Women's Lacrosse | 3/17/2016 2:11:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's lacrosse team is hosting its inaugural Multiple Sclerosis Awareness game Saturday when Wingate entertains South Atlantic Conference foe Lincoln Memorial (4 p.m. game time) on Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex. Head coach Caline McHenry Olmsted and the Bulldogs encourage fans to wear orange in support of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness.
 
The team will be receiving donations throughout the game; all proceeds will go to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The Wingate women's lacrosse team is supporting a current student-athlete's family member who is battling MS. "We believe it is important for us as a program…to give back," Olmsted says.
 
"Supporting Multiple Sclerosis and wearing orange for our game this Saturday allows others to learn more about MS and donate to the foundation," Wingate senior captains Erin Murphy and Emily Nosek say. "It also brings our team closer to show support to our teammate who has been affected. It helps us to come together as a team to support a bigger cause and grow awareness."
 
In addition, the WU women's lacrosse team is participating in the Yards for Yeardley fund-raising campaign during the spring season. This campaign was founded by the One Love Foundation to raise awareness and bring an end to relationship violence and abuse.
 
"I first found out about Yards for Yeardley through Facebook since I follow the One Love Foundation," Olmsted says. "I thought this could be fun way for our team to participate in a great cause while bringing awareness to sexual assault and relationship violence."
 
The Bulldog women's lacrosse team has pledged to run a total 1,000,000 yards during the campaign to help promote awareness. They have raised $435 thus far.
 
The One Love Foundation was founded in memory of Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player at the University of Virginia who was murdered during her senior year (May 2010) by her ex-boyfriend. The foundation provides educational tools to over 400 colleges across the country.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,100 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, master's degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 15 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past nine years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 82 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 82 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 91 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.