FHSU Athletics

Women's Gymnastics, 1981-90
Richard and Tawnita Augustine served as coaches of the Fort Hays State women's gymnastics team from 1981 to 1990 and took over the head coaching role in 1983. The program had great success, producing eight All-America performers including Vicki (Thom) Smith, Amy Richardson, Shae Donham, Rena Lucke, Cary Hertel, Lisa Fenton, Carol Anne Leslie, and Jacque Douglas. They guided the program to Top-5 finishes in the NAIA five times (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). Within their time coaching the Tigers, they helped transition the program from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The program competed in both NAIA and NCAA Division II in 1988. The sport of gymnastics was strong in Kansas when they started with the program, but over time the shrinking number of local high school programs led to the need to recruit the entire nation. The Augustines reached out far and wide to build FHSU into a national championship contender by the mid-1980s with athletes from all over the United States including Hawaii, New York, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Maryland, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Kansas. By the last year of the program in 1990, FHSU was the only school remaining in Kansas with a women's team.