WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Veteran mentor Kathy Krannebitter announced the hiring of Pattie Gillern to her 2010 field hockey coaching staff recently. Gillern comes to West Chester from Rutgers University where she spent the previous four years. Gillern will assist Krannebitter in every aspect of the field hockey program, including practice plans, recruiting, game day strategy and individual instruction.
Rutgers authored a 24-33 mark in the highly competitive BIG EAST Conference. The Scarlet Knights put together a 14-6 mark in 2008, signaling the first time since 1999 that Rutgers reached double-digits in victories.
While at Rutgers, Gillern helped the Scarlet Knights’ field hockey players excel in the classroom as well. A total of 13 players were named to the BIG EAST all-academic squad a year ago while the team appeared on the NFHCA all-academic list with a cumulative grade-point average above 3.25.
In 2008, Gillern tutored second team All-American Amy Lewis, who also copped BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Excellence award from the conference that season. The former Iowa standout also served as an assistant director at the Rutgers University field hockey camp from 2005-09. She has also coached in the USFHA Futures Program, serving as head coach of Region 6 squad. She hold a USFHA Level 1 Coaching Accreditation Certification.
Gillern was a third team All-American at the University of Iowa during her college playing days as well as team captain her senior year in 2003. That season, Gillern led the squad in scoring with 15 goals scored. Gillern led the team in scoring in both her junior and senior seasons. She was also a member of the 1999 Hawkeyes squad that won the Big Ten regular-season championship and reached the national semifinals.
In addition to her prowess on the field, Gillern was a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection as well as an NFHCA Division I academic squad honoree three times. Gillern graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, majoring in Health and Sports Studies, Theatre Arts.
