Mount Saint Mary College

NEWBURGH, NY – Mount Saint Mary College director of athletics John Wright is pleased to announce the hiring of Rachel Simone as the head coach for the newly established women’s lacrosse program.

“Our goal is to develop the best lacrosse programs that we possibly can and I’m confident that Rachel is the best choice to achieve that goal,” said Wright. “I’m tremendously inspired by her leadership qualities, her passion for the sport and job, and the commitment she will make to recruiting. She will have a positive impact on the student-athletes and on the department as a whole.”

Simone, a native of Syracuse, New York, brings two years of collegiate coaching experience to Mount Saint Mary College, along with a wealth of playing experience. For the past two years, she has served as an assistant coach at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Prior to that, Simone was a four-year, two-sport student-athlete at Cazenovia College, competing for the lacrosse and volleyball teams.

“I’m so excited to have the opportunity to start a program from scratch at Mount Saint Mary College,” said Simone. “Lacrosse is a growing sport and the Mount is perfectly located right in the middle of prime lacrosse country.”

Simone will start immediately, as the Blue Knights are scheduled to begin club lacrosse in 2009-10 and to become an official varsity sport in 2010-11. Mount Saint Mary will be the tenth member of the Skyline Conference for women’s lacrosse and will be competing for an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

“The immediate goal for the program is recruiting,” said Simone. “We need to get the program up and running quickly and that begins with spreading the word about Mount Saint Mary College women’s lacrosse. I think we can generate excitement for the program.”

A 2007 graduate of Cazenovia College, Simone was a four-year letter winner for both lacrosse and volleyball. The team captain for the women’s lacrosse program in 2007, Simone led the team in goals and was named the most valuable player of the Wildcats. In the Cazenovia record books, she is second in career goals, third in career points, and is the career leader for game-winning goals and draw controls. Also a team captain for the volleyball team as a senior, Simone was named second team all-NEAC. She ranks second all-time in service aces and third all-time in kills.

Simone holds a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Cazenovia College (2007) and recently earned her master’s degree in physical education from Springfield College (2009).