Tennessee Wesleyan College (Athens, TN) announces the addition of Men's and Women's Track and Field to the varsity sports lineup. This expansion will bring the total to 17 varsity sports offered at Tennessee Wesleyan College. TWC will begin competing in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Track and Field events in the Spring of 2013. 

Currently, the NAIA has 160 schools which participate in Track and Field. The Bulldogs will join 4 other schools in the Appalachian Athletic Conference who participate in Track and Field: Milligan, Union, Montreat, and Bryan. 

Tennessee Wesleyan will be competing in selective indoor and outdoor track events which include: 4 x 100m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, Women's 100m Hurdles, Men's 110 hurdles, 400 m Hurdles, and 1600m relay.

The Appalachian Athletic Conference Track and Field teams have been competitive within the NAIA producing NAIA All-Americans, as well as, NAIA National Champions. In 2010, the AAC sent 22 student athletes to compete in the NAIA Track and Field Outdoor National Championships. 

"Track is a sport with a rich tradition, and TWC is excited about adding Track and Field to our current athletics program. We look forward to offering a new collegiate experience for student athletes", remarked Donny Mayfield, Director of Athletics at Tennessee Wesleyan College. "We anticipate having a Track and Field Head Coach in place by March to begin the recruiting process."

TWC plans to combine the Track and Field coaching position with its current sport of Cross Country. Ray Stone, the current Head Coach of Cross Country, will be stepping down from this position to take another role within the Athletics Department and remain as Assistant Coach for Men's Basketball.

"Coach Stone has done a tremendous job building our Cross Country program over the past few years, and he will be involved in the transition of these two programs as we hire a new coach", stated Mayfield. Under Coach Stone's leadership, TWC sent three runners, Laura Womac, Sarah Birgen, and Hilary Cheruiyot, to the NAIA National Cross Country Championships.

Mayfield feels that the addition of Track and Field will help to enhance the competitiveness of TWC's Cross Country program, and provide student athletes with another opportunity to compete in the NAIA National Championship Tournaments. Over the past five years, TWC has sent 7 of its 13 NAIA National Championship teams to NAIA National Tournaments.