Lamar University Athletics

Linda Rupert Thomas is etched forever in Lamar University history for helping win the school’s first women’s national championship.

Her career highlight at LU is the national doubles titles she and partner Cathy Beene won in 1973, but her overall collegiate success extends far beyond that one event.

From 1970 to 1974, Rupert Thomas was ranked No. 1 in the Texas Women’s Collegiate singles and doubles polls. Rupert Thomas earned the top billings by capturing the Texas Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women state singles championships in 1972 and 1973. She teamed with Beene to take state doubles titles during the same period, and the duo advanced to the national quarterfinals in 1971 and semifinals in 1972.

Rupert Thomas also won the women’s national amateur doubles crown in 1973 and was the national 18-and-under indoor singles champion in 1969. She played several years on the women’s professional tennis circuit, being ranked as high as 36^th in the United States and 78^th in the world. She returned to LU in 1977 as women’s tennis coach before becoming a club pro in Houston.