Monday, January 2, 2017
PORTLAND, Ore. – Shelley Whitaker has been named Concordia University head softball coach. Her hiring was announced by the school in December.
"We are excited to have a coach with Shelley's experience and background join our staff," said Jamros. "I would also like to thank Danielle L'Argent for stepping in this fall as our interim coach and helping set a foundation for this spring and beyond.
"As a department we always talk about sustained excellence and Shelley can step right in and help our softball program achieve this goal."
Whitaker brings more than 15 years of head coaching experience and 10 years of experience as an athletic administrator to Concordia.
"I'd like to thank Mr. Jamros and the Concordia University search committee for this tremendous opportunity to be the next leader of the Cavalier softball program," said Whitaker. "The program has had an established level of success at the NAIA level and I look forward to being an instrumental part of building a similar tradition within the NCAA DII realm."
Starting in 2015, Whitaker made the full-time switch to the administrative side, accepting the position of associate athletic director at Division III Yeshiva University in New York, where she served in that role during the 2015-16 school year.
Previously, Whitaker served in both an administrative and head coaching capacity at Division III schools Whittier College in Whittier, Calif. and MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. At Whittier, Whitaker helped guide the Poets to a 20-win season in each year of her tenure (2009-14) and closed out her career with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the program. In addition, she took on the role of assistant athletic director, senior woman administrator and compliance coordinator.
Prior to her arrival at Whittier, Whitaker was the head softball coach for five seasons and athletic director for two years at MacMurray. During her time with Highlanders, which spanned from 2005-2009, Whitaker had several different responsibilities with stints as the head women's golf and volleyball coach and also worked as the compliance officer, senior woman administrator, sports information director and the assistant athletic director for student development & recruiting
She also brings experience from the high school and club level, most recently coaching with Nova Fusion Softball in Mountain View, Calif., and serving as the co-athletic director at Saint Joseph High School in Lakewood, Calif.
A graduate of University of Rio Grande in Rio Grande, Ohio in 1996, Whitaker went on to earn a Masters of Education from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, where she first began as an assistant softball coach in 1997 before moving on to become the head softball coach at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia.