Waugh to run track for DePauw University

Natalie Waugh, a 2025 graduate of Mount Gilead High School, will run track for DePauw University.

Courtesy Photo

In deciding to attend college and compete in track and field, Mount Gilead graduate Natalie Waugh found Indiana’s DePauw University to be what she was looking for.

I picked DePauw because it’s a small school and I’m used to small schools,” she said. “I wanted something with smaller class sizes and something that was still prestigious where I could run track at Division III. I just really love it there and I want to go out of state.”

It also didn’t hurt that DePauw’s track and field program reminded her of Mount Gilead’s.

“The team is very motivated,” she said. “They’re very excited to compete and things like that, which is a lot of what we get here. Very similar to the coaches that I have here, so I like that.”

It wasn’t a quick process to pick a school, though.

“It was a longer process,” she said. “I was between Denison and DePauw. They’re very similar, so it was a hard process. A lot of the financial stuff, we had to worry about, but now that I’m decided, I’m definitely very relaxed about it.”

At DePauw, Waugh expects to compete in the same sprinting events as she did in high school, competing in the 100 up to the 400 and also taking part in relays and the high jump, so for her, the main adjustments she’ll have to make involve being in a new place with new people.

“Probably just getting used to new coaches and getting used to new teammates,” she said. “I’m super excited to meet all of the team. I’ve met a lot of them already. Really looking forward to that. And then just competing with new people and competing in a new place against new teams. It’s all new and it’s very exciting.”

While at DePauw, Waugh will study the digital arts.

“I will be studying film and media, I think at this moment, so cinema and maybe some graphic design,” she said. “Things like that. I’m very interested in digital arts.”

And she is excited to see what her future has in store for her over the next few years.

“I’m very excited to branch out,” she said. “I’m used to living in such a small town, so a lot of people here don’t major in art and things like that. So, I’m very excited to break out and use all the resources I have available to me and meet new people.”

But she will miss the bonds she’s developed while at Mount Gilead.

“I will definitely miss my friends and teachers for sure,” she said. “People who have mentored me. A lot of people who have helped me out here. I definitely owe a lot of my success to them, so I will definitely miss them. Obviously, just Mount Gilead. It’s a small place where we’re all close. I’ll miss that closeness.”

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS