Coaches

As the year of 1925-1926 came to an end, most of the women on the Co-Ed Varsity squad graduated. There were only two women left: Jessie Poticher and Leona Barkalow. Their positions in the team were forwards. The rest of the team for that year would consist mostly of underclasswomen.

Coach Jeanette R. Packard, Director of Physical Education for women at the College, remained positive about the season, for as many as 35 girls expressed interest and attended tryouts.

For the first time in the history of Dickinson College, the Women's Basketball Team (a.k.a. the Co-Eds) played an extensive schedule against other colleges.
They defeated Gettysburg with a score of 31 to 13 and were victors against Lebanon Valley with a score of 42 to 15.
At the time of the publication, the Co-Eds remained to play against Shippensburg Normal School, Temple University and Ursinus. The last of these would be home games played on the floor of Carlisle's Y. W. C. A - which was directed by Ruth Walker.

Girls sports were conducted on the intramural plan under the guidance and supervision of the Director of Physical Education for Women at Dickinson College, Miss E Winifred Chapman. Hockey, indoor and outdoor archery, swimming, tennis, basketball, riding and volleyball. Volleyball was newly inroduced as a sport. A playing field was devoted to the girls' use for hockey and archery.  Every woman was required to complete two hours a week from any of the sports. The facilities had greatly improved in the last few years. The Athletic Council, along with Miss Chapman, supervise all sports.

At a Saturday meet hosted by Dickinson College, the Women's Track and Field team won first place in many of the events. Winners included Susan Bergh in the 800 meter and the 1500 meter run, Ruth Kline in the 100 meter and 200 meter run, Bridget Niland in the 3000 and 5000 meter runs, and Jacqui Zelno in the long jump and triple jump. Rachel Huffman, Baird, Zelno, and Kline took the 400 meter relay, and Bergh, Baird, Kline, and Zelno set a school record in the 1600 relay. Lisa Walaas won the discus throw.

In a letter to Coach Harbold, Cyndi Lyn Olcott explains that she cannot attend the scheduled meeting and that she is prohibited from participating in Women's Track and Field until the second week of January. "If my injuries don't prevail," she writes, "I'll be out on the track more psyched than ever."

Cara Lima wrote to Coach Jere Harbold expressing interest in Women's Track and Field. She ran track during junior high school but was unable to participate during high school due to the lack of a team. She writes that she is "willing to begin working hard now."

In 1990, Women's Track and Field participants included first-years Michelle Bailey, Pam Byron, Susan Ferguson, Rachel Huffman, Jessica Hyde, Leslie McCleary, Laurel Ryan, and Wendy Sutton. Patricia Gaffney was the MVP for the year.

After the Women's Track and Field Club's first petition in 1981, David L. Watkins, the chairman of the Department of Physical Education, wrote to Comptroller Robert W. Belyea in 1982 urging the club's elevation to intercollegiate team status. He writes that women students have participated in the Track and Field Club for five years and have conducted "a quality program." He argues that creating this women's team would allow the college to offer nine intercollegiate sports for women in comparison to the ten for men.

Coach John Cantalupi had high expectations for the 1987 women's outdoor track season and their performance in the MAC championships, according to an article in the Dickinsonian. He is quoted as saying that  the team had "been third the past two seasons, and I think that this could be the year that we come through with a top finish." His expectations for the women's team were more optimistic than those professed by the men's coach, Jere Harbold.

The Women's Track and Field team had a record of six wins and two losses in 1986. Under Coaches John Cantalupi, Larry Moser, Dick Ocker, Scott Thornsley, and Dave Bengston, the team won first place in a Division III competition at Moravian. Linda Reinman was the 1986 MVP, and the coach's awards went to Cyndi Lyn Olcott, Susan Baldwin, and Michelle Wolkomir. Linda Reinman continued her successful Track and Field career as a Division III National Qualifier alongside Susan Baldwin.