By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

All this time later, Pixie Hamilton still hears the praise. It was the late 1970s, just after Title IX had become law. And at William & Mary, the field hockey and women's lacrosse programs were hot.

From 1976-80, those teams had a combined record of 100-26-12, a stunning winning percentage of .768. Hamilton, Claire Campbell, Peel Hawthorne and Sharra Kelly (all Class of '80) were on both rosters. They didn't have the fancy uniforms and charter busses other teams did, but more times than not, they won.

And that's what gets remembered.

"I still have people come up to me and say 'We used to watch you play all the time!'" said Hamilton, a scoring machine from outside Philadelphia. "People really got into our team in those days.

"We didn't have all the formal training and all the Title IX requirements yet. But we did have phenomenal synergy as a team. And we were really good."

Hawthorne, from St. Catherine's School in Richmond, enrolled at W&M in the spring of 1976. Hamilton, Campbell and Kelly followed that fall. In their first season together, Tribe field hockey finished 14-3-4 and advanced a round in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships.

The following spring, lacrosse went 8-0-2 for what remains its only undefeated season. Hamilton scored 45 goals, which remains tied for the school record by a freshman.
 
In the summer of '77, with the backing of women's athletics director Millie West, Hamilton, Campbell and Hawthorne began receiving scholarship money. If they weren't the ones who broke the glass ceiling, they certainly were among the first.

"I don't think I could have done four years' worth of loans," said Hamilton, who had turned down a full ride from Penn State for no guarantees at William & Mary. "So I took a chance that first year and hoped to God I could do it. I don't remember the details — I only know it worked."

Hamilton came to William & Mary hoping to earn a scholarship. Campbell, whose last name is now Waldman, never dreamed of that possibility.

"I was just blown away," she said. "I remember my father was so pleased at the recognition. Of course, the money was very helpful, but he was pleased I was able to be recognized that way."

More wins would follow. The '79 field hockey team won a school-record 18 games, five against nationally-ranked opponents, and finished fifth in the AIAW championship. Freshman Basia Deren scored 55 goals, a school record that would stand for 16 years.

In 1978 and '79, Tribe lacrosse went 26-6-1 for what remains the best two-year stretch in program history. Hamilton lived up to her billing. Forty-two years after her final game, she remains the Tribe's career leader in points (242), points per game (4.65), goals (218) and goals per game (4.19).

"In the field hockey and lacrosse world, we were in the top five," said Hawthorne, now the senior woman administrator at her alma mater. "We had a wonderful experience, and we were at the top level of what was then AIAW Division I."

Although they had some scholarship money, the Tribe still lacked the funding to match many of its opponents. Rather than complain, they embraced it. Case in point: a 1976 field hockey game against Virginia.

The Cavaliers had their spiffy, monogramed equipment bags lined up on the sideline. Ginny Ramsey '78 took her bag, walked across the field, and placed it among theirs. Only hers was a brown paper bag, probably from a grocery store, with "William & Mary" written in green crayon.

Ramsey was a prolific scorer, but she also entertained her teammates with song lyrics. This is from her classic hit "Oh Little UVA (My Little English Playmate):"

Our van will beat your bus

Brown bags are fine for us

We'll be victorious

Without the fuss

(Footnote: From 1976-80, the Tribe went 5-3-1 vs. U.Va. in field hockey and 6-0-1 in lacrosse).

Those were good times, and winning only made them better. Hamilton, Waldman, Hawthorne and Kelly formed a bond that remains as tight as ever. In fact, two weeks ago, they gathered at Hawthorne's house near Williamsburg for a reunion.

Fifty years after Title IX, women's athletics has evolved. Not to the point of equality but closer than anyone could have imagined in the '70s. Waldman credits her sister, Susan, with providing the perfect analogy.

In 1971, Susan graduated from high school. One of her classmates, Peggy Lawlor, was an excellent swimmer. That was just before Title IX, so she came to William & Mary without scholarship aid and became a nine-time All-American.

Five years later, Waldman graduated from high school. She contacted W&M field hockey coach Nancy Porter, who was impressed enough to bring her in to play both sports. After one academic year, she was given scholarship money.

Five years after that, a cousin of Waldman's named Ellen O'Neill received a full scholarship offer from Northwestern. She ended up playing four years at Harvard.

"So in that 10-year period, we went from my sister's friend, who was a top 10 AAU swimmer in the nation, getting a 'please come and find me if you get accepted' to my cousin being offered a full ride," Waldman said. "I think that's a great summation of how this changed over time."