1976 Was Also A Wonderful Year: Movies, Songs and, of course, AIAW XC Championship Results!

It was like it was yesterday.  I was almost paying attention to what was going on around me. Gerald Ford was President and Chevy Chase was injuring his back making fun of him.  Woodstock was a distant memory, overtaken by Disco of all things.  I even owned a pair of platform shoes to go with my Leisure Suit.




Top Songs:

1. Silly Love Songs    Wings 
2. Don't Go Breaking My Heart    Elton John and Kiki Dee
3. Disco Lady    Johnny Taylor

Top Movies:

1. Rocky     "You're gonna eat lightning, and crap thunder!"
2.  Taxi Driver    "You looking at me?"
3.  Carrie    "Sorry is the Kool Aid of human emotions."

AIAW XC Championship Results 1976


 Penn State finished 5th in the College Womens Cross Country Championships' second year.  Kathy Mills paced the Lady Lions with her 3rd place effort in Madison, Wisconsin.

Team Finish:

1. Iowa State
2. Cal State Northridge
3. Wisconsin Madison
4. Michigan State 
5. Penn State

Overall Top 5:

1. Julie Brown   Cal State Northridge   16:29.8
2. Carol Cook    Iowa State                    16:39.2
3. Kathy Mills   Penn State                     16:42.1
4. Kim Merritt   Wisconsin- Parkside     16:43.4 
5. Ann Mulrooney Wisconsin-Madison  16:45.3 Kim Merritt, 2000.

Julie Brown.

Penn State AIAW Finishers 1976:

1. Kathy Mills - 3rd             16:42.1
2. Liz Berry - 11th               16:56.8 
3. Donna Gardner - 34th   17:41.2
4. Kris Bankes - 43rd           17:51.5 
5. Lisa Turner - 97th            18:38.4
6. Eileen Meenan - 163rd    19:38.4 
7. Hillary Noden - 222nd     22:54.0

That adds Donna Gardner to the all-time greats and bolsters Kris Bankes' already lofty status!  Coming Soon.

1975 Was A Wonderful Year. (Well, for the movies anyway. Maybe not the songs!) AIAW Results

Top Movies of 1975:

1.  Jaws    "We're going to need a bigger boat."
2.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail " Come and see the violence inherent in the system."
3.  One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest  "I must be crazy to be in a loony bin like this"

Top Songs of 1975:

1.  Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain and Tennille. 
2.  Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell.



3.  Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John

 

But it was also the dawn of big-time Womens College Cross Country.  And Penn State was there (Ames, Iowa) in a big way.  Like a second place finish to the foreign-heavy Iowa State Cyclones!

Penn State:

1.  Kristen Bankes                    3rd   17:12

2.  Elizabeth Cunningham       12th   17:36

3.  Elizabeth Berry                  15th   18:02

4.  Eileen Meenan*                   45th  18:59

5.  Karen Johnson                   62nd  19:26

   
The Top 20:

 *This will add Eileen Meenan to the final listing of the Greatest PSU XC Runners of All-Time - Coming Soon!