University of Mary Women's Softball

The University of Mary has named one of its own to lead the Marauders women's swimming and diving program. Abby Loel, a former team captain who last year coached on the swim decks of an NCAA Division I program, returns to her alma mater as the fourth head women's swimming and diving coach in program history beginning the 2023-24 season.  Loel, a successful UMary scholar-athlete with over a decade of coaching experience at the club and university levels, joins a Marauders program which placed 31st at the 2023 NCAA DII Championships and returns First-Team All-American Victoria Murillo.  "We are excited to welcome Abby Loel 'home' to become our next head coach of UMary's Swimming and Diving program," said University of Mary Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Cooper Jones. "This is an important day for our department and Marauders Swimming and Diving as we continue to build off last year's success in the pool. Abby is a talented and passionate coach who understands how to prepare women to be champions in the classroom, in the community, and in competition. Abby's willingness to embrace our 'Greatness through Virtue' strategic plan makes her the ideal leader to continue building one of the best programs within Marauders Athletics." Jones says Loel stood out during their coaching search. Her track record of success, deep ties to the school, ability to build strong relationships with scholar-athletes, and creativity around recruiting plans and roster development, were significant factors in Loel being named to the head coaching post.   "Having the opportunity to come back and coach at my alma mater is very exciting for me," said Loel. "I feel very blessed to be back at a place where both virtue and sport are incorporated daily. It is truly an honor and I look forward to an incredible season." Loel joins the Marauders with 10 years of experience as a swimming and diving coach. She spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant swim coach at NCAA Division I Grand Canyon University. She helped write workouts for scholar-athletes while handling additional administrative tasks for a Lopes squad that placed a program-best second place at both the women's and men's 2023 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships. GCU set two WAC records and broke six team marks. Additionally, Lopes scholar-athletes earned both Swimmer and Diver Athlete of the Year honors in the WAC. The Lopes closed the year with program-best top eight team finishes by the women and men at the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Invitational Championships.  Loel, a native of Phoenix, AZ, coached nine seasons at the club level in addition to her stint at GCU: first as an instructor for the Phoenix Swim Club (2015-20, 2022-23), and an assistant for the Mandan (ND) Marlins Swim Club this past spring and summer. Loel also served as a special-needs swim coach (2014-19) working directly with Special Olympics swimmers in and out of the water while also volunteering at swim meets. "I look forward to partnering with Abby as we elevate our Swimming and Diving program into a perennial NCAA Division II Top-25 program," stated Jones. "Our expectations for the program are very high, and we feel strongly that Abby is the right leader at the right time to take the program to the next level. In addition, the chance to bring in a head coach who has first-hand experience as a Marauder scholar-athlete made the completion of this coaching search very fulfilling." During her four years at the University of Mary Loel helped the Marauders swim team claim a program-best fourth place at the 2021 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships, named team captain twice, earned NSIC All-Academic honors, and served as president for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), before graduating in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work.   Loel raced to a state qualifying mark for Arcadia High School before graduating in 2018 and twice earned the Phoenix Swim Club Coaches Award. 

Alex Lucy is from Minot, ND and graduated from Minot High School. He Grew up playing many different sports - throughout high school but really took to swimming. He then attended Bismarck State College and started to coach swimming in 2012 as head coach of Bismarck High School boys and girl’s programs until 2015. He was named Coach of the Year twice in those 4 years with Bismarck High and saw large team improvements in numbers and in placing. Alex then moved to West Fargo and coached the West Fargo Flyers swim club from 2015-2020. During his time there, the club team went from just above 90 kids to over 200 in that period and the National team grew from 1 athlete to 18 in that span. He was named Coach of the Year 3 times in that period by the NDLSC. Since 2021 he has been back in Bismarck coaching for Aquastorm Swim Club, and he also was head coach for Legacy HS boys swimming from 2021 to 2024. In the span of 3 years, they went from 15th place to 3rd place in the state.  This is his 2nd full year with UMary, and he is very excited to continue this position and work to help athletes reach their potential as not only swimmers, but as good students and people of faith. “I love my job as a coach and I'm always looking for new tools and ideas to help athletes reach their goals!”

Carly Palmer brings a strong competitive and coaching background to our program. She has coached with Aquastorm Swim Club and has worked at collegiate-level swim camps at both the University of Wyoming and Boise State University. As a former NCAA Division I swimmer, she competed for both the University of Wyoming and Boise State women’s swim teams. Her accomplishments in the pool include earning All-Mountain West Conference honors in the 200-yard IM, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard breaststroke, as well as competing at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 100-meter breaststroke. She was recognized as a CSCAA Academic All-American and received the Mountain West Conference Senior Recognition Award in women’s swimming and diving. At the University of Mary, Carly is earning her degree as a Doctor of Occupational Therapy and is committed to fostering a positive environment where swimmers can reach their full potential. We are so excited to have her join us this coming year!