Ohio Wesleyan has won 26 North Coast Athletic Conference championships in women’s track & field (14 indoor, 12 outdoor). The Bishops have won the last nine indoor titles and the last six outdoor crowns.
The women’s track and field team made its debut in 1977, competing in both indoor and outdoor seasons. In 1981, Sabrina Spencer ’82 finished third in the long jump at the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national championship meet to become Ohio Wesleyan’s first All-American in women’s track & field. Julie Bredenbeck ’84 won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III discus championship in 1982 and also took All-America honors in the shot put. Liz Phelps ’84 took the first of three straight All-America honors in the heptathlon. In 2001, Stephanie Moss ’01 won her third consecutive All-America citation in the 800-meter run and is a first-team Verizon Academic All-America® selection. Her qualifying time of 2:10.52 was the 10th-fastest ever in NCAA Division III.
The women’s track & field team won both the NCAC indoor and outdoor championships in 2007. The indoor title is Ohio Wesleyan’s first since 1994, while the outdoor championship is Ohio Wesleyan’s first since 1998. It was the first time since 1991 that Ohio Wesleyan swept both women’s indoor and outdoor track & field titles.
In 2009, the men’s and women’s track & field teams each won the NCAC indoor and outdoor championships, marking the first time that both Ohio Wesleyan men’s and women’s teams have won both indoor and outdoor conference titles in the same year.
In 2010, the men’s and women’s track & field teams each won outdoor championships, marking the second straight year in which Ohio Wesleyan men’s and women’s teams have won both indoor and outdoor conference titles in the same year. Cara DeAngelis ’14 won All-America honors in the 5000-meter run in 2014. Earlier, the women’s track & field team won its sixth straight NCAC outdoor crown.
The Battling Bishop men’s and women’s track & field teams host outdoor meets on the George Gauthier Track, inside Selby Stadium on South Henry Street on the eastern edge of campus. The all-weather George Gauthier Track is an Ameritan FP surface completed for the 2006-07 academic year. As part of the track project, a second shot put area was installed, as were new areas for the long and triple jumps on the east side of the visitors’ grandstand. Prior to 1929, the Bishops hosted home meets at Edwards Field, the site of today’s Branch Rickey Center, which includes the Gordon Field House.
