Complete OAC Cross Country Special Awards (.pdf)

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's cross country coaching staff, led by Coordinator of Cross Country and Track and Field and Head Cross Country Coach Joe Eby, has been named the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Coaching Staff of the Year. 

"We are very honored that our coaching peers thought enough of our team and how we performed to give us this award," Eby said. "We have a tough conference and there are several other staffs just as deserving. I am very proud of our staff and what we all were able to accomplish this year."

In his fourth year at the helm and his first year coordinating both the cross country and track and field programs, Eby led the Yellow Jackets to a runner-up finish at the 2018 OAC Championships.

Following that performance, BW won the school's first regional team title, men's or women's, as the Yellow Jackets beat out five separate nationally-ranked programs to capture the 2018 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship crown. Previously, the women's team had finished as high as second on four separate occasions: 1987, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

By finishing as one of the top two teams in the Great Lakes Region, BW received an automatic bid to compete at the NCAA Championships, which marked the first time that the Yellow Jackets returned to the national meet since 2009 and the eighth time in program history.

BW finished 27th of 32 teams at the 2018 NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, to finish off the season.