The Western Oregon Wolves (also WOU Wolves) are the athletic teams that represent

Western Oregon University Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon. It was originally established in 1856 by Disciples of Christ pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oregon College of E ...

, located in

Monmouth, Oregon Monmouth () is a city in Polk County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was named for Monmouth, Illinois, the origin of its earliest settlers. The population is 11,110 at the 2020 Census and it is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. H ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Great Northwest Athletic Conference The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It has historically operated in the northwestern United States, but al ...

(GNAC) since the 2001–02 academic year. The Wolves previously competed in the D-II

Pacific West Conference The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii. Th ...

(PacWest) from 1998–99 to 2000–01; and in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 1993–94 to 1997–98 (although they remained in the CCC as an affiliate member for some sports from 1998–99 to 1999–2000).

Varsity teams

Western Oregon competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, soccer and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball.

Softball

On April 26, 2008, Sara Tucholsky, a reserve outfielder on the Wolves softball team (2005–08), hit the first

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

of her college career in a victory over

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Lif ...

, but injured her knee rounding first base; Central Washington's Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace carried Tucholsky around the rest of the bases to home plate. This act of sportsmanship was heavily covered by national media outlets, and resulted in Tucholsky, Holtman, and Wallace's winning the Best Moment award at the 2008

ESPY Awards An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

. The Wolves softball team appeared in one

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

in 1975.

Club sports

Pertaining to club sports on campus, not regulated by the NCAA or NAIA, the Western Oregon Men's Lacrosse Club has won the Division II PNCLL championship trophy in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Western Oregon Men's Soccer club won the Division II CCSL (Cascade Collegiate Soccer League) Championship in 2012, led by Nathan Tew who also was a member of the 2015 Football Team as a backup kicker.Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
WOU Men's Rugby was established in 2001 by several ambitious students looking to hang up the football cleats for a new sport. Western Oregon University Men's Rugby (WOR) has grown to become one of the most successful rugby programs in the pacific northwest. WOU Rugby has traditionally been a part of the DII level of the NW region, retaining a completely undefeated regular season record in DII league play. During the 2008-2009 season, WOR became the DII Pacific Northwest Champions. With the championship, WOR made the trip out to Florida to compete in the 2009 DII USA Rugby National Championship. Following the 2011-2012 DII 15s season, WOR accepted admittance into the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference in the D1 section of USA Rugby. WOR now competes in 7s and 15s during fall and spring seasons.

National Award Winners

Notable athletes

Kevin Boss Kevin Michael Boss (born January 11, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the New York Giants out of Western Oregon University. With the Giants, he won Super Bowl XLII over ...

, former NFL

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Dan Straily Daniel Steven Straily (born December 1, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). The Oakland Athletics selected Straily in the 24th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball ...

(born 1988), starting pitcher in the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

organization *

Tyrell Williams Tyrell Williams (born February 12, 1992) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Western Oregon and was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He has also played for ...

, NFL Wide Receiver for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. Former NFL teams,

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

References

External links

* {{Lone Star Conference navbox