CARLINVILLE - Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX. The winds of change were quickly felt in Central Illinois. Just eleven months later, the first Macoupin County Girls Track Meet was held. Within a few years, girls’ track in the county, and across the state, would be joined by volleyball, basketball, and cross country, among others. It would be years before the girls’ meet reached equal footing with the boys’ meet. But at least, Macoupin County girls had a chance in athletics in 1973. That inaugural meet was held on May 9 at Carlinville and not surprisingly, it came and went with little fanfare. In Carlinville, the local Macoupin County Enquirer devoted a mere four paragraphs to the meet. The smallest school in the field, Palmyra Northwestern, took top honors with consistency in every discipline. Though the Wildcats captured only three individual crowns, they finished in the top-five in every event to finish with 55 points, ahead of
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