SWEET BRIAR, Va. --- Sweet Briar College athletic director Teresa Boylan has announced the hiring of Meredith Newman ’09, as the new head coach of the Vixen lacrosse program.
“I would like to thank Teresa Boylan, President Philip Stone, and the board of directors for this exciting opportunity, as well as all of my Sweet Briar sisters who rallied to make this dream a reality,” Newman said. “Up, up, Sweet!”
Newman will return to Sweet Briar from Augustana College in Illinois, where she headed the women’s lacrosse program for the last two seasons. That stint concluded with an overall record of 37-5, a perfect 12-0 regular season conference record, and back-to-back College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament titles, as well as NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances.
This spring, the Vikings finished 18-3 and downed Concordia University (Wis.) in their first game of the NCAA tournament before falling to The College of New Jersey in the Sweet 16.
Newman’s 2015 squad led the nation in scoring, assists and scoring margin, which led to one All-American, four All-Region performers, and 10 All-CCIW players. This year, the Vikings finished sixth in Division III in scoring and second in both assists and scoring margin.
Before taking over the Augustana program, Newman was tapped as first head coach of the women’s lacrosse program at Beloit College. Newman was picked to start the program in 2011 and they played their first season of varsity competition in 2013, finishing 4-7. The following season, the Buccaneers improved to 10-7 overall and 6-4 in Midwest Women’s Lacrosse Conference play.
A four-year letter winner and two-time captain of the Vixen lacrosse team, Newman compiled 83 goals and 45 assists during her Sweet Briar career.
“I place a tremendous value on the education I received at Sweet Briar,” Newman said. “I state with confidence that I would not be who I am today, or would not have been able to have successfully created and built programs and develop such a strong network, had I not matriculated at SBC. I will forever and always be a proud Vixen and cannot wait to return home to join the Sweet Briar family in our effort to ensure future institutional and athletic success.”
Along with her coaching duties, Newman will serve as the athletic department’s recruiting coordinator. She will officially begin her duties on July 1.
--- This release is courtesy of the Sweet Briar College sports information department. ---
www.vixenathletics.com