Had The College of Wooster dropped its fledgling women’s
track & field program in 1970, rather than in 1971, one of the
greatest field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse student-athletes
may not have ever enrolled, not to mention later return to the
school and carve out a highly-successful administrative and
coaching career.
That may seem like a strange statement on the surface, but you see Brenda Meese was a track star at Beavercreek High School, highlighted by holding the top high jump (5 feet, 4 inches) in the nation for her age group and winning every hurdle race she entered over the four years at Beavercreek, and she fully planned to continue that sport in college. At the time, only two Ohio schools offered track for women but unfortunately without Title IX (1972), there were no guarantees and Wooster dropped it Meese’s freshman year (1971).
Undeterred, Meese simply took up two new sports that she thought would lend well to her speed – field hockey and lacrosse – and excelled in those while continuing to play basketball. She was even able to carry on her track career as well, doing so during the summer, and she won the first two Ohio AAU women’s pentathlon titles.
It did not take long for Meese to learn field hockey. As a midfielder, she was twice a “Buckeye” honoree (I in 1973 and II in 1974) as the Scotties combined for a 21-3-3 record those years, and most impressively, earned a spot on the Great Lakes I Team for the USFHA National Tournament in Boston (1973) after just three years of experience in the game.
Meese became skilled at lacrosse just as quickly. She was regarded as the best defensive wing in the region throughout much of her career, playing on the Midwest I Team at the USWLA national tourney for three years (1973-75). As a junior, Meese scored one of her squad’s two goals in a game against the United States national team.
While she was a two-year starter and four-year letterwinner on basketball teams that annually participated in the state tournament as well, the most remarkable accomplishment from Meese’s career was transitioning into two sports that she had never seen before to captaining those Wooster teams her senior year to undefeated regular season records (12-0-1 in field hockey, 9-0 in lacrosse).
“(Brenda) was, and still is, a tremendous athlete. Very agile. Very quick. Very smart player … very coachable,” summed up Nan Nichols, the long-time women’s athletic director at the College. “She was one of the best in everything she did.”
Meese’s affection for athletics and Wooster continues today. Following a 10-year tenure as the field hockey coach at the State University of New York at Oneonta, she returned to her alma mater in 1989 and currently coaches field hockey while also serving as assistant athletic director and associate professor. With an all-time record of 340-186-10 on the hockey sidelines, Meese ranks among the top-five winningest coaches in NCAA Div. III history.
An avid bicyclist, Meese spends much of her free time traveling the world on two wheels. This past year alone, she biked nearly 3,000 miles in the U.S., and previously, she’s biked in a number of different countries (Australia, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland).