EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth in a six-part series profiling the Crawford County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.
BUCYRUS — Natalie Winkelfoos was an outstanding athlete at Bucyrus High School, an All-Ohioan in both basketball and softball.
She became the first student to score more than 1,000 points in basketball and went on to play that sport at Baldwin Wallace. Her Yellow Jackets went 100-17 in the four years she played under coach Cheri Harrer.
Natalie played in three NCAA tournaments and was a two-time All-OAC pick as well as her squad’s team captain. Winkelfoos set a record for 3-point shots and was sixth all time in steals.
After graduating from BW, she received a master’s degree in higher education administration and student personnel at Kent State University.
Natalie has been on the staff at Oberlin College since 2005. She served as associate director of athletics for development and alumni relations and worked as the department’s senior women’s administrator.
She also served on the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Diversity Committee with conference presidents and the executive director to create a conference-wide program to mentor females and minorities. Winkelfoos was part of a working group that produced Oberlin’s first ever varsity student-athlete transgender inclusion policy.
She has served as interim director of athletics multiple times. The Women in Sports and Events (WISE) organization has recognized her as an industry influencer.
In 2012, Natalie was hired as the Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education. She is the first female athletic director overseeing both men and women’s sports. She is now a member of the president’s senior staff.
To date, she has been instrumental in raising approximately $30 million for Oberlin College Athletics. This includes an $8 million gift, the largest gift to Oberlin Athletics in history, to help fund the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex that opened a year ago. She has also procured funds that will reshape Oberlin’s health and wellness facilities in the near future.
She has a proven record for generating annual support for the department, too. Natalie inherited a department that is part of a $15 million capital campaign which works with the office of development.
Natalie and her partner have a son, Griffin.
