Columbia, SC
Inducted December 5, 1992
RAISED IN FRANKLIN, VIRGINIA WHERE SHE WAS INTRODUCED TO TENNIS WHEN SHE WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD. SHE PLAYED HER FIRST SANCTIONED TOURNAMENT WHEN SHE WAS TEN AND WENT ON TO WIN SEVERAL VIRGINIA STATE JUNIOR TITLES. SHE GRADUATED FROM ST. MARGARET’S SCHOOL (WHERE SHE WAS THE NUMBER ONE SINGLES PLAYER, CAPTAIN OF THE BASKETBALL TEAM AND PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENT COUNCIL) IN 1959.
BETSY ATTENDED SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE WHERE SHE WON THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC INTERCOLLEGIATE DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS. AFTER GRADUATING FROM SWEET BRIAR SHE WORKED FOR THREE YEARS AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL BEFORE MOVING TO CHARLESTON IN 1966. SHE AND JAMES MCCOLL OF BENNETTSVILLE WERE MARIED IN 1968.
SHE SOON BECAME INVOLVED IN TENNIS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. SHE WAS A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA TENNIS ASSOCIATION & SEVERED AS SECRETARY FROM 1973 TO 1978. SHE ALSO WORKED WITH THE COLUMBIA JUNIOR TENNIS LEAGUE PROGRAM AS AN ASSISTANT COACH.
MCCOLL MADE HER BIGGEST MARK ON SOUTH CAROLINA TENNIS ON THE COURTS, WINNING NUMEROUS CHAMPIONSHIPS AND EARNING HIGH RANKING AND TOP HONORS SINCE 1969. SOME OF THESE INCLUDE:
-18 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SINGLES TITLES
-29 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE DOUBLES TITLES
-RANKED #1 IN THE STATE IN SINGLES 13 TIMES
-RANKED #1 IN THE STATE IN DOUBLES 21 TIMES
-RANKED #1 IN THE STATE IN MIXED DOUBLES 4 TIMES
-MEMBER OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA SENIOR CUP TEMA EVERY YEAR SINCE IT BEGAN IN 1986
-1985 SCTA SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
-1990 MARION HARRIS AWARD
HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS DO NOT STOP AT THE STATE LEVEL. A SUMMARY OF HER SOUTHERN RECORDS IS EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE:
-16 SOUTHERN SINGLES TITLES
-18 SOUTHERN DOUBLES TITLES
-RANKED #1 IN THE SOUTH IN SINGLES 5 TIMES
-RANKED #1 IN THE SOUTH IN DOUBLES 5 TIMES
-MEMBER OF THE SOUTHERN INTERSECTIONAL SENIOR WOMEN’S TEAM SIX YEARS (1987-1992)
-MEMBER OF THE SOUTHERN USTA INTERCOASTAL DOUBLES TEAM TWO YEARS (1991-1992)
BETSY HAS ALSO PLAYED A NUMBER OF NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS. SHE FINISHED SIXTH IN SINGLES AND FIFTH IN DOUBLES AT THE USTA WOMEN’S 40’S CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 1981, AND REPEATED HER 6TH & 5TH PLACE FINISHES IN THE WONEN’S 50’S AT THE SAME TOURNAMENT TEN YEARS LATER. SHE WAS THE 50’S DOUBLES WINNER AT THE 1991 USTA INTERSECTIONALS AND MADE IT TO THE ROUND OF 16 IN THE 50’S SINGLES AT THE NATIONAL SENIOR WOMEN’S GRASS COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 1992.
BETSY AND JIM HAVE LIVED IN COLUMBIA SINCE 1972. THEY HAVE ONE DAUGHTER, ELIZA.
