Augsburg University Women's Lacrosse

Knippenberg has served as the girls' lacrosse head coach at the Academy of Holy Angels since 2009, and previously was president and team captain (2005-08) for the University of Minnesota's women's lacrosse club team. Knippenberg also is the co-founder and president of the North Central Women's Lacrosse League (NCWLL), which manages 22 college club lacrosse teams in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Iowa. "I am extermely excited to be at the forefront of starting the new lacrosse program at Augsburg College. It is exciting to see how much lacrosse has grown in Minnesota in the past 10 years and will continue to grow now that Augsburg has committed to an NCAA varsity program," Knippenberg said. In June, Augsburg announced that it would be the first college, regardless of division, to add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in Minnesota. The Auggies will compete at the club level in 2012-13, with coach Knippenberg handling the recruiting and logistical duties, and will begin varsity competition during the 2013-14 school year. "We are very excited to have coach Knippenberg joining our staff. She is the perfect person for this position. Her organizational skills, energy and enthusiasm for lacrosse shined during the interview process," said Augsburg Athletic Director Jeff Swenson. In addition to her coaching at Holy Angels High School, Knippenberg also works with Winning For Life, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing positive leadership and life skills through sports, where she is the director of fundraising and an assistant coach and mentor to junior high and high school lacrosse players. Knippenberg is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where she earned her bachelor's in Biology with minors in chemistry and art, and recently completed her master's degree in epidemiology. She was president and team captain for the Gopher women's lacrosse club team from 2005-08. "Knippenberg is truly a pioneer in Minnesota lacrosse, and we are confident in her ability to recruit quality new students to Augsburg and to build a lacrosse program that can be seen as a leader in the region," Swenson said. University of Minnesota '08 First (2012-current)

Hemie Collier (Luther '07) was named as the third head coach in Augsburg University’s women’s lacrosse history in July 2024.   Prior to coming to Augsburg, Collier served as associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Cornell College (Iowa) from 2018 to 2024. The Rams had double-digit win totals in each of his last two campaigns, finishing 13-4 overall and 3-2 in Midwest Lacrosse Conference play in 2024. Collier coached a Cornell defense that has ranked in the top-30 among all NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse programs nationally in several categories. In 2024, the Rams finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally in ground balls per-game, No. 7 in total ground balls, No. 18 in caused turnovers, No. 20 in caused turnovers per-game, and No. 28 in scoring defense.   Two of his defenders earned MLC Defensive Player of the Year honors (2023, 2024), and teams he coached have produced 13 All-MLC honorees in his seven seasons.   In addition to his coaching role, Collier served as Senior Diversity Officer and Director of Intercultural Life at Cornell, a college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. He has chaired the Cornell Diversity Committee and served as co-chair of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest Diversity Officials Committee.   Collier has a wide variety of coaching experience, not only in lacrosse, but also in football and track and field. He served as an assistant coach for both track and field and football at Simpson College (Iowa) from 2010-13, as a football assistant coach at Concordia University-Ann Arbor (Mich.) from 2013-15, and as a football assistant coach at St. Cloud State (Minn.) in 2015. He moved to Cornell as Assistant Director of Intercultural Life in 2016.   Collier played on the football and track and field teams at Luther College (Iowa), where he earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 2007. He also served as an assistant coach in football and track and field there for two seasons. He earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from Concordia-Ann Arbor, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in higher education at Concordia University-River Forest (Ill.).