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Elizabeth Ford
Through 18 seasons, Elizabeth Ford has won over 70 percent of her games (195-82-1; .703) and three North Coast Athletic Conference championships, while maintaining Wooster’s reputation as one of the best NCAA Div. III women's lacrosse programs in the 2000s within the Fighting Scots' region. She was named senior woman administrator in August, 2021, and has primary responsibility for athletics diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and Title IX coordination, in addition to her coaching duties.
Highlighting Ford’s tenure, the Fighting Scots added NCAC titles in 2007, 2009, and 2010, marking their fourth, fifth, and sixth over a 10-year period, and with them, received berths into the NCAA Tournament. Her teams have reached double-digit win totals 14 times, including 11-3 in 2006, 12-5 in 2007, 10-6 in 2008, 12-4 in 2009, 12-4 in 2010, 12-5-1 in 2012, 13-5 in 2013, 13-4 in 2015, 11-6 in 2016, 11-5 in 2017, 12-4 in 2018, 16-2 in 2019, 13-5 in 2022, and 11-5 in 2023, and for her efforts, Ford was the 2009 IWLCA West Region Coach of the Year, the 2007 NCAC co-Coach of the Year, and the 2018 and 2019 NCAC Coach of the Year. She was inducted to the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2021.
In 2021, Ford's squad advanced to the championship game of the NCAC Tournament for the 14th time in program history and third consecutive year.
Outside of Wooster, Ford gained international coaching experience during the summer of 2011, as she headed the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) under-19 team at the Women’s Lacrosse World Championship in Hannover, Germany.
Ford only had to make a cross-town move when she was named the College’s head coach in July 2005, as she was formerly the head girl’s lacrosse coach at Wooster High School. She helped the Generals to winning records four of five seasons, including an 11-3-2 mark in 2002, and they reached the Round of 16 at the Ohio State Lacrosse Association Tournament in 2004.
Ford also brought significant experience at the collegiate level to the position. In fact, she was an assistant coach at Wooster during the 1998-99 academic year, and prior to that, a graduate assistant in field hockey and lacrosse for two seasons at Washington (Md.) College.
Originally from Glassboro, New Jersey, and a graduate of Glassboro High School, the former Liz Garrett was a four-year starter in field hockey and three-year starter in lacrosse at perennial national power Rowan University. She helped the Profs to NCAA Tournament appearances twice in each sport and picked up all-region honors in lacrosse as a senior captain in 1995.
Ford, who holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Rowan and a master’s in history from Washington, also was a teacher for several years at various schools in New Jersey, Maryland, and Ohio. She is married to Graham Ford and they reside in Wooster with their son, Preston and daughter, Sierra.
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