When Harry G. M. "Doc" Jopson took over Bridgewater College track and field in 1937, he wasted little time in creating a brand-new program. Doc Jopson's career would span the course of five decades and make Jopson and the Bridgewater track and field program into a household name in the Old Dominion State.
During his final years with the program, Jopson was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four consecutive times after leading the Eagles to seven conference titles during his final four seasons at the helm of the men's track and field squad.
In more recent years, Shane Stevens continued the legacy built by Jopson and coached 14 All-Americans and one national championship during his 30 + years at the helm.
In 1995, Bridgewater College's track and field team became complete with the addition of a women's squad. The Eagles soon became one of the league's powers. Just three years into the BC's women's track and field program, the Eagles won the 1998 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Outdoor title. Three years later, Melissa Baker Nice earned the program's first All-America honor. And in 2010 Courtney Hartman took home BC's first track & field national championship in the heptathlon. The program claimed back-to-back conference titles in the 2014 and 2015 season.
Thank you to the Bridgewater College Offices of Athletic Media Relations who wrote the text from which this history was adapted.
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