Wheaton College Athletics

Beth Blackstone, a 1940 graduate, was the Crusaders’ premier women’s tennis player in the 1930s. Beth, a native of Nanking, China, captured the Illinois state singles title as a sophomore in 1938 and as a junior in 1939. Heading into her senior season, Beth had an appendectomy but came back and finished third in the state singles competition, winning the “Sportsmanship Award” for her attitude on the courts.