In the early days of women’s varsity athletics at Augustana, one of the most successful sports was tennis and one of the brightest stars was Beth McLaughlin. She entered the school where her father Don was a math professor in the fall of 1976 and along with Ann Radloff, her former high school teammate, had an immediate impact. During her career she helped lead her team to a sparkling 33-4 dual meet record, four Cleo Tanner Tournament titles, three Illinois AIAW state titles and a third place national AIAW finish as a senior.
The Vikings went 8-2 in dual meets during her freshman year and placed fifth in the Illinois Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (IAIAW) state tournament. In those days there were no divisions in women’s sports so Augustana was the top small college in the field, finishing behind Northwestern, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Western Illinois and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. McLaughlin compiled a sparkling 23-2-1 record in that first year and was the number three seed in the state tournament. She helped lead her team to the highly regarded Cleo Tanner Tournament championship in Decatur, Illinois as well. At the Dorothy McClure Memorial Tournament she placed second, losing in the finals to Sue Briggs, a fellow Rock Island High School alumna. Briggs and McLaughlin would connect again a few years later when Briggs, now known as Sue Krismanits, began a five year stint as the Augustana coach in the 1978-79 school year.
During her sophomore year of 1977, the Vikings went 7-1 in dual meets with the lone loss coming at the hands of the University of Iowa. They won the Cleo Tanner Tournament for the second straight year and the IAIAW state title in the college division. McLaughlin finished second in the state tournament in singles, losing the title to Radloff by a score of 7-6; 6-3. In 1978 the team went 6-1 in dual meets and won the Cleo Tanner meet again for the third consecutive season. Augustana won the IAIAW state title for the second straight year, placed third in the AIAW Midwest Regional and 14th in the national tournament. McLaughlin finished third in the Illinois state tournament.
In her senior season, McLaughlin earned AIAW All-American honors when she placed fourth in the national tournament and helped lead the Vikings to a third place national finish. She teamed with Radloff to take the state title at number one doubles. Augustana was a perfect 12-0 in dual meets with wins over Western Illinois, Northern Illinois and the University of Illinois along the way. The Vikings won the Cleo Tanner Tournament for the fourth straight year and the Illinois AIAW title for the third consecutive time.
She graduated from Augustana in 1980 with degrees in mathematics, computer science and biology and then received a master’s degree from Purdue in computer science. Before her oldest child was born, she worked at
A.T. & T. Bell Laboratories as a member of the technical staff. Now married to Dan Caswell, Beth is the mother of eight children: Linnea (18), Rianna (16), Sarah (14), Josiah (12), Ella (10), Hannah (8), Annaliesa (6) and Laura (3). She describes herself as a “happy stay-at-home wife and mother of eight”. The Caswells live in Stockton, Illinois.
