grant, McFarland says, made her confident in how Iowa’s softball program could grow.

“I knew what our program could do,” she says. “The women’s basketball team had sold out the arena. The field hockey team was great. I knew our program would do that, because Dr. Grant had so much faith in Coach Blevins, and the resources and the support were there.”

      Terri image

PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM

McFarland, a pitcher, was the Big Ten’s freshman of the year in 1989. A year later, she was the conference’s player of the year. McFarland was part of two Big Ten championship teams and played on two teams that made it to the NCAA tournament.

Her individual numbers were impressive—she still ranks first in career shutouts (50), second in ERA (0.82), third in complete games (104) and innings (901.1), fourth in appearances (158), fifth in strikeouts (791) and sixth in wins (88). McFarland holds single-season school records in appearances (57), innings (302) and complete games (35), while ranking second (18), fourth (14) and sixth (12) in shutouts, third (0.53), eighth (0.75) and 10th (0.83) in ERA, eighth in wins (27) and ninth (241), 14th (199) and 15th (198) in strikeouts.

“I remember game results, but I don’t remember a lot of the games,” McFarland says. “It was such a great feeling to win the Big Ten my first year there. The team went from .500 to winning the Big Ten, and then getting to the (NCAA tournament) and hosting the regionals. We were always on the edge—the two years we didn’t go to the NCAA tournament, we were close.”

McFarland may have grown up in California, but she was quite familiar with the Big Ten. “My parents were from Ohio, and so I was an Ohio State fan,” McFarland says, adding with a laugh, “But to me, the Big Ten was Ohio State and Michigan.”

She made her impact on the conference as a four-time All-Big Ten selection and a member of the conference’s All-Decade team.

“It’s everything,” McFarland, now an attorney living in California, says of her time with the Hawkeyes. “It made me confident in whatever I did. I never stopped working. Being a part of that, being a teammate, that has helped me be a lawyer. I work well with others. Being a pitcher is a little more on your own. But I can support teammates and be supported by teammates.”

—JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Related Content

Acclaimed University of Iowa artist Elizabeth Catlett is the subject of a major retrospective in New York, Washington, and Chicago.

With the start of a new year upon us, it's time to look back at your favorite University of Iowa stories from 2018. Here are Iowa Magazine's top 10 most-read articles of the year: The Nomadic Life (spring 2018) Hawkeye football favorite Paki O'Meara (10BA) finds ultimate freedom in backpacking around the world, taking photos that inspire a sense of wonder. PHOTO COURTESY PAKI O'MEARA Kinnick at 100 (summer 2018) This past summer marked two historically significant dates for Hawkeye fans: the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nile Kinnick (40BA), and the 75th anniversary of his tragic death. In memory of Iowa's favorite son, scholar, and Ironman, we look back on his life and legacy. Ahead of the Game (spring 2018) The Iowa football team becomes the first in the nation to equip the majority of its players with a state-of-the-art new helmet designed to improve player safety. PHOTO: MARK STASTNY Hollywood U (fall 2018) Alumni success in TV and film shines the spotlight on Iowa's? flourishing screenwriting program. ILLUSTRATION: FABIEN GILBERT / ARTISTIQUE INTERNATIONAL Mountain Roots (spring 2018) Nearly 80 years ago, an unlikely UI mountain-climbing club emerged from the cornfields of Iowa to become one of the most active in the world. Now the next generation of outdoorsmen continue in their Hawkeye family's footsteps. PHOTO COURTESY EBERT FAMILY The Secrets of Sleep (fall 2018) UI doctors and researchers work to shine light on the third of our lives we spend in the dark. Illustration: John Emigh Fry's Dream Team (fall 2018) FRYFest honors Hayden Fry's legendary 1983 coaching tree. PHOTO: UI ATHLETICS Going the Distance (spring 2018) UI-trained dentist Deb Carneol (92DDS) completes seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. PHOTO: MARK CONLON/WORLDMARATHONCHALLENGE.COM At 105, Our Oldest Hawkeye? (spring 2018) Catherine Shaw Shors (35BSC), who earned her business degree from Iowa more than eight decades ago, celebrated a milestone birthday in May. 1936 HAWKEYE YEARBOOK A Heroic Homecoming (spring 2018) Avengers: Infinity War director Joe Russo (92BA) receives a superhero's welcome at his alma mater. PHOTOS: Justin Torner

Group looks to support students and alumni and to maintain a supportive voice for their issues at the University of Iowa.

We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Statement unless you have disabled them in your browser.