Wendy Lucero

Wendy Lucero attended Southern Illinois University to compete in several sports, including gymnastics, figure skating, and diving. She quickly realized her late start in gymnastics and figure skating hampered her chances in those sports, so she focused on diving, transferring to the University of Nebraska, where she won the 1985 NCAA title on 1-metre springboard. Lucero was primarily a springboard diver, winning nine US titles and three US Olympic Festival championships in that event. Lucero won a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships in the non-Olympic 1-metre springboard. She was named US Diver of the Year in 1990 and 1991.

Lucero later married Danny Schayes, an NBA player who had an 18-year career in the league. His father, and Lucero’s father-in-law, was Dolph Schayes, an early NBA star who is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Wendy Schayes later worked in sports broadcasting for ABC and ESPN, and has been active in supporting women in sports.