1978 AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships

1978 AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships
1978 AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships
Dates	March 17–18, 1978
Host city	Columbia, Missouri
Venue	Hearnes Multipurpose Building
	1979 →

The 1978 Missouri National Invitational Women's Indoor Track and Field Meet was the first unofficial collegiate championship event for women's indoor track and field to be sanctioned by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in the United States. It was a forerunner of the first official AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships. Held for the first two years as an invitational, the meet gained official national championship status in 1980, when a qualification process was employed.^[1]^[2]

The meet was contested March 17−18, 1978 in Columbia, Missouri at the Hearnes Multipurpose Building and won by the Wisconsin Badgers track and field team.^[3] Unlike other AIAW-sponsored sports, there were not separate large and small college division championships for indoor track and field. At the championships, Sheila Calmese broke the American indoor record in the 300 yards, splitting 35.26 seconds.^[4]

Team standings

Scoring: 10 points for a 1st-place finish, 8 points for 2nd, 6 points for 3rd, 4 points for 4th, 2 points for 5th, and 1 point for 6th. Top 10 teams shown.^[3]

Rank	Team	Points
	Wisconsin Badgers	59
	Kansas Jayhawks	47
	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	28
4th	Nebraska Cornhuskers	27
5th	Oklahoma Sooners	24
5th	Kansas State Wildcats	24
7th	Colorado Buffaloes	20
7th	Maryland Terrapins	20
9th	Temple Owls	16
9th	Colorado State Rams	16

Results

Only results of finals are shown^[2]^[5]^[3]

60 yards
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Deb Carter	Truman Bulldogs	6.82
	Sheila Calmese	Kansas Jayhawks	6.86
	Athlen Bowles	Eastern Michigan Eagles	6.90
4th	Hazel Lucas	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	7.09
5th	Karen Wilson	Murray State Racers	7.10
6th	Yvette Hyman	Wisconsin Badgers	7.10

300 yards
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Sheila Calmese	Kansas Jayhawks	35.26 NR
	Cindy Tatum	Nebraska Cornhuskers	35.59
	Yvette Hyman	Wisconsin Badgers	36.33
4th	Linn Crieb	Illinois Fighting Illini	36.59
5th	Jane Dwyer	Wisconsin Badgers	37.2
6th	Tammy Richard	Indiana State Sycamores	37.3

440 yards
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Lorna Forde	LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds	54.48
	Jackie Daniels	Temple Owls	55.64
	Jill Lancaster	Oklahoma Sooners	56.7
4th	Freda Hancock	Kansas State Wildcats	57.06
5th	Charmaine Kuhlman	Kansas Jayhawks	57.24
6th	Julie Seaton	Nebraska Cornhuskers	57.4

600 yards
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Lee Ballenger	Colorado Buffaloes	1:22.12
	Brenda Howard	Wisconsin Badgers	1:24.29
	Karen McDougall	Eastern Michigan Eagles	1:24.78
4th	Sue Tallard	Wisconsin Badgers	1:27.29

880 yards
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Siri Bjelland	Oklahoma Sooners	2:11.88
	Cindy Worcester	Kansas State Wildcats	2:12.72
	Cynthia Wuss	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	2:15.77
4th	Sally Rand	Colorado State Rams	2:15.46
5th	Connie Prince	Kansas State Wildcats	2:16.3
6th	Cynthia Cox	Minnesota Golden Gophers	2:17.2

1000 yards
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Donna Fox	Nebraska Cornhuskers	2:33.58
	Ellen Brewster	Wisconsin Badgers	2:33.86
	Suzie Houston	Wisconsin Badgers	2:34.81
4th	Cathy McMillin	Kansas Jayhawks	2:38.34
5th	Lisa Thomas	Arkansas Razorbacks	2:40.2

Mile run
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Cathie Twomey	Minnesota Golden Gophers	4:52.4
	Suzie Houston	Wisconsin Badgers	4:53.46
	Susan North	Illinois–Springfield Prairie Stars	4:55.5
4th	Lynn Morin	Wisconsin Badgers	4:56.05
5th	Cindy Dixon	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4:56.9
6th	Michelle Brown	Kansas State Wildcats	NT

2 miles
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Dana Slater	Colorado Buffaloes	10:20.0
	Karen Diane Bridges	Oklahoma State Cowgirls	10:24.92
	Mary Kunkel	Missouri Tigers	10:35.22
4th	Lynn Morin	Wisconsin Badgers	10:41.74
5th	Anita Moyer	Illinois Fighting Illini	10:43.6
6th	Cathie Twomey	Minnesota Golden Gophers	10:45.6
7th	Linda Brown^[6]	Missouri Tigers	10:49.6
8th	Diane Long^[7]	Morehead State Eagles	10:50.7
9th	Kim Dunlap^[5]	Maryland Terrapins	10:55.8

60 yards hurdles
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Debra Deutsch	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	7.99
	Julie Smithers	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	8.04
	Lori Lowrey	Kansas Jayhawks	8.10
4th	Carol Thompson	Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens	8.26
5th	Gayle Harris Watkins^[8]	Western Kentucky Lady Toppers	8.30
6th	Nancy Kindig	Nebraska Cornhuskers	8.31

4 × 440 yards relay
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Melissa Hill	Maryland Terrapins	3:47.80
	Marshell Davis
	Debbie Jackson
	Linda Miller
		Temple Owls	3:52.72



	Lorraine Davidson^[9]	Kansas State Wildcats	3:53.82
	Cindy Worcester^[9]
	Jan Smith^[9]
	Wanda Trent^[9]
4th		Nebraska Cornhuskers	3:54.84



5th	Yvette Hyman^[10]	Wisconsin Badgers	3:55.8
	Ellen Brewster^[10]
	Brenda Howard^[10]
	Sue Tallard^[10]
6th		Omaha Mavericks	3:58.6

High jump
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Jalene Chase	Maryland Terrapins	5 ft 10 in (1.77 m)
	Shawn Corwin	Kansas Jayhawks	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
	Mary Grinaker	Wisconsin Badgers	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
4th	Beverly Washington	Illinois Fighting Illini	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
5th	Cindy Farrand	Murray State Racers	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
	Mary Anne Harrington	Colorado State Rams
	Diane Villeneuve	Morehead State Eagles
	Susan Simpkins	Bates Bobcats
	Janelle Smalley	Texas Tech Red Raiders

Long jump
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Mary Anne Harrington	Colorado State Rams	19 ft 21⁄4 in (5.84 m)
	Charmaine Kuhlman	Kansas Jayhawks	18 ft 51⁄4 in (5.61 m)
	Patricia Miller	Yale Bulldogs	18 ft 41⁄4 in (5.59 m)
4th	Angie Bradley	Western Kentucky Lady Toppers	17 ft 113⁄4 in (5.48 m)
5th	Brenda Wilson	Colorado State Rams	17 ft 71⁄4 in (5.36 m)
6th	Georgi Morris	Missouri Tigers	17 ft 61⁄2 in (5.34 m)

Shot put
Pl.	Name	Team	Mark
	Jennifer Smit	UTEP Miners	48 ft 8 in (14.83 m)
	Cecil Hansen	Oklahoma Sooners	47 ft 1 in (14.35 m)
	Ann Turbyne	Maine Black Bears	46 ft 43⁄4 in (14.14 m)
4th	Branwen Smith	Illinois–Springfield Prairie Stars	46 ft 11⁄4 in (14.05 m)
5th	Ria Stalman	UTEP Miners	46 ft 01⁄2 in (14.03 m)
6th	Linda Long	Kansas State Wildcats	45 ft 03⁄4 in (13.73 m)

References

1 2 "Missouri to sponsor women's track meet". Columbia Daily Tribune. March 16, 1978. p. 18. Retrieved May 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com™. Approximately 300 individuals and some 35 schools will compete in this first meet ever.
1 2 "eTrack eTN1978_05" (PDF). Track and Field News. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
1 2 3 "College track Missouri National Invitational Women's Indoor Championships". Columbia Daily Tribune. March 19, 1978. p. 30. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
↑ "Wisconsin Wins Women's Track". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 19, 1978. p. 92. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
1 2 "College track MISSOURI INVITATIONAL Trials and semifinals". Columbia Daily Tribune. March 18, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
↑ "1978 Track & Field Roster". Mizzou Tigers.
↑ "track KWIC meet At Western Kentucky University". The Courier-Journal. April 23, 1978. p. 50. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
↑ "F-S graduate in 3 events at Nationals". The Franklin Favorite (Franklin, Kentucky). May 19, 1977. p. 4. Retrieved February 19, 2026.
1 2 3 4 "Cat women place sixth at Missouri Invitational". The Manhattan Mercury. March 19, 1978. p. 9. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
1 2 3 4 "Wisconsin women win national track crown". Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin). March 19, 1978. p. 32. Retrieved August 22, 2025.

[intro-1] 1 2 "Missouri to sponsor women's track meet". Columbia Daily Tribune. March 16, 1978. p. 18. Retrieved May 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com™. Approximately 300 individuals and some 35 schools will compete in this first meet ever.

[tfn-2] 1 2 "eTrack eTN1978_05" (PDF). Track and Field News. Retrieved January 11, 2025.

[results-3] 1 2 3 "College track Missouri National Invitational Women's Indoor Championships". Columbia Daily Tribune. March 19, 1978. p. 30. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[4] "Wisconsin Wins Women's Track". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 19, 1978. p. 92. Retrieved January 16, 2025.

[prelims-5] 1 2 "College track MISSOURI INVITATIONAL Trials and semifinals". Columbia Daily Tribune. March 18, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[6] "1978 Track & Field Roster". Mizzou Tigers.

[7] "track KWIC meet At Western Kentucky University". The Courier-Journal. April 23, 1978. p. 50. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[8] "F-S graduate in 3 events at Nationals". The Franklin Favorite (Franklin, Kentucky). May 19, 1977. p. 4. Retrieved February 19, 2026.

[kstate-9] 1 2 3 4 "Cat women place sixth at Missouri Invitational". The Manhattan Mercury. March 19, 1978. p. 9. Retrieved October 7, 2025.

[wis-10] 1 2 3 4 "Wisconsin women win national track crown". Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin). March 19, 1978. p. 32. Retrieved August 22, 2025.

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AIAW Division I Track and Field Championships
Outdoor	1969 (DGWS) 1970 (DGWS) 1971 (DGWS) 1972 (DGWS) 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
Indoor	1978 (MNI) 1979 (MNI) 1980 1981 1982
MNI = Missouri National Invitational, DGWS = Division for Girls' and Women's Sport. Separate divisional meets were only held for the 1981-1982 outdoor championships.

Team standings

Results

See also

References