Upon conclusion of last season, athletic director Stevie Baker-Watson removed the word ‘interim’ from Julie Sargent’s title and made her the head coach of DePauw’s women’s lacrosse team for the 2015 season coming up this Spring.
Sargent had previously served as the interim head coach of the team since September of last season, but had originally joined the team as an assistant coach in the inaugural season of DePauw lacrosse. Alie Marousek was also added to the staff as an assistant to Sargent
After starting all four years on the Lady Reds lacrosse squad, Coach Sargent graduated from Carthage College in 2012 with a major in biology. She was an all-conference player and also competed with the women’s soccer team in her first year at Carthage. Coach Sargent received her master’s degree in exercise science from Indiana State University in 2014.
“I’m originally from New Hampshire and growing up both of my older brothers played [lacrosse],” Sargent said. “I actually went to Carthage to play soccer and then my freshman year is when they started up the team so that’s when I started played again.”
Sargent also credited her college lacrosse coach Lauren Hume and her fellow Lady Reds for inspiring her to compete while in college.
The new coach is especially pleased with the addition of Alie Marousek as her assistant.
“[Marousek] will bring a lot of energy,” Sargent said about her new assistant. “She has a lot of great experience, more on the attacking end. I’m more of a defensive person so we are going to have a really good balance.”
An offensive and defensive balance should be important as the Tigers struggled to find the back of the net last Spring, averaging less than 10 goals per game.
The young Tigers only managed 3-10 overall record with Sargent in charge in the 2014 season and went 2-6 in NCAC play. Sargent is looking for the team to improve even more this year, hopefully drawing on experience from some grueling games last year.
She believes that the eight first-years joining the team will contribute a huge amount of new energy, and could perhaps be the spark the team needs.
“[The players] have high expectations, I have high expectations,” Sargent said. “I definitely see us going to the conference tournament.”
The NCAC has historically been a highly competitive conference, which makes Sargent’s job even harder. With the always-powerful Denison Big Red, who picked up the NCAC championship this past season, the Tigers will have to work hard and remain focused if they plan on reaching the NCAC postseason.
The combination of energy, experience, and confidence depict a bright future for the Tigers. For now, however, it’s time for the team to buckle down for fall practices and find their groove during the 2015 season.