The History of Women's Lacrosse

Ohio Wesleyan has won two North Coast Athletic Conference championships in women’s lacrosse. The Battling Bishops won the only NCAC title to be decided in overtime, a 14-13, triple-overtime thriller in 2005.

In 1966, the women’s lacrosse team, under head coach Mary Parker, played its first intercollegiate game. Defender Daina Stankevics ’88 was a first-team All-America selection in 1988, Ohio Wesleyan’s first ever in women’s lacrosse.

Mary Parker stepped down as women’s lacrosse coach in 1991 after the team won a school-record of 12 games. In 2005, entering the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament as the third seed, the women’s lacrosse team upended defending conference champion Wooster in the semifinals before knocking off top-seeded Denison in the championship game. This conference championship win was Ohio Wesleyan’s first in women’s lacrosse, and sent the Battling Bishops to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time. The win was the Bishops’ eighth in a row, tying the school record set in 1996. Head coach Kimberly Rocheleau’s squad finished the season with a 12-4 record, tying the school record for wins in a season.

In 2014, Chelsea Huguenard took over as the head women’s lacrosse coach. In her debut as head coach, Huguenard guided the Battling Bishops to an 8-9 record.

The Bishop women’s lacrosse team played its home games at Roy Rike Field from 2004 to 2007. Prior to 2004, Ohio Wesleyan played its home games at the Henry Street Field, which was located south of Selby Stadium, and is the site of today’s Luttinger Family Tennis Center.

Now Selby Stadium, located on South Henry Street on the eastern edge of campus, is the home of the women’s lacrosse team. Selby Stadium received a new Field Turf artificial playing surface for the 2014-15 academic year, lights for the 2010-11 academic year, and a video scoreboard in the spring of 2011, making the venue one of the most impressive among NCAA Division III institutions.

Built in 1929, Selby boasts a seating capacity of 9,100, with all seats falling between the 15-yard lines of the field. Its press box was lauded as “the largest in Ohio outside of Ohio Stadium.” Designed by George Gauthier, Ohio Wesleyan’s Hall of Fame football coach, track & field coach, and athletic director, and constructed by the Osborn Engineering Company (which also built the original Yankee Stadium), the complex was named after George D. Selby, who served the Ohio Wesleyan board of trustees for 24 years. His sons, Mark, Homer, Pearl, and Roger, contributed $100,000 of the project’s $160,000 cost. Selby Stadium recently underwent a restoration project that included a new, 2-level press box, new bleacher seats and refurbished locker rooms.

Women’s Lacrosse