Rachel Steele '83 was named Forester Athlete of the Week on Thursday for capturing back-to-back #1 singles titles at the 1981 and 1982 Associated Colleges of the Midwest Championships.
Steele also helped lead the Foresters to the team title as a junior at the 1981 event, which was held October 3-4 at Knox College. Steele, who triumphed 6-1, 6-1 in the final, was joined by teammates Sande Noble (#3), Sue Heath (#5), and Kathleen Sadler (#6) as singles champions. Steele and Nancy Horgan were the runners-up at #1 doubles while Noble and Gayle Leeder prevailed at #2 and Heath and Sadler at #3. The Foresters earned 33 points, 8.5 more than second-place Carleton College.
While Lake Forest was unable to defend its team title the following year at Beloit College, Steele claimed a second straight championship at the top spot in the singles lineup.
Steele earned a spot in the singles field at the 1982 and 1983 NCAA Division III Championships, which are held in the spring. After falling in the opening round her junior season, she trained with her coach 'Cille Ramsey, and the Forester men's team as a senior. The preparation paid off as Steele posted a pair of 6-2, 6-1 victories to reach the quarterfinals and earn All-American honors. She is still the only All-American in program history.
Steele, who played field hockey at the College for two years before joining the tennis team, was inducted into the Forester Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
Rachel Steele Robinson Hall of Fame Bio
Since all Lake Forest College sporting events during the fall semester have been postponed, the Athletic Department is utilizing its archives to continue the weekly recognition of high-level performances by Foresters. The department has selected a Forester Athlete of the Week since 1996, so the honorees for the rest of 2020 will have earned the distinction at least 25 years ago.
A note of gratitude goes out to Mike Dau '58, whose tireless efforts as the department's historian has made this fall's Forester Athlete of the Week research possible.