The 1978 Missouri National Invitational Women's Indoor Track and Field Meet was the first unofficial collegiate championship event for women's indoor track and field to be sanctioned by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in the United States. It was a forerunner of the first official AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships. Held for the first two years as an invitational, the meet gained official national championship status in 1980, when a qualification process was employed.
The meet was contested March 17âÂÂ18, 1978 in Columbia, Missouri at the Hearnes Multipurpose Building and won by the Wisconsin Badgers track and field team. Unlike other AIAW-sponsored sports, there were not separate large and small college division championships for indoor track and field. At the championships, Sheila Calmese broke the American indoor record in the 300 yards, splitting 35.26 seconds.