| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Softball | ||
Representing  Australia | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 1996 Atlanta | Team |
| 2000 Sydney | Team |
 | 2004 Athens | Team |
| 2008 Beijing | Team |
Tanya Victoria Harding (born 23 January 1972 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian softball player, who has competed for Australia at four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. Three times she claimed a bronze medal (1996, 2000, 2008), and once a silver medal (2004).
The Queenslander was ranked in the top five pitchers in the world for over a decade. [1]
In 1995, Harding enrolled at UCLA for one quarter. She played on the squad that won the NCAA women's softball championships, and was named MVP of the tournament. [2] After UCLA captured the NCAA National Championship, Harding returned to her homeland without taking final exams or earning a single college credit. [3]
However, in 1997 UCLA was stripped of its 1995 title for scholarship violations. Three softball players had been granted soccer scholarships, putting the Bruins three over the limit for softball. Although the three players involved were not identified, it was believed that one of them was Harding. [4] Runner-up Arizona was not declared the champion, as there was no way to determine if Arizona would have won had Harding not been involved. Officially, there is no champion for 1995.
In 2022, she was inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame. [5]
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The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other words, a team is eliminated when it has lost two games. After six teams have been eliminated, the remaining two teams compete in a best-of-three series to determine the Division I WCWS National Champion.
College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is normally played by men.
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Jennifer Lynn Brundage is an American, former collegiate All-American softball player and current assistant head coach for Michigan. She played college softball for the UCLA Bruins from 1992 to 1995 and won the 1992 Women's College World Series championship. Brundage was named Honda Sports Award for softball as Player of the Year in 1995. As a part of Team USA softball, she won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Christa Lee Williams-Yates is an American, former collegiate three-time All-American, two-time Gold Medal winning Olympian, retired three-time pro All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher originally from Houston, Texas. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she received a gold medal with the American team. Four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she won her second gold medal. Williams-Yates began her college career with the UCLA Bruins in 1997 before transferring to play softball with the Texas Longhorns (1998–99). Joining in its inaugural year, she played three years in the National Pro Fastpitch with the Texas Thunder (2004–06) and still ranks top-10 in career wins, strikeouts, ERA among other records. In 2018, Williams-Yates was named to the USA National Softball Hall of Fame. Currently, Williams-Yates teaches high school softball in Friendswood, Texas.
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Sharron Backus is a former softball player and coach. She played as a shortstop and third baseman on seven Amateur Softball Association national championship teams from 1961 to 1975. She served as the head softball coach at UCLA from 1975 to 1997 and led her teams to nine national collegiate softball championships. At the time of her retirement in 1997, she was the winningest college softball coach in the history of the sport. Backus has been inducted into both the National Softball Hall of Fame and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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The 1995 NCAA Division I softball tournament was the fourteenth annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA women's collegiate softball. Held during May 1995, thirty-two Division I college softball teams contested the championship. The tournament featured eight regionals of four teams, each in a double elimination format. The 1995 Women's College World Series was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from May 25 through May 29 and marked the conclusion of the 1995 NCAA Division I softball season. UCLA won their eighth NCAA championship, and ninth overall, by defeating Arizona 4–2 in the final game. UCLA pitcher Tanya Harding was named Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player, the first time the honor was awarded by the NCAA. The Bruins' participation and championship were later vacated by the NCAA.
The 1995 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 1995. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1995 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1995 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 29, 1995.
