In athletics, history is important. Bison and Lady Bison mantle the legacy of those who have come before them, continuing to excel in competition and marking their stamp in time. Take a moment and enjoy the road travelled thus far.
Baseball has seen 44 players go pro, including Julian Merryweather, who was added to the Cleveland Indians’ 40-man roster before undergoing Tommy John surgery. Taylor Hearn is playing at the AA level in the Pittsburgh Pirates system.
Cheer and dance became competitive teams in athletics in 2015. In its first two years as a program, OBU Cheer finished in the top three in the nation at college nationals.
Football player Bob Mastin (grandfather of Ford Mastin) holds the school record with the most passes intercepted in a game: three in 1933 against the University of Arkansas.
BONUS – Ford Mastin has won 18 national championships (men’s and women’s) in 22 years of coaching.
OBU’s lacrosse team is the only NCAA Division II lacrosse program, men’s or women’s, in Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico or Texas. They led the NCAA in forced turnovers per game, averaging 12.93 in 2017.
Men’s Basketball was the first OBU national championship winning program in 1966 under coach Bob Bass. The program won another in 2010 under coach Doug Tolin.
Men’s Cross-Country finished 18th in its first trip to an NCAA regional meet.
Men’s Golf had its best season with a 10th place finish at the NAIA Championships in 2014.
Men’s Soccer tied the GAC record of eight goals in a game against SNU during the 2017 season.
Men’s Swimming and Diving’s David Lambert set the NCAA Division II record for the 2017-18 season in the 50 freestyle.
Men’s Tennis won the NCCAA championship in 2017.
Men’s Track and Field ended a 24-year national championship drought for OBU athletics in 1990 with a championship win under coach Terry Collins and has since added six national titles under Coach Ford Mastin.
Pom, originally created as a student group, has grown into a competitive pom and dance team, competing in the national collegiate dance championship the past two years.
Softball won their first national championship in 2017 at the NCCAA Championships after four trips to the NAIA national postseason.
Volleyball won 53 consecutive Sooner Athletic Conference matches, a streak that ended in 2014.
Women’s Basketball coach Casi Bays is the third coach to reach 100 career wins in OBU Women’s Basketball (reached against Kansas Christian College). John McCullough and Scott Norris also have triple-digit win totals.
Women’s Cross-Country was the first team in OBU’s history to reach NCAA national finals, placing 20th. Abby Hoover and Sydney Lawrence became OBU’s first two NCAA all-Americans.
Women’s Golf finished in the top five 13 times in the past two-and-a-half years.
Women’s Soccer was the unbeaten regular season champion in the GAC in 2017, the first since 2012 to accomplish this.
Women’s Swimming had three national championships in four years at the NAIA level.
Women’s Tennis won their first-ever national championship in 2017 and played in its first NCAA Tournament in 2018.
Women’s Track and Field has been crowned national champions 11 times with seven indoor and four outdoor national titles.
