creator:

Iowa State University. Iowa State University. Department of Athletics. Women’s Cross Country Team. 

title:

1985 Plane Crash Records

dates:

1982-1995

extent:

0.42 linear feet (1 document box)

collection number:

RS 24/24/3

repository:

University Archives Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

Iowa State Women’s Cross Country 1985 Plane Crash Records, RS 24/24/3, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Historical note

The Iowa State University Women’s Cross Country Team was organized in 1973.  That same year it won the US Track and Field Federation National Cross Country title.  In its early years, the team won four straight national titles, and by 1979 it had won several regional championships, as well as the Big 8 Conference title.  The winning continued through the 1980s, starting with the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national crown.

In 1985, after winning second place in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, seven student athletes and ISU staff members were killed in a tragic airplane crash on November 25, three days before Thanksgiving.  Investigations eventually determined that wing icing was to blame for bringing the plane down in a residential Des Moines neighborhood after poor weather had diverted the flight to Des Moines instead of Ames.  

Those lost in the crash included runners Susan Baxter, Sheryl Maahs, and Julie Rose, as well as student trainer Stephanie Streit, ISU women’s cross country coach Ron Renko, and director of ISU Flight Services (and pilot that day) Burton Watkins. 

1

1

News clippings

1985-1995

1

2

Memorial Services

1985

1

3

Track and cross country rosters, coach correspondence, itineraries

1982-1992

1

4

Contributions to memorial (gifts and acknowledgement)

1986

1

5

Memorial Plaque

1986-1992

1

6

“The Hardest Hill for a Cross Country Runner: 1986 Women’s Cross Country Team”

1993

1

7

“1985 Women’s Cross Country: Celebration Turned Tragedy”

1993

1

8

Photographs: 10^th Anniversary Memorial (6 4”x6” color,

 3 4”x6” b/w)

1995

1

9

Visions commemorating 10^th anniversary of crash

1995

MAP

CASE

C 409 

D 11

Memorial plaque plans, contributions

1986-1988