COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Ursinus field hockey coach Janelle Benner has been selected as the 4U Field Hockey/NFHCA Division III South Region Coach of the Year, giving the Bears another major award-winner after a sensational season.
The regional Coach of the Year accolade is the first for Benner, who garnered the Centennial Conference's top honor in 2014. She is Ursinus' first South Region Coach of the Year since Director of Athletics Laura Moliken, who received the award in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Senior midfielder Megan Keenan (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) was the regional Player of the Year, making the Bears the first program to sweep the South Region's major awards since Mary Washington in 2012.
Benner has continued the Bears' storied tradition of success since taking the reins of the program in 2011. She has compiled an overall record of 81-26 (.757), including a 42-8 mark (.840) in conference games and a 7-4 standing in the NCAA Tournament. In her five seasons at the helm, Benner has guided Ursinus to four Centennial Conference titles and a pair of trips to the NCAA semifinals. The Bears have reached at least the national quarterfinals four times under her watch, and 10 different players have earned all-conference honors, with Keenan recognized as the league's Player of the Year in three consecutive seasons.
Benner has coached five NFHCA All-Americans during her tenure with the program, including a trio from the 2015 team in Keenan, junior defender Aliki Torrence (Reading, Pa./Exeter), and junior forward Amber Steigerwalt (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South). Keenan is a three-time first-team All-American, and Torrence was selected to the third team a year ago.
Ursinus finished the 2015 campaign with an overall record of 19-4 and went 9-1 in the Centennial Conference regular season before rolling to its 11th league crown in 12 years and advancing to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2011.