Springfield, Ohio — Sarah Jurewicz, class of 1998, led an injury-riddled Wittenberg women's basketball team to a share of second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season and runner-up honors in the NCAC Tournament in 2007-08. Jurewicz can now make plans for even bigger and better things as the team's permanent head coach after a year in an interim capacity.
"Sarah has the history and the motivation to continue the traditions of Wittenberg women's basketball that were established by her former coach and mentor, Pam Evans Smith," said Wittenberg Director of Athletics and Recreation Garnett Purnell. "She exceeded the goals that were set for her being a first-year head coach.
"We're so excited about having her here for the long term. I'm confident that she will maintain the high level of performance that we have come expect from the Wittenberg women's basketball program."
The program's all-time leading scorer, Jurewicz took the head coaching reins at her alma mater in September 2007, replacing Smith, a 1982 Wittenberg graduate and the university's women's basketball head coach for 21 years before passing away in June 2007. Jurewicz led the Tigers to records of 15-11 overall and 12-4 in the NCAC regular season.
Jurewicz returned to Springfield after four years as an assistant coach at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo. During her four seasons with the program, Colorado College improved from 2-20 in 2003-04 to 15-10 in 2005-06 before slipping back below .500 a year ago. Before that, Jurewicz was an assistant in the women's basketball program at Savannah College of Art and Design from 2000-03. She helped the team to two winning seasons in her three years, including a 19-7 record in 2001-02.
"After going through an entire season with the players in this program I knew that this was the place and the position for me," said Jurewicz, who earned a bachelor's degree in art from Wittenberg and also holds a master of fine arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. "When (Director of Athletics and Recreation) Garnett (Purnell) told me about this appointment, I was so happy and overjoyed. I still am kind of at a loss for words when thinking about this opportunity.
"There is no place I would rather be right now. It is so clear that this is where I am meant to be."
A 2006 Shakopee (Minn.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Jurewicz is one of the all-time greats in Wittenberg women's basketball history. During her career in the Red & White, the Tigers posted a four-year record of 85-24 overall, including a phenomenal NCAC record of 59-5. The Tigers won NCAC regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament three times during Jurewicz's career - in 1995, 1996 and 1998.
A three-year captain for the Tigers, Jurewicz earned team Most Valuable Player honors three times in her Wittenberg career, and she garnered All-NCAC awards all four years of her collegiate career, including first-team designations in 1995, 1996 and 1998 and Newcomer of the Year honors in 1995. Jurewicz holds the school record for career points with 1,297, and she also ranks ninth in career assists and second in career rebounds.
Jurewicz's name appears numerous times in the history books for game and season records. Jurewicz also earned varsity letters in track and field in 1995 and 1996, and she even earned All-NCAC honors for her performance in the discus in 1996.
"It means so much to me that this program is going to be mine to mold in the years to come, and there's no doubt in my mind that we will be able to accomplish great things," said Jurewicz, Wittenberg's NCAC female scholar-athlete award-winner in 1998 and one of two Wittenberg alumni selected to the NCAC All-Second Decade Team in 2004. "I'm proud to be a Wittenberg Tiger, and I just can't wait to develop more great Wittenberg student-athletes in the future."
Written By: Ryan Maurer