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Jen Adams
Innovative. Difference-Maker. Creative. Stellar. Spectacular: All words used to describe Jen Adams throughout her illustrious playing career on the collegiate and international levels.
Those same adjectives hold true for her coaching and leadership styles as she enters her 16th season at the helm of the Loyola women's lacrosse program in 2024.
She is a member of the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame, the Chesapeake Chapter of USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame, the University of Maryland Athletics' Hall of Fame, and in 2023, she was named to the Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame.
At Loyola
The Greyhounds had their second most wins in a season in 2023, trailing their win total in 2022 by just one game. They won their seventh Patriot League Championship, extended their NCAA record for consecutive conference games won to 75-straight, and recorded their second straight NCAA quarterfinals appearance.
Adams became the programs all-time leader in wins, surpassing Diane Geppi-Aikens who won 197 games, during the 2023 season. She also surpassed the 200 career wins mark during the season.
Four players earned IWLCA All-America honors, highlighted by Jillian Wilson being named First-Team All-American, Katie Detwiler earned her third All-American honor, while Lauren Spence and Georgia Latch earned their first All-America honors. Wilson was also named the IWLCA Midfielder of the Year, becoming the programs first player to earn an IWLCA Positional Player of the Year award. Detwiler was named as the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The three-time IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year has led Loyola to nine NCAA Championships appearances in the last 10 completed seasons dating back to 2010.
Led by Adams, the Greyhounds had one of their finest seasons in history during 2022, winning school-record in wins and a 20-2 overall record, a sixth Patriot League Championship, an NCAA record for consecutive conference games won at 66-straight, and their first trip to the NCAA quarterfinals since 2015.
Katie Detwiler was named a First-Team All-American by the IWLCA, Livy Rosenzweig became the program's first-ever four-time IWLCA All-American, and Jillian Wilson joined them on the All-America teams. Elli Klugel was named the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the conference's overall Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was also named the IWLCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The 2021 season was highlighted by a 12-game winning streak, tied for the sixth longest in program history, a fifth Patriot League championship and a return trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Rosenzweig became the program’s all-time scoring leader and the Patriot League’s all-time assist leader, and she and teammate Detwiler were both honored as IWLCA Second Team All-America honorees.
The Greyhounds maintained their academic excellence as well, with Kluegel announced as the Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the team combining for an impressive 3.76 GPA during the 2020-21 academic year. Kluegel became the program’s fifth Patriot League Women’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the last six completed seasons.
During the 2020 campaign, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greyhounds were a perfect 5-0 on the year, defeating four ranked opponents and earning their highest end-of-year national ranking (No. 3) in the IWLCA Coaches’ poll since 2003. Included in the win total were victories over #24 Johns Hopkins (16-7), #4 Florida (17-6), #19 Penn State (22-12) and #9 Penn (19-15).
Since coming to Loyola, Adams has directed a resurgence of the program back to national prominence. Inheriting a squad that posted a 6-10 record in 2008, Adams turned that into an 11-6 mark in 2009 and an 11-7 record in 2010. Her 2011 squad won its first of two-straight BIG EAST Championships, returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004 and tied a school record for wins in a season, posting a 17-3 record. Her 2015 squad tied that record with a 17-5 mark and won a second-straight Patriot League title, while the 2016 team gave Adams five conference championships in six years, as it won its third-consecutive Patriot League Championship.
In conference play, Adams’ squads have dominated. Between five seasons in the Big East and 10 in the Patriot League, her teams have gone 102-12. The Greyhounds have an unblemished 76-0 record in Patriot League play with nine-straight regular-season titles. The 76-game conference winning streak is the longest in NCAA history, and the nine-straight regular-season titles marks the longest active streak.
Her Greyhounds have also claimed nine league tournament titles – back-to-back BIG EAST Championships (2011, 2012) and seven Patriot League titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). The BIG EAST title in 2011 was the first for the program, while 2014 win was the school’s first-ever Patriot League Championship, a League it joined for the 2013-14 school year.
Nationally, 12 of Adams’ squads have began the season ranked in the top-15 of the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll, while Loyola's stretch of four-straight years ranked in the preseason top-10 made the Greyhounds one of just seven programs in the NCAA to be ranked among the nation’s top-10 teams from 2012-15.
As a member of the BIG EAST Conference, Adams picked up co-BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and led the Greyhounds to back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament titles, a 27-12 record in conference games and a 4-2 mark in tournament action. Four times in her five years with the conference, she guided a Greyhound to a major conference award, with Grace Gavin being tabbed the BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year in both 2010 and 2011, and Marlee Paton and Kellye Gallagher picking up midfielder and defender of the year honors, respectively, in 2012. Paton and Gallagher also became the program’s first pair of first-team All-Americans since 2003 that year.
Adams didn’t miss a beat in transitioning to the Patriot League in 2014. Tabbed as the League’s preseason favorite each of her first eight years, Adams has been named the League’s Coach of the Year five times (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and brought 17 major awards to the Greyhounds, including three-straight Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year accolades to Maddy Lesher.
Adams has coached 32 IWLCA All-Americans and one Tewaaraton Award finalist. She’s collected 32 All-America, 69 All-Mid-Atlantic Region and 95 all-conference honors for her players, while 32 major conference awards have gone to Loyola throughout Adams’ tenure. Five of the program’s 10 three-time All-Americans have played under Adams: Marlee Paton ’14, Taryn VanThof ’15, Maddy Lesher '16, Livy Rosenzweig '21 and Katie Detwiler '22.
Before Loyola
Prior to coming to Loyola, Adams served as the associate head coach under Cathy Reese at the University of Maryland during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. She was also an assistant to Reese at the University of Denver from 2004-06.
At Maryland, Adams rejuvenated the Terrapins offense to play in her up-tempo attacking style. In her first season as associate head coach, Maryland scored 287 goals, the most it had recorded in a season since 2001, Adams' senior year.
In 2008, Adams helped Maryland ascend to a No. 2 rank nationally. The Terrapins finished with an 18-3 record and were ranked sixth in the NCAA in goals scored and second in total points.
Coaching Internationally
Adams took a break from the college game during the summer of 2012 and 2015 and assisted her sister, Trish, at the Under-19 World Championships. The Adams duo led the U-19 Australian National Team to a silver medal in 2012 and to the semifinals in 2015. She served as the Australian's U-19 Co-Head Coach with former Greyhound Stacey (Morlang) Sullivan for the 2019 World Championships, and she was a member of the Australian staff at the 2022 World Championships.
As a Player
Adams is regarded as the finest female lacrosse player of all time. Putting together arguably the greatest collegiate women's lacrosse career in the sport's history, Adams led Maryland to four-straight national titles from 1998-2001, including a 21-0 record in 1999 and a 23-0 mark in 2001.
Adams put together arguably the best collegiate lacrosse career of any player in the collegiate ranks during her tenure at Maryland from 1998 -2001. She racked up honors like she scored goals and recorded assists and was named to the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse 25th Anniversary Team in April 2007.
The Brighton, South Australia native, was named the three-time national player of the year and was the first recipient of the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2001.
Adams set every scoring record for the Terrapins - season and career - helping them win national titles in each of the four seasons she spent in College Park. She finished her storied career with 267 goals, 178 assists and 445 total points. Her mark for total points currently remains No. 2 all-time in NCAA Division I history, and her goals total is still No. 2 all-time at Maryland.
In addition to her career marks, Adams had single-season performances that also rank amongst the best in Maryland and NCAA history. During her Tewaaraton-winning senior season, Adams led the nation with 88 goals, 60 assists and 148 total points, setting school single-season marks in the process. Those season totals only added her name one rung higher, as she had set school records with 81 goals, 55 assists and 136 total points the previous season.
Adams' efforts were not limited just to the lacrosse field. In addition to her three All-America honors as a player, Adams earned the 2000 and 2001 Honda/Broderick Award for women's lacrosse excellence in the classroom and on the field. She also garnered CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors as a senior.
She was also named the National Attacker of the Year in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and earned Atlantic Coast Conference Female Athlete of the Year laurels in 2000 and 2001. In 2012, Adams was inducted to the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame.
Playing Internationally
On an international level, Adams has been a member of the Australian National Team since winning the U-19 World Championships in 1995. She went on to represent Australia at the senior level, including captaining them to a 14-7 defeat of the United States in the gold medal game of the 2005 World Cup. She scored four goals, and assisted on three others, in the gold medal game and earned All-World honors after leading all players with 26 assists and 47 total points.
Adams was also a member of the Australian National Team that took home the silver medal the 2009 Women's World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic. Adams recorded a team-high 15 goals and led the tournament with 26 assists and 41 total points in the World Cup and recorded a goal and a pair of assists against the United States in the gold medal game. In 2013, Adams tore her ACL during training camp prior to the games, but still captained the Aussies to a silver medal in Oshawa, Canada.
In addition to her participation with the Australian National Team, Adams has been a highly sought clinician around the world and is the primary spokeswoman for STX Women's Lacrosse.
Adams graduated from Maryland in 2001 with a bachelor of arts degree in sports marketing.
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