The Pioneers have welcomed six new head coaches for the 2006–07 season. Five hail from other NCAA Division I institutions, and one was promoted from a DU assistant coaching position.
The new hires follow a slew of coaching resignations over the past several months.
“Our coaches and administrators are being aggressively recruited,” Athletics Director Peg Bradley-Doppes says. “That’s a tremendous credit to our institution as a whole. It’s an indication that DU is doing things the right way.”
Programs under new leadership include skiing, swimming and diving, tennis and women’s lacrosse.
After serving as assistant coach for the past three seasons, Wolf Wallendorf will head DU’s Nordic ski team. Previously, he skied for the Pioneers, winning second and third in the freestyle and classical events and contributing to the team’s three-year NCAA championship reign in 2000–02.
Wallendorf helped coach the Pioneers to their 18th NCAA championship in 2005 and is “very knowledgeable about what it takes to make the DU ski program a perennial national contender,” Bradley-Doppes says.
Andrew LeRoy will coach DU’s downhill skiiers. Previously, he was the alpine coach at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. LeRoy was coach of the year for the Rocky Mountain region in 2005 and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club coach of the year in 2006.
Skiing for the University of Colorado, he was a first-team All-American and individual national champion in 2000. LeRoy also skied for the U.S. in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Brian Schrader is the new head coach for the Pioneers men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. Schrader came to DU after five years as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia, where he led the women’s program to the 2005 NCAA national championship and four national runner-up finishes.
He also helped the men’s program to four top-10 finishes. Schrader spent five years as USA Swimming team coordinator for international championships and coached for the U.S. Virgin Islands team at the 2004 Olympics.
The women’s tennis team welcomes new head coach Amy Jensen. She comes from the University of California at Berkeley, where she was an assistant coach for six seasons. Jensen also played for the Cal team, winning three consecutive NCAA doubles titles in 1998–2000. She was named a singles All-American in 1997 and 2000, and she earned doubles All-American status from 1998–2000.
Danny Westerman assumes the head coach position for the men’s tennis program. He spent the last three years as assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin, and as a player there, he compiled 92 wins in singles play—the fourth highest total in Badger history. During his pro career, Westerman was ranked among the nation’s top 100 professional players.
The new women’s lacrosse head coach is Liza Kelly, former head coach at Boston University. Under her five- year leadership, the Terriers finished with a top-10 national ranking for two seasons. Kelly also earned two America East Coast coach of the year honors during her tenure at Boston. Prior, Kelly spent three years as an assistant coach at Towson University. She was a collegiate All-American at the University of Delaware and a member of the U.S. National Lacrosse Team.
“We are fortunate to have attracted these talented, passionate individuals, who mirror the values of our university,” Bradley-Doppes says.