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ALLENDALE, Mich. – For just the sixth time in program history, Grand Valley State University will have a new women’s soccer head coach.
Grand Valley State Director of Athletics Keri Becker announced recently the hiring of Katelyn Longino to become the new women’s soccer head coach in the program prestigious history. Longino comes to GVSU after spending seven seasons at the University of Iowa as an associate head coach under former GVSU women's soccer head coach and national champion Dave DiIanni. During her time at Iowa, Longino helped lead the Hawkeyes to two BIG Ten Tournament Championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
“I am extremely honored and grateful to be the head coach for the Grand Valley State women's soccer program,” said Longino in a statement. “Grand Valley State is known for its rich tradition of excellence, both on and off the field, and I am eager to contribute to that legacy. I look forward to working with our talented student-athletes and continuing a culture of success, hard work, teamwork, dedication, and development within our program. Together, we will strive to achieve greatness. I can't wait to get started and to build on the tradition of success here at Grand Valley State.”
Before joining the Hawkeyes in 2018, Longino had coaching stints at Valparaiso University, Xavier University, and Columbus State University. In the 2017 season, Longino was on staff at Valparaiso in their first season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Prior to her time at Valparaiso, Longino spent one season at Xavier in the 2016 season.
“Katelyn Longino brings excellent vision for our women’s soccer program. She values strong relationships with her student-athletes, knows how to develop talent, and has a fire to compete,” said Director of Athletics Keri Becker. “This team is hungry for next level success and Katelyn demonstrated throughout the process that she is the one who will help them achieve this. I would also like to thank Dr. Kurt Patberg at Mammoth Sports Consulting for his assistance with this search.”
Longino replaces former coach Katie Hultin, who recently accepted the head coach position at the University of Illinois of the Big Ten Conference. Hultin went 45-7-19 overall and 26-3-13 in the GLIAC in three seasons at Grand Valley State.
Longino played her freshman season at Columbus State, helping the team to 18 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Following her freshman season, Longino transitioned into coaching, serving as a student assistant for two seasons. In 2014, she helped guide Columbus State to 21 wins and an Elite Eight appearance. In her final season at CSU, Longino helped lead the team to a national championship game appearance where they fell 2-0 to Grand Valley State.
Longino, who holds a USSF “B” coaching license, has held coaching positions with the Ohio Elite Soccer Association, CFC Red Star, and Columbus Youth Soccer. Longino also holds a United Soccer Coaches Sports Performance and Psychology diplomas. She graduated from Columbus State in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science and she received her master's degree in coaching education and athlete development from Xavier in 2018.
Over the past two decades, GVSU has developed into a national powerhouse program at the NCAA Division II level. The Lakers have captured seven national championships in the sport (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021), recorded four national runner-up finishes, have numerous other NCAA Division II appearances (23) and enjoyed numerous runs to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight along with winning multiple GLIAC regular season and conference tournament championships.
The Lakers own 23 NCAA Division II appearances – all in a 24-season span. The only year missed in that stretch came in the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign where GVSU still won the GLIAC tournament title but did not qualify for the national tournament. The program also owns 12 regional championships and has the four national runner-up finishes (2006, 2011, 2016, 2018) and 11 appearances in the national finals – a school best combining multiple sports that use bracket-play format.
Longino inherits a program that only suffered one regular season loss this past season, while the Lakers were halted in penalty kicks in both the GLIAC tournament semifinals and again in the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals. Grand Valley finished 8-1-5 in the conference and 15-3-5 overall.
The Lakers held a 34-9 scoring edge plus losing on PKs twice this season, including in the national tournament to Minnesota State (2-1, 5-4 SO). The Lakers recorded 15 shutouts while they were only blanked only four times all season.
Since first launching the women’s soccer program back in 1996, GVSU has recorded 20-plus wins in 14 of those seasons. In 20 of those seasons the Lakers have recorded 15 or more wins. Additionally, the Lakers have only finished below five-hundred four times in its storied history, including the first three seasons (1996-98) and again in 2001. GVSU has also recorded 10 or more wins in a season 23 times over 29 campaigns.
Grand Valley State University has won 29 overall national championships spanning 10 different sports with 21 other national runner-up finishes. Around 24.2 percent of those 29 national championships come from the women’s soccer program at the school less than 30 minutes west of Grand Rapids.
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(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the National Soccer Network regarding club/youth soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer involving teams, players or coaches with ties to a particular state or states, contact Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com, or call 248-525-2349. Dan Stickradt is a 32-year veteran of the Michigan and national media circles and recently joined the staff full time at PMG in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/NSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@thepremiermediagrp.com.)
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