SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento State Athletics Director Terry Wanless has named women’s soccer head assistant Katie Poynter interim head coach following the resignation of Karen Hanks on April 23, it was announced today. Poynter, who was added to the Hornet staff last season, will become the third head coach in the program’s history (1994-present). “I’m very excited to have Katie assume a leadership role with the women’s soccer program,” Wanless said. “Katie is well deserving of this opportunity and I’m looking forward to the upcoming season.”
Poynter (formerly Katie Sheppard before her wedding in January) joined the Hornet coaching staff in 2003 after serving as an assistant at Azusa Pacific University under head coach Jason Surrell . In one year with the Cougars, she helped lead the squad to a 16-4 record including a 9-1 mark in the Golden West Conference. Azusa Pacific also finished as the runner-up in the NAIA national championship game that same season.
As a player, Poynter played three years at UC Irvine (1997-99) before transferring to Santa Clara in the spring of 2001. The Broncos went on to win the 2001 NCAA National Championship with a 1-0 victory over North Carolina in Dallas.
At UC Irvine, she started 48 of 56 games as an outside midfielder and was a two-time all-Big West Conference selection. A 1997 graduate of Washington High School in Fremont, Calif., Poynter recorded 155 career points (65 goals and 25 assists) and was named all-Mission Valley Athletic League in each of her three seasons with the Huskies.
“I’m honored for the opportunity to be a head coach at the Division I level,” Poynter said. “I have been fortunate to help lay the foundation for this program and now I’m excited to have the chance to see it continue to grow.”
Sacramento State will open the 2004 season at Long Beach State on Friday, Aug. 27, at 5 p.m.
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