Coe College Women's Softball

Coe College Softball head coach Jake Koolbeck has been with the Kohawk softball program since 2015, serving as an assistant coach for seven seasons before being promoted prior to the 2023 season. Koolbeck and his staff made an immediate impact, leading Coe to its second-best finish at the NCAA Tournament, finishing third at the 2023 DIII National Championships in Marshall, Texas. The Kohawks won their opening two games against second-seeded Linfield and sixth-seeded Rowan before falling to eventual National Champion Trine. Coe was 39-11 during the year, recording the third-most wins in program history. In addition, Koolbeck’s team won the American Rivers Conference Championship regular season title with a mark of 13-3. In his first season as head coach, Koolbeck’s team finished 19th in the NCAA in winning percentage and inside the top 30 in Home Runs (9th), WHIP (22nd), Runs (28th) and ERA (30th). Seven Kohawks were named all-conference following the 2023 season while Koolbeck and his staff were named the A-R-C Coaching Staff of the Year. Ellie Thurow added to the awards for Koolbeck’s team, earning a spot on the NFCA All-Region team. Following the conclusion of the season, Coach Koolbeck and his staff were named the NFCA Region IX Staff of the Year for the first time in Coe Softball history. 2024 proved to be another strong season for Koolbeck's Kohawks, winning the A-R-C postseason title for the first time in 15 years. Coe went on to win the Greencastle Regional at DePauw University, going unbeaten as Heather Boeckenstedt was named the tournament MVP. The season continued into the Super Regional round where the Kohawks fell to host Case Western in two games. Five Kohawks were named NFCA all-region performers and Ruby Kappeler was named the American Rivers Conference's MVP. Boeckenstedt was later named NFCA Third Team All-American, Coe's first honoree since 2019. 2025 was the start of a rebuilding process for Koolbeck and the Kohawks, replacing nine key players from the previous two seasons. After a tough start, the Kohawks battled back and fought for a spot in the conference tournament but fell short in the final weekend. Addie Menke, Abbie White and Maddie Harris picked up all-conference honors after standout sesons during the league schedule.  Prior to taking over as the head coach at Coe, Koolbeck held numerous coaching positions at local-area high schools. From 2010-2017, Jake directed the Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School spring program and also served as a varsity assistant at Solon and Clear Creek Amana. In 2018, Koolbeck became the head coach at Regina Catholic High School in Iowa City, leading the Regals to a second-place finish at the Iowa High School State Tournament in 2018. Following his stint at Regina, Koolbeck was a varsity assistant for Kennedy High School where he helped the Cougars win the 2020 State Championship. Koolbeck served as the top assistant at Coe since 2017 before stepping into the head coaching position. Jake graduated from Coe College in 2017 with a degree in Physical Education and Fitness Development.  Jake Koolbeck's Year-by-Year Overall Conference  Year Won Loss Pct. Won Loss Pct. Place Postseason 2023 39 11 .780 13 3 .812 1st  Whitewater Regional Champions Cedar Rapids Super Regional Champions  Third Place at NCAA DIII WS 2024 34 11 .756 12 4 .750 2nd A-R-C Tournament Champion Greencastle Regional Champions 2025 15 25 .375 6 10 .375 8th Career 88 47 .651 31 17 .645

Joe Tristan took over as the head coach of the Coe College Swimming & Diving program in the summer of 2023 after 20 years of collegiate coaching and teaching experience. Since starting the head role, Tristan has helped jump start the program with a 2024 diving national qualifier in Megan Norris and an NCAA B-Cut qualifying mark from Kamen Rangelov in 2025.    Tristan's first season was highlighted by success in the pool and on the diving board, seeing numerous school records broken during the year. Megan Norris made headlines for the women's program, qualifying for the NCAA DIII National Championship in the 1 Meter and 3 Meter Diving competitions. The A-R-C Female Diver of the Meet went on to finish 21st in the 1-meter and 24th in the 3-meter to cap off her season. In total, seven different athletes took home all-conference honors including multi-honorees Hollye Gutierrez, Natalie Pirozek, Lynice Perkins, Margaret Rhodes and Norris. 2025 netted five female all-conference honorees and four male all-conference selections while Rangelov was named the A-R-C Male Rookie of the Year.    Joe is a native of Southern California and played water polo and swam at Earl Warren High School. He later competed and finished 22nd in the United States Olympic swimming trials in the 200-meter freestyle. Tristan began his coaching tenure as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan, where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. His coaching and teaching experience continued at Penn State Behrend in 2003, taking over as the head men's and women's water polo coach while serving as an assistant for the men's and women's swimming and diving teams. Coach Tristan also spent time in the classroom at Behrend, serving as a Kinesiology lecturer where he was a two-time nominee for the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows Excellence in Teaching Award.    Tristan's swimming and diving experience also includes his impressive feats in the pool which include top 100 World Rankings in the 200 Meter Freestyle, a second-place finish in the 800 Free Relay at the US National Championships as well as being a six-time United States Masters Swimming American Record Holder. As a coach, Tristan helped the Behrend swimming and diving programs to a combined 24 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) titles while mentoring over 150 individual champions, 16 school and conference record holders and multiple NCAA qualifiers, one of which was a four-time All-American. As the coach of the water polo teams, Tristan piled up 142 total wins while coaching 37 all-Americans, 54 all-conference and all-tournament players and three rookies of the year. In addition, nearly 400 student-athletes were named to the all-academic team during his 20 years.