Centralight

13 centralight spring '15 13 centralight spring '15 Marcy Weston always has been a whistle- blower at heart. Her fi rst foray into offi ciating came when she was an undergrad at the University of Dayton in the mid-1960s. "Five bucks a game," Weston recalls of her fl edgling days in stripes, calling rec league and high school basketball games. "I'd make 20, 25 bucks a week. That was a lot of money. Of course, tuition was $17 a credit hour." Fifty years later, in 2008, she became the fi rst woman to receive the Gold Whistle Award from the National Association of Sports Offi cials. The award is one of the most coveted in the world of sports offi ciating. It recognizes outstanding contributions of sports offi cials, referees and umpires beyond their offi ciating. While making her way in the education and coaching world, Weston continued to offi ciate, an arrangement made possible by the fact that she coached volleyball – a fall sport at CMU – and had the time for basketball in the winter. "Girls' high school volleyball in Michigan was in the winter back then," Weston says. "I would referee college basketball on a Friday somewhere in Michigan; I'd go to a high school volleyball tournament on Saturday and recruit; and referee basketball on Sunday. Big Ten women played Friday and Sunday, so it was perfect." Perfectly busy. For years, Weston rarely had a day off from late August until the Final Four in March. "You could only do it when you're young," Weston says. "It was great, and I loved every minute of it." Weston rose to prominence as an offi cial, working the Division III Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national championship game and the Division II national semifi nals in the late 1970s. In 1982, she offi ciated the fi rst NCAA Division I Women's National Championship game, a feat she repeated in 1984. She was scheduled to call the '83 title game, but appendicitis kept her from it. That 1984 game was the last she offi ciated. She moved on to become the Big Ten supervisor of offi cials and NCAA secretary- rules editor/national coordinator of offi cials, posts she held until 1988 and 2006, respectively. • 13 centralight spring '15 PHOTO BY STEVE JESSMORE, '81

• Cover