St. Olaf’s Foster leavin’ on jetplane to Occidental

Former St. Olaf head coach Emily Foster has been announced as the new leader at Occidental. Foster led the Oles from 2016-23.

-Ricky Nelson

Van Lannen in at Lawrence

Jeff Van Lannen is the new head coach at Lawrence. Van Lannen was most recently the technical specialist at University of Wisconsin.

Former LU head coach Meg Grose, who guided the Vikings for one season, is now at New Mexico Highlands.

-Ricky Nelson

Bishop named head coach at Blackburn

Shannon Bishop is the new head coach at Blackburn. Bishop was most recently an assistant coach at Midland.

-Ricky Nelson

Balleto sheds coaching duties at MMU

Natalie Balleto has resigned as volleyball head coach at Mount Mary. Balleto, head coach of the Blue Angels since 2018, will remain Mount Mary’s athletic director.

-Ricky Nelson

Fontbonne to shutter in Summer 2025

Fontbonne University, founded in 1923, will close after the 2024-25 academic year due to budget and enrollment shortfalls. Fontbonne, which intends to compete in athletics through its 2024-25 seasons, will not admit a Fall 2024 class.

Washington University, located a 10-minute walk down the boulevard from Fontbonne in St. Louis (Clayton), has entered into a purchase agreement for Fontbonne’s campus and will assist students and staff with integration efforts.

Fontbonne is a founding member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

-Ricky Nelson

New head coach openings at MUW, NCC

A pair of resignations have led to head coach searches at Mississippi Women and North Central (Ill.).

Halee Hensley stepped down at MUW two weeks ago to accept the head coach position at her alma mater, Central Baptist College (Ark.).

No school release is currently available, but Sydney Cheatham-Carlone resigned from North Central (Ill.) earlier this week and is no longer listed among the Cardinals 2024 coaching staff.

Cheatham-Carlone was the NCC head coach for one season, while Hensley had helmed MUW for three years.

To my knowledge that leaves five outstanding Region VIII/IX head coaching announcements (Blackburn, Dubuque, Lawrence, Mississippi Women, North Central (Ill.)), meaning there will be at least 17 new head coaches in Regions VIII/IX in 2024.

-Ricky Nelson

Elsbernd moves from Dubuque to Augsburg

April Elsbernd is the new head coach at Augsburg. Elsbernd helmed Dubuque during the past 15 seasons.

-Ricky Nelson

Mayville St. kicking tires on DIII

Mayville State University, located in Mayville, N.D., is among three institutions officially entering the exploratory phase of NCAA Division III membership. The NCAA typically requires an exploratory year before embarking on the traditional three-year provisional path toward becoming a full Division III member.

Joining Mayville St., which currently plays in the NAIA’s North Star Athletic Association, in this latest crop of DIII exploratory schools are Regent (Va.) and Johnson & Wales (N.C.).

Mayville St. would become the lone Division III member located in North Dakota and presumably compete in Region IX. Courting an offer from the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference appears to be the likeliest of options should Mayville St. continue through the process of transitioning from the NAIA to DIII. Starting in 2024-25, institutions wishing to join Division III are required to have an invitation from an active multisport conference in order to move on to the provisional stages.

Not all institutions proceed past the exploratory year. Bob Jones University (S.C.) is a recent example of a school forgoing the provisional process. However, most schools that move from exploratory ($1,000 NCAA fee) to provisional ($40,000 fee) matriculate to full members.

-Ricky Nelson

Susak elevated to head gig at MSOE

Kristina Susak is the new head coach at Milwaukee School of Engineering. Susak was an MSOE assistant coach last season.

-Ricky Nelson

Scully named head coach of Lady Blues

Claire Scully is the new head coach at Illinois College. Scully was most recently an assistant coach at Washington College (Md.).

-Ricky Nelson