Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/993527
19 R enee Gillispie has been named head soball coach at the University of Iowa. Gillispie is the fih head coach in program history. She comes to Iowa aer 18 years as head coach at Central Florida where she compiled a record of 625-403-1, won five conference championships, and advanced to seven NCAA Regionals, including four straight regional final appearances. Gillispie is a native of Danville, Iowa, and played collegiately at Kirkwood Community College and West Texas A&M University. "e Hawkeye family and Iowa soball took a huge step forward," said Gary Barta, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. "Renee Gillispie has proven she can Win, Graduate, and Do It Right. It is great to have coach Gillispie on the team." "I am honored to return to the state of Iowa as the head soball coach at the University of Iowa," Gillispie said. "Having the opportunity to take over this program and return it to the championship culture it once had excites me. "ere is a rich tradition of talent in the state of Iowa. Being one of those players, I know how special it was to have the University of Iowa show interest in you. For me, it is being able to recruit these players and get them excited about Iowa, competing for Big Ten championships, and the ultimate goal of returning to the World Series." Gillispie started UCF's Division I program in 2002, and averaged more than 36 wins per season. She has coached 75 all-conference honorees, 35 all- tournament selections, and 25 NFCA all-region selections. Eighty players have earned academic all-conference honors. In 2014 and 2015, Gillispie's staff was named AAC Coaching Staff of the Year, and in 2015 was named the All-Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. e Knights set a school record with 50 wins that season, leading the NCAA with a 0.93 earned run average. Central Florida's .979 fielding percentage ranked second nationally that same year. e Knights reached as high as No. 13 in the national rankings, and finished the season ranked No. 16. Prior to UCF, Gillispie spent four years building the Texas Tech program. She led the Red Raiders to a No. 17 national ranking in 1998 and a No. 24 ranking the following season. Her team placed runner-up at the 1999 NCAA Regional. Prior to her time at Texas Tech, Gillispie rebuilt soball programs at Bradley University and Joliet (Illinois) Junior College. In 1993, she took over a Bradley program that finished 12-25 in 1992, and in two years posted a record-breaking 33-8 season. e 1994 team finished in second place in the Missouri Valley Conference and ranked fih in the nation in winning percentage. Gillispie received N4C Conference Coach of the Year honors as head coach of the 1992 Joliet Junior College team that won the conference championship. She inherited a 2-29 team in 1991, and led Joliet a 32-12 record in 1992, placing runner-up at the NJCAA Regional. Gillispie worked as an instructor with the Griffey International Gold Medal Camp, and Higher Ground Camps and Clinics under British National coach Bobby Simpson. She has served as an international speaker for the Italian Soball and Baseball Federation Coaches Convention, and traveled to Athens, Greece, as a guest coach for the Greek National Team in 2001. Gillispie pitched in two NJCAA National Championship Tournaments while at Kirkwood. In 1981, she ranked ninth nationally as a NJCAA pitcher. Moving on to West Texas A&M University, she set nine career pitching records, including career wins, strikeouts, and saves. Gillispie was inducted into the West Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Danville High School Wall of Pride in 2013.