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Michele Dombrowski
Michele Dombrowski, a former NCAA All-American lacrosse and field hockey player, enters her 18th year as Sewanee's head women's lacrosse coach in 2023-24.
Dombrowski helped start the program in 2006, playing two seasons of club ball before becoming a varsity sport in 2008.
In 18 seasons as a collegiate women's lacrosse coach, 16 at Sewanee and two at SUNY Oneonta, she has compiled a 176-113 overall record.
At Sewanee, she holds a 168-92 record. Since the inception of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) in 2013, the Tigers have posted a 53-14 record.
Including her win-loss record as a field hockey head coach, she a 282-239 overall record.
In 16 seasons with the Tigers, she is a three-time SAA Coach of the Year, and an All-West Region Coach of the Year member.
She has coached 40 to All-Region honors with the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), 87 All-Conference honorees and 178 selections to the league's Academic Honor Roll. In addition, the program has earned the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad award 10 times, including eight straight years the award has been produced.
Dombrowski served on the IWLCA Board of Directors as one of three representatives for NCAA Division III from 2017-20, and she has served on several committees within the coaches organization.
In August 2022, she was elevated to Senior Woman Administrator for the department.
As Women's Lacrosse Coach
The 2023 schedule saw Sewanee finished 13th nationally in goals scored with 16.21 thanks to the program's success on the draw control. Finishing seventh in Division III with a 17.74 average, first-year Marlin Price set a new Sewanee and SAA record with 161 draw controls. Nationally, Price was one of seven players who won 150 or more draws in a season.
Recording a 10-9 overall record, seven players were named to the All-SAA Team, and one was listed All-Region.
In the classroom, the program tied a personal best with 21 selections to the SAA Academic Honor Roll and two were named Academic All-District®, selected by the College Sports Communicators.
Back to a regular schedule in 2022, Sewanee matched the second-most wins in program history with a 14-5 mark and returned to the SAA Tournament Championship game since 2015.
Brooke Sigmon was named the Newcomer of the Year as nine athletes were named to the All-SAA Team. Two athletes were named to the IWLCA All-Region Team.
Despite a global pandemic, the Tigers were able to get on the field in 2021 with a 2-2 record, with wins over Transylvania and Birmingham-Southern. Three were named All-Region, and 18 student-athletes were listed on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
Earning the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad for the 10th time in history, including an eighth straight year, seven were listed on the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
Sewanee's 2020 season was abruptly cut short due to COVID-19, but the Tigers were able to get nine games, winning four of those contests. The last win of the shortened year was a major milestone for Dombrowski, as she won her 150th career game as a women's lacrosse coach against Oberlin on Feb. 29.
Sewanee also produced its first All-American in women's lacrosse in 2020, as Logan Bulls C'21 earned Honorable Mention laurels by Inside Lacrosse.
In the classroom, the Tigers landed a program-best 21 athletes on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
The 2019 season saw the Tigers in the semifinals of the SAA Tournament, posting a 12-7 record. The team finished second in the nation in caused turnovers per game (16.63) and seventh in ground balls per game (29.53). Finishing 35th in shooting percentage with a 48.4% mark and 16th in save percentage (53.0%), Dombrowski earned her third SAA Coach of the Year selection.
Nine student-athletes were listed on the All-Conference Team, the most since the 2015 season. Two were listed on the All-Region Team.
In the classroom, the team totaled 19 members to the SAA Academic Honor Roll and seven were named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll. The program also achieved the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad for the ninth time.
In 2018, she led the program back to the SAA Tournament semifinals en route to a 12-6 overall record. The team finished leading the conference in five statistical categories (assists per game, 7.56; caused turnovers per game, 17.0; groundballs per game, 29.33; saves percentage, .542; and scoring defense, 7.06). The program finished third nationally in caused turnovers and groundballs per game, and they were ranked 12th in all of Division III in saves percentage and scoring defense.
Seven saw their names on the All-SAA Team, while Grace Fulton C'19 earned All-Region.
Along with earning the IWLCA National Academic Squad award for the eighth time, six were on the coaches association's Academic Honor Roll, while 15 were listed on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
In 2017, the Tigers bounced back with a 14-5 record and a 5-2 record inside conference play. The team finished as a semifinalist in the SAA Tournament, but the highlight of the season came in goal. Brianna Young, the SAA Defensive Player of the Year, led all NCAA Division III goalkeepers with a .613 save percentage out of 200 student-athletes.
Five were named All-SAA and two were listed to the All-West Region. In the classroom, 13 were named to the league's Academic Honor Roll, and three were named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
Despite a 7-11 record, the 2016 season saw Dombrowski earn her 100th career win with the program, defeating Berry, 11-6, in the SAA Quarterfinals on April 22.
Five players were named to the All-SAA Team, while two were listed to the All-West Region Team. 11 were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll, while the team earned the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad for the sixth time.
In 2015, the Tigers' eighth season of women's lacrosse, had one of the memorable seasons in the program's young history. Sewanee finished the season with a 17-2 record, capped by a 25-game winning streak over two seasons.
The streak started on March 22, 2014, with a 23-3 win over Oglethorpe (Ga.), and lasted over a season until it came to an end in the SAA Championship on April 26, 2015, against Rhodes. Additionally, Sewanee made its second trip to the NCAA Tournament while also receiving the program's first-ever at-large bid into the Big Dance.
During the 2015 season, the team was second in the nation in scoring. Sewanee also ranked nationally in scoring margin (10th), win percentage (second), and in draw controls (eighth).
Nine players were named to the All-Conference Team, while Ellie Murphy C'15 was honored as the league's Offensive Player of the Year. Five were named All-Region, including three on the First Team. Dombrowski also earned her second SAA Coach of the Year honor, and she was also named the West Region Coach of the Year.
In 2014, the Tigers, despite losing to Centre in the regular season, came back to defeat the Colonels in the SAA Tournament to win their second consecutive SAA Tournament Championship.
Sally Anne Greenwood C'15 led the program to its first SAA Offensive Player of the Year honor, as nine student-athletes were honored on the All-SAA Team. Four were listed on the All-West Region Team.
Along with the program being named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad for a fifth time in seven years, seven were listed on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
After Sewanee made the move to the SAA in 2013, the program went 13-7, but more importantly, the team swept conference play en route to its first-ever SAA Regular Season and Tournament Championship. Additionally, the Purple and White made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in its sixth year of existence.
10 student-athletes were listed on All-Conference, including six First Team selections. In addition, six were named on the All-Region Team.
While Dombrowski earned her first conference Coach of the Year honor, she also was a part of the SAA Defensive and Newcomer of the Year selections.
The team played three seasons as an independent before the Southern Collegiate Athletic Association (SCAC) added the sport in 2011. In two seasons, the program went 8-1 in conference play, and appeared in back-to-back SCAC Tournament Championships, winning the inaugural title in 2011.
As Field Hockey Coach
From 2011-15, Dombrowski served as the head coach of the field hockey program. Continuing to serve as an assistant coach since 2016, she enters her 11th season with the program. In five seasons as head coach with the Tigers, Dombrowski recorded a 39-42 record.
In 2015, Dombrowski coached Sewanee's first-ever SAA Newcomer of the Year award winner. As a team, Sewanee had six players earn All-SAA honors. Additionally, three Tigers were named to the NFHCA All-Region Team.
In 2014, Sewanee ended its season with an 8-8 overall record. That tied the Tigers' win total in 2013. Both eight-win years were the best finish since Sewanee went 14-7 in 2008.
In 2012, Dombrowski led Sewanee to its highest wins total since the 2009 season. Additionally, five Tigers were named to the All-SAA team, while three student-athletes earned accolades on the All-Region squad.
Previous Experience
Dombrowski came to Sewanee from State University of New York, College at Oneonta, Oneonta, N.Y., where she served as head field hockey coach from 1998-2005 and assistant women’s lacrosse coach from 1998-2003.
In 2003, while at Oneonta, Dombrowski was named National Field Hockey Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year and New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletics Association Field Hockey Coach of the Year. She was twice named SUNYAC Field Hockey Coach of the Year (2002, 2004)
Prior to her time at Oneonta, Dombrowski was assistant lacrosse and field hockey coach at Smith College in Northhampton, Mass.
Playing Career and Personal
Dombrowski attended Goucher College in Baltimore, Md. where she received a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Management and English. In 1998, she received her Master of Science degree in Exercise Sports and Sports Studies from Smith College.
As a lacrosse player at Goucher, Dombrowski was named USWLA and Brine/IWLCA First Team All-American in 1996 and that same year was selected to the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship All-Tournament Team. She currently ranks fifth all-time in career points scored. The 1996 team was inducted into the Goucher College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021 as its inaugural Team of Distinction.
In field hockey, Dombrowski was named College Field Hockey Association All-American, First-team in 1995 and Second-team in 1994. She was a three-time All-South Region First-team selection (1993-94-95). She is also the school record holder for points and goals in a career.
A two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American selection her senior year, Dombrowski was an NCAA Women’s Enhancement Scholarship recipient in 1996.
In 1999, the college retried her jersey number, and in 2011, she was inducted into the Goucher College Athletics Hall of Fame.
Dombrowski lives in Sewanee with her husband, Joe, and they have two daughters, Anja and Kira.
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