Laura Thornhill (Caswell) skating in a concrete pipe, 1976

Color photograph of Laura Thornhill (Caswell) skating in a concrete pipe, 1976. Thornhill began competing at age 13 and won or placed in nearly every women’s competition organized and sometimes even competed against and beat the boys during the 1970s. She became a member of the Logan Earth Ski team in 1975 and began a run of “firsts”; she was the first female skater to get her own signature model skateboard, the first female to have a “Who’s Hot” in the newly revived Skateboarder Magazine, the first female interview and the first female centerfold in Skateboarder Magazine. Thornhill continued to compete but also traveled around the country doing demonstrations, television sports specials, film and stunt work. After an injury in 1979, Thornhill retired from skating but continues to be active in the sport having been inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame in 2013.

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