1993-94

August, 1993: The NCAC kicks off its 10th season of competition with the release of 10th anniversary all-decade teams in all 21 sports.

February, 1994: The NCAC sponsors a dinner in conjunction with National Girls & Women in Sport Day. The event, which draws a sellout crowd of 375, is the focal point of the North Coast's 10th anniversary celebration. Donna Lopiano (right), executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation, is the featured speaker.

April, 1994: Denison secures its 10th straight NCAC women's lacrosse title, joining Kenyon's swim teams as the only 10-time conference champions.

May, 1994: Ohio Wesleyan edges Denison by 1.5 points to claim its sixth straight All-Sports championship ... CWRU's Bill Sudeck becomes the first coach to win NCAC championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in the same season.


1994-95

August, 1994: Oberlin tennis standout Carl Erikson is named GTE Academic All-American of the Year.

October, 1994: Ohio Wesleyan's Jay Martin becomes the 20th collegiate men's soccer coach to win 300 games.

November, 1994: Kenyon swim sensation Carla Ainsworth is named Honda Division III Athlete of the Year for 1994. She is the third NCAC student-athlete to earn the award in four years, joining Oberlin's Ann Gilbert (1991) and Kenyon's Jennifer Carter {right} (1993).

March, 1995: Kenyon continues to dominate NCAA swimming & diving, winning its 16th consecutive men's championship and 12th straight women's crown. Senior Carla Ainsworth wins three individual events and is named national Swimmer of the Year for the third time ... CWRU's Leslie Kindling wins the NCAA high jump title to become the North Coast's fourth indoor track & field national champion.

April, 1995: Kenyon's Carla Ainsworth is one of two recipients of the 1995 Walter Byers Scholarship, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed by the NCAA. Ainsworth is the only Division III student-athlete among eight finalists ... Oberlin claims the North Coast women's lacrosse crown, snapping Denison's streak of 10 straight titles and leaving Kenyon's men's and women's swim squads as the only teams to claim every NCAC championship.

May, 1995: Wooster edges Wittenberg, Allegheny and six-time defending champ Ohio Wesleyan to win its fourth NCAC All-Sports title. Only 3.5 points separate the top four schools ... Kenyon claims its second NCAA women's tennis crown with a 5-4 win over UC-San Diego.


1995-96



October, 1995: Earlham wins the NCAC men's cross country crown for the school's first North Coast title.

December, 1995: A crew of football officials from the NCAC is selected to work the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the second time in four years.

January, 1996: Kenyon graduate Carla Ainsworth is honored as one of the NCAA's Top Eight award winners. Other 1996 recipients include Olympic swimmer Jenny Thompson and women's basketball standout Rebecca Lobo.

February, 1996: Gene Mehaffey of Ohio Wesleyan becomes the 11th men's basketball coach in NCAA history to win 500 games when his Bishops top Wooster in the quarterfinals of the NCAC Tournament.

May, 1996: Wittenberg rolls to a record 146 points on the way to its first NCAC All-Sports title.

October, 1996: The NCAC unveils a web site on the Internet. The site provides information about the conference and its members, as well as weekly updates on each sport.


1996-97

November, 1996: Wittenberg volleyball standout Kim Woodring (left) breaks the NCAA Division III single-season record for kills (821) ... Kenyon drops a 2-1 decision in four overtimes to New Jersey in the finals of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championships.

January, 1997: Allegheny associate athletics director Maureen Hager is appointed to a two-year term on the newly created NCAA Division III Management Council.

February, 1997: Denison's men upset Kenyon at the NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships, snapping the Lords' streak of 43 consecutive conference championships. Kenyon's women win their 13th straight title.

March, 1997: Ohio Wesleyan's Kris Sanders wins the pole vault at the NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, marking the first time the women's event is officially scored at a collegiate conference championship.

April, 1997: The NCAC announces that it will sponsor softball as its 22nd championship sport beginning with the 1997-98 academic year. The North Coast's 11 women's sports ranks fourth among the 88 conferences in all three divisions of the NCAA. The NCAC's 22 total sports ranks sixth overall.

May, 1997: Kenyon claims its third NCAA Division III women's tennis title with a 6-3 win over Trinity (Texas) ... Wooster caps a 46-8-1 season in baseball with a second-place finish in the NCAA Tournament. The Scots break the Division III record for home runs (104) ... Ohio Wesleyan's Soni Lloyd wins the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Track & Field Championships to become the North Coast's 11th national champion in outdoor track.


1997-98

November, 1997: Wittenberg senior volleyball standouts Kim Woodring and Beth Nowicki break NCAA Division III career records for kills and assists, respectively. The players share NCAC Player of the Year honors as the Tigers post an impressive 34-4 record and claim their second North Coast title in three years ... Allegheny, Wittenberg and Wooster compile 9-1 records during the regular season to forge the first tri-championship in NCAC football history.

January, 1998: Ohio Wesleyan and NCAC president Tom Courtice is elected to a four-year term on the NCAA Division III Presidents' Council. The 11-member Council governs all operations within Division III.

March, 1998: Case Western Reserve, a charter member of the NCAC, announces that it will leave the conference following the 1998-99 academic year. The Spartans will compete on a full-time basis in the University Athletic Association ... Kenyon extends its streaks of consecutive NCAA Division III men's and women's swim crowns to 19 and 15, respectively. No other men's and women's teams in NCAA history -- any sport, any division -- have won as many consecutive titles. Junior Marisha Stawiski wins three individual events and is named Swimmer of the Year.

April, 1998: Wittenberg sweeps a doubleheader from Kenyon in the first softball contests in NCAC history. Allegheny, CWRU and Denison also field teams in the sport's first season of conference competition. Allegheny wins four of five North Coast games to claim the inaugural NCAC title.

May, 1998: Denison posts top-four finishes in 18 of 22 sports to claim the NCAC All-Sports championship for the first time since the 1985-86 academic year ... Kenyon falls just short of a successful defense of its NCAA women's tennis title, placing second at the national tournament. Junior Erin Hockman and sophomore Caryn Cuthbert win the Division III doubles championship for the Ladies; Cuthbert places second nationally in singles.