Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs is the name of an athletic program from Gardner-Webb University, a private educational institution, which was established in 1905, and is based in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. The athletic program of the Christian University is composed of 23 men’s and women’s sports teams, which play in the first division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Apart from playing in the first division of the NCAA, the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs teams are all members of the Big South Conference, an intercollegiate athletic organization, which was established in 1983, and today consists of 12 college members (the number is decreasing to 10 by the season of 2022), fielding 19 sports.
What is Gardner-Webb Bulldogs?
Gardner Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs is a collegiate athletic program of Gardner-Webb University, which consists of 11 men’s and 11 women’s teams, competing in various sports disciplines, including Swimming and Diving, indoor and outdoor Track and Field, Tennis, Soccer, Basketball, and several others.
As for the visual identity, the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs logo has stayed untouched since the end of the 1980s. It still features the image in gray and red, designed for the athletic program in 1987, as it perfectly reflects the name, the mood, and the character of the Gardner-Webb sports teams, and does not require any changes brought it.
The Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs logo, created in 1987, can definitely be called one of the longest-lasting badges of the whole NCAA. It is a caricature of a fat gray bulldog running to the left, although because of its short legs the animal looks like it is just laying down.
The gray body of the dog is outlined in black, complementing the black collar with gray spikes around its neck. Apart from the collar, the bulldog is also wearing a red jersey with the bold gray “GWU” abbreviation set on it in all capitals of a heavy serif typeface. The lettering is arched on the upper part of the image and has no outline.
The face of the bulldog evokes a sense of danger and determination: the animal knows what it wants and puts all its efforts into reaching the target. And this is what characterizes the teams of the Gardner-Webb athletic program best.