Yogi Hightower-Boothe

Yogi Hightower-Boothe, the first African-American to win the Honda Award given to outstanding female athletes in the nation, made a name for herself as an Olympic athlete.  Chosen as an alternate for the 1984 Olympic Games, she was a starter for the 1988 US Olympic field hockey team.

Hightower-Boothe attended Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, where she emerged as a multi-sport star and excelled in basketball.  She was also a member of the United States Junior Olympic swimming team.

Hightower-Boothe was then recruited to Old Dominion University where her love for running helped her rise to unexcelled heights in field hockey.  Her endless string of excellence enabled her to become the first two-time All-American in ODU history in 1981 and 1982.  In 1982, she won the Honda Award.  Seven years later, Hightower-Boothe was inducted into the Old Dominion University Hall of Fame.

Since her Olympic days, Hightower-Boothe, now the mother of four, served as assistant coach at Old Dominion University from 1987-91 and taught and coached in the Virginia Beach school system.  She became the coach at Green Run and Ocean Lakes High Schools, where she coached future Old Dominion Monarch Mimi Smith at both schools.  In 1999, Smith became the second African-American to win the Honda Award in field hockey.