When Title IX was passed more than 50 years ago, it paved the way for girls' sports to be eligible to win sanctioned state championships across the country. Since the landmark decision in 1972 that allowed for girls sports to be recognized on the same playing field as the boys in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), more than a dozen girls teams have won state titles. “Many of us had been competing against and with each other for years in the women’s city leagues of basketball and softball and some of us were teammates on the Fallon swim team,” said Ellen Townsend, who competed for the Greenwave in the 1970s, adding that even with Title IX passed, the upperclassmen at the time didn’t have the chance to compete as freshmen and sophomores.
“We were a close-knit group. Practices were competitive but we encouraged each other every day and were very vocal at meets.” The first Fallon girls team to win it all in the post-Title IX era came in spring 1974 when George Hucke’s girls, which included Townsend, won the AA state title over two-time defending state champion Mineral County and followed with another title a year later, sending a message to the rest of the Silver State.
“There were a few girls that switched or added events to their running or field events resume during the last three weeks of the season in an effort to boost their placing in events,” said Townsend, who competed on the 1974 and 1975 state track and field teams. “We had a .
