Annie Heidersbach ’87 was an outstanding cross country and track student-athlete at BW despite beginning her collegiate running career in her 30’s!

It’s quite a remarkable achievement given that she never competed in athletics in high school, instead serving as the team mascot at athletic events. Regardless, she is one of the best cross country and track athletes ever to compete at BW.

At BW, Heidersbach was an All-Ohio Athletic Conference and All-Great Lakes Regional runner in cross country as well as the runner-up at the 1986 All-Ohio Championship Meet. She narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Division III national meet. As a senior, and in the first year for women’s athletics in the OAC, Heidersbach helped BW tie for the OAC title and win the All-Ohio crown.

In track and field, Heidersbach was an All-OAC and All-Ohio competitor in the 3,000-to-10,000-meter races and placed ninth in the 10,000-meter run at the 1987 NCAA Division III Championship Meet. She set BW school records in the 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races and OAC Championship Meet records in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

Heidersbach graduated from Lorain Admiral King High School in 1972 and received her nursing certificate. Following a brief career as a nurse, she began a career as a flight attendant at American Airlines. After getting married, Heidersbach began her running career in order to “stay in shape for the closing years of her youth”. This developed into a passion for her, so she called then Head Coach Bill Taraschke, enrolled fulltime at BW and took a leave of absence from American Airlines.  The rest is history!

Today, Heidersbach is still at BW and serves as an adjunct faculty member and is the Director of Academic Grants. Before that, she was a key contributor on the BW Development and Fundraising Team.