Before the days of media hype, chartered buses and corporate sponsorship, four runners on the ISU women’s track team set the pace for future ISU female athletes.

Thirty years ago this spring, four Cyclones hoisted the first national championship trophy in ISU women’s athletics, claiming the mile relay title at the 1974 national track and field meet.

The women on that relay team ran for the pure pleasure of sport and were not afforded many of the perks college athletes receive today.

“Back then, we drove our own van and made our own uniforms,” relay team member Debra Ward Wood said. “We just did it because we loved to run. [The sport] changed so much after that.”

Wood was joined by Elaine McAlexander Baughman, Sherry Edwards and Cathy Newman to claim the title.

“For most of the meets, we wore homemade uniforms,” Baughman said. “It was an entirely different era. We were just thrilled to be able to participate.”

Organized women’s sports at the collegiate level were in their early stages in 1974, and the four, along with head coach Chris Murray, helped lay the groundwork for future teams.

“We had coaches that were pioneers,” Edwards said. “Some [of the team] was on minor scholarships, and that was unheard of at that time.”

The 1974 season was one of great success for the ISU women, and they entered the national meet in Denton, Texas, with confidence.

“We had been winning all year,” Edwards said. “At that time we had coaches ahead of their time, and we were accomplishing things ahead of other colleges.”

Iowa State claimed the mile relay title at the Big Eight Conference meet and was undefeated through the collegiate season.

At the national meet, however, the Cyclones were challenged by many household names in the track and field community, staring down a number of teams that had received national attention.

“It was very phenomenal at the time because we were running against teams like Texas A&M and UCLA,” Wood said. “It was exciting running against people that you had seen on TV.”

Aside from being in the spotlight for the first time, anxiety added to the relay team’s nervousness as the team had to wait until the end of the meet to run, because the mile relay was one of the last events.

“You have to wait for everything [else to finish],” Wood said. “You’re waiting and wondering how well we could do compared to how fast the other teams were. We wondered what it was that we would be able to do.”

When the race finally began, the team from Iowa State ran just as it had a hundred times before. The four took the pressure off their own shoulders and quickly applied it to the other teams in the race.

“It was quite a battle between ISU and UCLA,” Baughman said. “They were sure they would pull it out and they had all the confidence in the world, [but] we felt that we could do it also, we had confidence that we could do it. It was a very exciting day.”

Newman, regularly a sprinter, ran the first leg of the race for Iowa State, and got the Cyclones off to a solid start.

“She had been called upon to help us out and got us off to a good start. She had us right in there,” Baughman said.

The next leg was run by Wood, who pushed the foursome into a lead they would never give up.

“Cathy had done well, and by the time I handed off, we were in the lead,” Wood said. “I was just trying to run as fast as I could to try and get us into the best place.”

Baughman and Edwards ran the third and fourth legs, respectively, and the Cyclones crossed the finish line in 3:55.50, good enough for a 2-1/2 second victory.

Iowa State finished in fifth place as a team at the national meet, beginning a streak of five consecutive top six finishes at nationals.

“When we got done and found out how we did, I jumped so high. I don’t remember jumping that high ever, I was so excited,” Wood said. “That one race was the most important thing to me and I ran the fastest time I’ve ever run.”

Today, when a team brings a national title home, it is greeted by hosts of cheering fans and given VIP treatment. The four Cyclone champions took their win in stride and stayed humble.

The win came so early in the development of women’s collegiate sports that the ISU athletic department’s exhaustive photo archive contains nothing from that very first title.

“I don’t think that being national champions was the same as it would be now,” Baughman said. “It was no different from any other race. We all were excited, but it was no big deal. The Big Eight meet was more exciting and even tougher to win. Winning that was more emotional than the national title.”

No cheering crowds greeted the four when they returned to Ames.

“It was a cool thing but it wasn’t like anyone but the four of us knew it when we got back,” Wood said. “I don’t remember that it meant anything [to anyone else], it was more personal pride.”

Wood and Edwards would return to compete in the national meet the following year, teaming up again to place third in the mile relay.

Wood also advanced to nationals in 1976, once again placing third in the mile relay.

Through it all, the concept of team was at the forefront of their minds — everyone was in it together.

“We all ran for Iowa State and there was a lot of pride,” Baughman said. “We did it for ourselves, but there was a lot of pride that we could accomplish something together.”