Lenoir-Rhyne University

Hickory, NC 28603

North Carolina Southeast

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Shannon McHale

Vice President for Athletics Kim Pate has announced the hiring of Shannon McHale as the head women's lacrosse coach. McHale brings 27 years of coaching experience and was most recently the head coach at Colorado Mesa for three years before coming to Lenoir-Rhyne.

"I am excited to announce the hiring of Coach Shannon McHale," said Pate. "She brings extensive experience and a proven record of achievement on and off the field. She embodies everything we value in support of the student-athlete experience and will invest in developing and preparing her players to be successful both in their sport and in life. Coach McHale will be an excellent addition to our staff. I am thrilled to welcome her to the Bear family."

"I am looking forward to joining both the Lenoir-Rhyne family and the Hickory community," stated McHale. "I would like to thank Kim Pate and President Fred Whitt for the opportunity and belief in me to elevate the LR women's lacrosse program. I can tell LR is a special place and I'm excited to get started"

In total, McHale has 23 years of head coaching experience at Divisions II and III and spent four seasons (2017-20) as an assistant coach at Division II Florida Southern. McHale, who started her head coaching career at SUNY Potsdam from 1996-2001, owns a career record of 196-158 and is coming off a three-year stint at Colorado Mesa where she went 31-17.

At Colorado Mesa, McHale led the Mavericks to a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship this past spring with a 9-1 mark in league play and an 11-6 overall record. CMU topped No. 4 Regis 14-13 in overtime to help earn the first RMAC Championship in program history. In her three years, the Mavericks went 26-4 in RMAC play, winning .867 percent of league games. Prior to her arrival, CMU never finished above third place in the conference and McHale guided the program to a pair of second place finishes to go with the league championship. Additionally, McHale coached Kelsey Viger to just the third IWLCA All-American in program history. In 2022, the Mavericks won the RMAC Midfielder of the Year, Defender of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors under McHale.

McHale also is on the IWLCA Division II Board of Directors and the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse National Committee as well as being the Midwest Region's Chair.

McHale went to CMU after spending 2018-20 as an assistant coach at perennial powerhouse Florida Southern. In her three seasons, the Mocs finished as Division II national runner up, had six players earn IWLCA All-America honors and won 18 straight games en route to the national title game.

McHale spent 20 seasons as a highly successful Division III coach at SUNY Potsdam, St. John Fisher and Ithaca. She won her first of three Empire 8 Coach of the Year honors at St. John Fisher in 2007 when the Cardinals won a program record 14 games and she led the team to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and 98 wins over a 10-year span. McHale's 2009 squad defeated The College of Wooster 17-12 in the NCAA Tournament, the first NCAA postseason win in St. John Fisher history.

McHale then went on to Ithaca College and posted a 48-24 mark over her four years with a .667 winning percentage and was the Empire 8 Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013. McHale led the Bombers to 13 wins in her first season (2012), the most for the program since winning 14 in 2003.

McHale is a 1992 graduate of SUNY Brockport where she was a three-year letter-winner in soccer and first-team all-state in 1990. She was the SUNYAC West Division Player of the Year in 1990 and was a first-team all-SUNYAC performer in 1989. She was inducted into the institution's Hall of Fame in 1997.

She earned her master's degree in exercise and sport sciences and sport psychology from Ithaca in 2005. She also served as an assistant coach for the Swiss National Team at last summer's World Lacrosse Championship.

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Carson Pipher

Assistant Coach

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Greg Paradine

Profile

Hired in August 22, 2009 to become the first-ever Director of Lacrosse at Lenoir-Rhyne

Led Bears to first-ever National Championship in 2023 as well as National Runner Up in 2021 and a NCAA Semifinal in 2018

Won the National Championship by winning three road games and one neutral site game. Became the first five-seed to ever win the National Championship

Built the program from the ground up and has been the only coach in men's lacrosse history

Named 2018 and 2021 USILA NCAA Divsion II National Coach of the Year

Three-time South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year (2014, 2017, 2018)

Six South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championships and three SAC Tournament title

Led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and hosted the NCAA National Semifinal game in 2018 and 2021

Record

Year: Overall, SAC, Postseason

2023: 18-3, 9-1, NCAA Tournament (National Champion)

2022: 15-4, 9-1, NCAA Tournament (National Quarterfinalist)

2021: 15-2, 9-1, NCAA Tournament (National Runner Up)

2020: 6-1, (0-0), N/A

2019: 8-8, 4-2

2018: 17-3, 8-0, NCAA Tournament (National Semifinalist)

2017: 12-3, 8-0, NCAA Tournament (First Round)

2016: 12-4, 8-0

2015: 9-7, 6-2

2014: 10-4, 6-1

2013: 8-8

2012: 5-10

2011: 4-10

TOTAL: 139-64, 67-8, five postseason appearances

Program Accolades

Won 2023 National Championship as the first five seed to ever win it all. Won three road games and one neutral site game to earn the program's first National Championship.

Went to a National Championship game in 2021 and achieved the highest ranking in program history as the No. 2 team in the nation.

NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Have been nationally ranked 94 times since first appearing in the national poll in March, 2014.

Earned back-to-back wins against top-five opponents in 2020 in a seven day span. Defeated No. 3 Adelphi 17-16 and No. 1 Limestone 18-16

Have twice defeated Limestone with the Saints being ranked No. 1 in the nation each time

Had a stretch of 24 straight regular season wins against South Atlantic Conference opponents

Bears hosted NCAA Tournaments in 2017 (Quarterfinal round), 2018 (Semifinal round), 2021 (Quarterfinal and Semifinal round) and 2022 (First round)

Awards and Honors

Coached a pair of First Team All-Americans in Collin Lett and Eric Dickinson and has had 22 players selected as All-Americans

68 players have gone on to be selected as All-Conference performers, including a program-record 11 in 2023

Led Mike Hanlon (2017), Lett (2018) and Eric Dickinson (2021) to earn SAC Player of the Year honors

Has had two players win league Freshman of the Year accolades

Academically, Paradine has had three players win SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, three named the SAC Elite 20 Award Winner and one NCAA Elite 90 Award winner

Coached the first-ever Academic All-American in program history

Myles Moffat would be named the SAC Man of the Year and earn the SAC President's Award two times in a row, two of the highest individual awards the league gives out to a student-athlete

Previous Coaching Experience

Paradine came to Lenoir-Rhyne after serving as an assistant coach for seven years at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina

Coached at Chapel Hill High School from 1998-2002

Spent two seasons coaching at Ohio State

Playing Career

Played four years on the men’s lacrosse team at the University of North Carolina

Played on four Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Teams and four NCAA Tournament squads

Part of the 1991 NCAA National Championship team, 1993 national finalists and 1990 and 1992 semifinalists

First Team All-American in 1993 and honorable mention All-American in 1992

Personal

Married to wife Fran

Has three children

Daughter Mason went on to also win a National Championship at the University of North Carolina in 2022, 31 years after her father did the same as a Tar Heel