Yogi Hightower Boothe attended Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach where she emerged as a multi-sport star excelling in basketball and as 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. Among her many accomplishments, she became the first African-American to win the Honda Award in 1982, which recognizes the outstanding women’s athlete in the nation for her sport. Hightower-Boothe was later selected as a field hockey alternate in the 1984 Olympic Games and as a starter in the 1988 Games. In 1989, she 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 Monarch Mimi Smith at both schools. In 1999, Smith became the second of her race to win the Honda Award in field hockey. Hightower-Boothe currently teaches health and physical education at Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach.
