Margaret Ellison, who was born in Eastland, was the founder and coach of a women’s track and field club in Abilene in the early 1960s that revolutionized the sport. Her Texas Track Club became nationally famous with members of the team appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1964. The team included talented girls from the Big Country and across Texas who wore distinctive bouffant hairdos. The Texas Track Club competed in major meets through the U.S., and Ellison helped coach several American national teams in Russia and Europe.
