Former Odessa High tennis player Cathy Carlson hasn’t been back to Lubbock much since graduating from Texas Tech University in 1988.
She might have to make an exception this fall.
Last week, the university announced its 2023 Athletic Hall of Fame and Honor Class and the former Odessan will be among the inductees.
The announcement was made on June 14 and Carlson, who now teaches spanish at Hebron High School in Lewisville, said she was caught off guard when she learned of this honor.
“To be honest, I was pretty surprised because it’s not like I was a superstar there,” Carlson said. “I played for four years and had a good doubles partner Julie Hrebec. She was a good friend. We’re still friends. A large part of why I had the winning record. It’s a team effort so it’s weird to be getting an award for what I did in the midst of it. But it’s still nice to be recognized. It’s an honor for sure.”
Carlson was a standout tennis player for the Lady Bronchos during her high school days, graduating in 1984.
Not only did she owe a lot of her success to her doubles partner at Texas Tech but also her father Bob Carlson.
“This would’ve meant a lot to my father because he’s the one who took me out and my brother (Robert Carlson) out to practice,” Cathy said. “He would get us up before going to work and take us to Odessa College, back when all you did was put quarters in the lights and you could play whenever you wanted. He was responsible for a lot of this.”
After graduating from high school, Carlson played four years at Texas Tech where she had a storied career with the Lady Raider tennis program.
Appearing all over the Texas Tech record book, Carlson remains the winningest player in program history with 224 overall career victories (111 singles and 113 doubles wins).
In addition, her 111 singles wins and 113 doubles victories rank third all-time in their respective categories.
She helped the Lady Raiders go 65-27 during her career at Texas Tech.
Carlson is tied for second all-time in line three singles wins with 14 in 1988 and third at line two doubles victories with 18 in 1987.
Carlson also appears in the top-10 in career singles and doubles winning percentage, single-season singles and doubles wins, single-season singles and doubles winning percentage, single-season dual singles and doubles winning percentage and in single-season dual doubles victories.
“To be honest, having that kind of competition and teammates around you at a high level just makes you better,” Carlson said. “So it was an opportunity to improve my game and get a good education. I do think Texas Tech is a good university. It was good for me, anyway.”
When asked about some of her favorite memories of playing at OHS, Carlson said the long trips always stood out for her.
“The trips,” she said with a laugh. “We had a lot of good trips. One thing, for better or worse, when you’re traveling from Odessa, you usually end up at overnight trips. That was always interesting. Those were the best things and being on a team is always good.”
After graduating from college, Carlson coached tennis for a short time, coaching for three years at Corpus Christi Carroll High School.
Carlson will be inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame and Honor alongside former Red Raider quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, who played from 1999-02, as well as the late Mike Leach, who coached the Red Raiders from 2000-09.
Other inductees this year include women’s golfer Kim Kaufman and men’s tennis player Gonzalo Escobar.
“It’s quite a year to be inducted,” Carlson said. “It’ll be a privilege to meet some of these people. It’s a special opportunity. I don’t quite have the same level as recognition as some of these people but it’ll be an experience. It’s an honor. I’ll put it that way.”
This year’s Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor class will be formally inducted at 6 p.m. Sept. 29 during a ceremony at Overton Hotel and Conference Center.
The class will later be recognized on the field the following day when the Red Raiders host Houston at Jones AT&T Stadium.
