As Ouachita Baptist University has posted its highest spring headcount in more than 30 years, the continued enrollment growth reflects Ouachita’s commitment to being academically excellent, distinctly Christian, and highly relational.
The growth also reflects new undergraduate programs in Criminal Justice, Engineering, and Nursing as well as six new graduate programs. And there’s one more new program.
The number of student athletes participating in Ouachita’s cross country and track & field programs has grown from seven in 2019 to 130 this year. It’s a story worth sharing.
Head Coach Steve Guymon arrived in 2019, initially focused on growing the seven-member women’s cross country team. We discovered an unmet need for a men’s team, which quickly started. Cross country runners, a fall sport, also wanted to run distance track in the winter and spring. So, we started a track team. Then high school students who competed in field events began coming. So, we began competing in field events.
But Ouachita didn’t have a track & field venue. As a result, students and coaches were creative, running on every road, trail, and sidewalk in town. They used grass fields to practice field events like shot put, long jump, and pole vault. In the process, the teams won competitions, and students were named to all-conference teams.
To sustain the program, we needed a track & field venue. It took longer and cost more than expected because the project started during recent inflationary highs. Yet the students kept a positive attitude, even meeting often at the construction site to pray.
In early January 2025, I had the privilege of running the inaugural lap on a new track with our students. Many people had stepped forward to make generous gifts, with the capstone gift coming from Frank Hickingbotham, a longtime supporter, advocate, and trustee. The new venue will be known as the Hickingbotham Family Track & Field.
Hickingbotham came to Ouachita in 1955 from his hometown of McGehee, Ark. At a recent Board of Trustees meeting, he shared the following with students: “I only got to be here for three semesters,” he said. “I ran out of money and had to leave. And that was one of the saddest days of my life. But even at three semesters, Ouachita is deep in my heart.”
Hickingbotham’s professors and friends created an indelible mark on his life during his time on campus, he added; however, “the thing that impacted me most was my introduction to the Bible.”
Hickingbotham and others were inspired to help because of students like Laynie White from Vilonia, Ark. Her parents met at Ouachita, and she grew up hearing them talk about amazing professors and lifelong friends.
While at Arkansas Baptist Super Summer camp in 2018, Laynie committed her life to Christ on the steps of the Mabee Fine Arts Building. She later came to Ouachita to study Dietetics and Nutrition, one of the few Christian programs in the country, where she has excelled. Laynie told me how her professors have invested in and prayed for her. With a career goal of becoming a Registered Dietitian, she will continue at Ouachita in the related graduate program.
Laynie also came to run at Ouachita – even though there wasn’t a track. Along the way, she became a Team Captain and has set records.
As Laynie prepares to graduate in May, she and her teammates are benefiting from the Hickingbotham Family Track & Field. Laynie recently shared the following about the dream of a track becoming a reality. “Having this track will draw many high-caliber high school student athletes who are looking for a place to fulfill their athletic dreams. But like us, during their time here, they will receive much more. They will experience the love of Christ through incredible coaches and the Ouachita community and be presented with the best gift they could ever receive: the Gospel.”
The story of a growing cross country and track & field program – and the new venue – includes a young Frank Hickingbotham coming to Ouachita in 1955 and his life being spiritually marked. It includes a young Laynie White coming to Ouachita in 2018 for Super Summer. It includes faculty and coaches who personally invest in students at a university that’s academically excellent and distinctly Christian. It includes the enduring support and affiliation between Arkansas Baptist churches and Ouachita Baptist University.
While increasing enrollment numbers are good, the people and stories of faithfulness behind the numbers are better. May we continue to live faithfully, challenged by Scripture, such as this passage that has been meaningful to the students and coaches in our cross country and track & field program. From Hebrews 12:1-3, we are encouraged: “…since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith….”