University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire Women's Softball

Leslie Huntington enters her 25th season as the Head Softball Coach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2026. Huntington is among the most successful active softball coaches in all of NCAA Division III. She is the Blugolds’ all-time winningest coach and enters 2025 with a career record of 583-328-2, ranking in the top 30 for career wins among active coaches. She led UW-Eau Claire to its first national championship in 2008, one year removed from a third-place finish at nationals. Huntington was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021. She is a five-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and her Blugold teams have won seven WIAC regular season championships along with three WIAC Tournament championships. The Blugolds have competed in the NCAA postseason nine times under Huntington's guidance. She has coached eight All-Americans, 44 recipients of All-Region recognition, 53 first team All-WIAC selections, 14 Academic All-District selections and one Academic All-American. Her coaching staff earned national recognition in 2008 when they received the NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year award. In 2006 and 2007 the coaching staff earned NFCA Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year. In 1997 and 1999 Huntington’s teams at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, won NCAA Division III titles. In 1996 and 1998 the teams finished third in at the NCAA Division III National Championship. Huntington also served as head athletic trainer at Simpson College for six years. In 2000 and 2001 she was the co-head coach of Nevada Community Schools softball program in Nevada, Iowa. Huntington spent two years as a certified athletic trainer with the Des Moines Sports Medicine Clinic in Des Moines, Iowa. Huntington earned her bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista College in 1992 and was a two-sport athlete. She played first base and was a co-captain on BVU’s NCAA Division III national runner-up softball team in 1992. She was a GTW/CoSIDA Academic All-Region recipient. She played basketball for four years at the college, whose 1989-1990 team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. In 2000 Huntington earned her master’s degree from Iowa State University in health and human performance with an emphasis in sports administration. She provides instruction for Altoona, Eau Claire, and Seymour youth fastpitch programs and is the director of Blugold Fastpitch Camps and Clinics. She is a current member of Vice Chancellor-appointed University Assessment Committee at UW-Eau Claire and is a member of Campus Strategic Planning Committee and Student-Affairs Strategic Planning Committee. 

Abigail Place enters her fifth year as an assistant coach with the UW-Eau Claire softball program in 2025. A former Blugold standout, Place transitioned into her coaching role following a four-year playing career from 2018–21. During her time in Eau Claire, she recorded 119 hits, 76 RBI, and six home runs while posting a .337 career batting average. A consistent presence in the lineup, Place earned All-WIAC honors in both 2019 and 2021, along with second team all-region recognition in 2019. Since joining the coaching staff, Place has played an integral role in the program’s success. Over her first four seasons, she has helped guide the Blugolds to a WIAC Conference Championship in 2022 and a return to postseason play in 2025. Working primarily with the offense, Place has been a cornerstone in the development and continued growth of the Blugold lineup. Place graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 2021 with a degree in exercise science. She went on to earn her master’s degree in Sport Coaching and Leadership Administration from Michigan State University in the fall of 2024. A native of Naperville, Illinois, Place continues to invest in the development of Blugold student-athletes both on and off the field.