Photo and story courtesy of Dartmouth Athletics Communications
HANOVER, N.H. -- Dartmouth Director of Athletics and Recreation Harry Sheehy today announced the hiring of Jennifer Williams as the head softball coach at Dartmouth College. She becomes the seventh head coach in the history of the program.
Williams comes to Dartmouth from MIT where she spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach, becoming the winningest coach in program history. She guided the Engineers to a 168-122-1 record, which includes a 122-46-1 mark since 2015. In 2018, Williams led MIT to a 38-11-1 record, breaking 18 team records in the process and winning its first-ever New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship. The team also earned a spot in the DIII College World Series, finishing seventh in the nation, two years after placing fifth at the event.
During her eight years as the head coach at MIT, Williams and her staff received the NFCA New England Coaching Staff of the Year Award in 2016 and 2018 as her teams finished in the top 10 of the national rankings. Williams coached the first-ever all-American softball player at MIT along with four Academic All-Americans, 13 all-conference selections, 10 all-region athletes and two NEWMAC Pitchers of the Year. MIT advanced to the NCAA Softball Tournament three times and made the College World series twice. Her 2018 team posted a cumulative GPA of 3.670, which ranked fourth in the country among DIII institutions.
"I'd like to thank Athletics Director Harry Sheehy and Senior Associate Athletics Director Kristene Kelly for this opportunity," Williams said. "I am looking forward to working with the team and staff at Dartmouth to develop, mentor and seek excellence in the coming season and beyond. Dartmouth softball has a solid foundation as well as great potential, and I'm honored to be the next head coach to move the program forward."
To go along with her duties as head coach, Williams has served as the director of sports performance at MIT since 2012. This position included being in charge of strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports medicine and communication with the sports engineering program to search for relevant projects to enhance student-athlete well-being and training efficiency.
Prior to arriving at MIT, Williams spent one year at Southern New Hampshire University as an assistant coach where she worked closely with the pitching staff and assisted with infield and hitting instruction.
Williams began her coaching career in 2007 at Smith College where she was the primary defensive coach for pitchers and corner infielders for two years as she pursued a master's of science in exercise science and sports studies. Her coaching experience extends overseas, she worked as the pitching coach for the Junior and Senior Swedish National Softball Teams in 2008. She also assisted the Enköping Softball Team while in Sweden.
A 2007 graduate of Middlebury College, Williams was a four-year member of the softball team as a pitcher. She graduated as the all-time leader in career wins (32), complete games (41) and innings pitched (327.1).
"We are excited to bring Jen on board as our softball coach after such a successful stint leading MIT," Sheehy said. "She has demonstrated terrific leadership both on and off the diamond while taking that program to new heights. Jen is the perfect fit to build upon the success of our team and bring home more Ivy League titles."
Williams takes over a Big Green team that won the Ivy League championship in 2015 and 2018 and has posted three 20-win seasons over the past four years. Dartmouth returns the 2018 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first-team All-Ivy performer Schae Nelson along with fellow first-team selections in senior Morgan Martinelli and Taylor Ward. Sophomore Micah Schroder and freshman Heather Turner return as well after picking up second team all-conference honors.