Wright State Track and Field | WSU Raiders
Earlier Monday morning, Wright State Athletics announced the addition of three NCAA sports: women’s bowling, men’s indoor track and field and men’s outdoor track and field, to the varsity level.
These programs will begin competition in the 2022-2023 academic year and bring the total count of varsity athletics to 14.
WSU already has men’s and women’s club bowling. They also have a track and field varsity team for women.
“We are excited to bring these sports to the Wright State community,” Wright State Director of Athletics, Bob Grant, said, “We look forward to welcoming new student-athletes in these sports and I am confident these future Raiders will become great ambassadors of the university.”
This year WSU needed to sponsor at least three more varsity programs to retain its NCAA Division 1 status. The NCAA requires D1 schools to sponsor at least 14 programs across both men’s and women’s athletics.
In 2020, financial struggles caused by COVID-19 forced the athletics program to cut several sports including softfall and men’s and women’s tennis, putting WSU’s overall number of athletics at 11.
The Raiders then applied for and were given a special waiver by the NCAA, allowing them to stay at 11 sports for the time being, but needing to return to 14 athletic programs by fall of 2022.
With the addition of these programs, the Raiders will keep their D1 status and will no longer be concerned about the NCAA waiver that would have expired in the fall.
