RIPON, Wis. - Barb Williams-Clay '83 was one of the first female student-athletes to excel in three sports at Ripon College, doing so in volleyball, basketball, and softball in the old WIC-WAC (Wisconsin Independent Colleges-Women's Athletic Conference). The winner of Ripon's annual S.N. Pickard Award for athletic and academic achievement, Williams-Clay's talent was enshrined forever when she was inducted into Ripon's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, the first year she was eligible.

"Ripon College Athletics provided so many growth and development opportunities which I have applied throughout my career and daily life," Williams-Clay said. "Having that structure while in college helped me be more successful as a student and the exercise helped both my physical and mental abilities."

It was on the volleyball court where Williams-Clay shone the brightest, serving as team captain and garnering All-Conference honors during all four of her years with the team. That helped Ripon win back-to-back conference championships in her final two seasons (1981 and 1982).

On the hardwood, Williams-Clay still ranks 25th in school history for career points, 38 years after her graduation. The 728 points she scored during her four-year basketball career (1979-83) ranked second in school history at the time of her graduation. As a senior, she served as team captain and led Ripon in scoring with 10.9 points per game as one of the team's guards.

"Any coach would call herself lucky to have Barb on a team, but she played both volleyball and basketball for me, so I was doubly lucky," legendary Ripon coach Elaine Coll said. "Barb was a skilled athlete and team leader who improved every single season. She not only scored points, but was a smart and unselfish player, which I respected her for."

A native of Hopkins, Minn., Williams-Clay was also a member of some of the earliest softball teams in Ripon College history, where she was a three-year starter and landed yet another All-Conference honor.

"Barb loved to compete and had a strong desire to win," Coll said. "No matter the sport, she learned where she should be and what was required of her, before going out and executing it just as she had learned. Like so many student-athletes I coached, Barb not only played for me at Ripon College, but she has become a good friend of mine for decades, and remains a strong supporter of Ripon College."

Williams-Clay currently resides in Eden Prairie, Minn. and works in Senior Management at The Reinsurance Group of America.

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