NFCA News: Missouri’s Larissa Anderson Named NFCA President; One of 8 Adds to the 2023 NFCA Board of Directors

By @BruntjensElla

The NFCA 2023 New & Re-Elected Board Members.

Larissa Anderson, head coach at University of Missouri, was elected the new NFCA President and is one of eight members who were voted to the NFCA’s Board of Directors for 2023, the Association announced on Tuesday.

The eight coaches will officially begin their three-year terms on January 1, 2023.

Additionally, the NFCA announced its new committee members for 2023, who are listed at the end of this article.

Joining Anderson, who was in the middle of her term as the Vice President for Awards, on the Board Executive Committee are Missouri Western head coach Joe Yegge (Vice President, Playing Rules) and Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel, who is stepping in as the new Vice President for Awards. Deifel will serve the remaining year (2023) of the term and be eligible to run for a full three-year term next year.

Elected to the board to represent their respective groups are University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Leslie Huntington (NCAA DIII), Central Methodist’s Pat Reardon (NAIA), Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Lana Ross (NJCAA) and West Hills College Coalinga’s Gabrielle Brixey (Cal JC).

High School representative Kristi Williams (Blue Springs South HS) was elected to a full three-year term after starting her service in the middle of the last term.

Northwestern head coach Kate Drohan will move into the Past President role following her three-year stint as the Association’s President.

New Executive Board Members

Larissa Anderson (Head Coach, Missouri) – President

Anderson enters her fifth season leading the Missouri Softball program. In a short time, Anderson has steered the Tigers to 134 victories, one NCAA Super Regional and two regional final appearances. In 2021 Mizzou hosted a regional and super regional for the first time since 2013 and again hosted a regional in 2022. Prior to Mizzou, Anderson fashioned a 130-73-1 record in four seasons at Hofstra, guiding the Pride to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In eight seasons as a head coach, Anderson has collected 264 victories and led her teams to five of seven NCAA Tournaments. Anderson has served on the Board in several capacities with her most recent as the Vice President for Awards. Prior to that, she was the Vice President for Publications.

Joe Yegge (Head Coach, Missouri Western) – Vice President, Playing Rules

Yegge is heading into his second season as the Griffons head coach. He steered Missouri Western to a 30-22 mark (17-9 MIAA) and a semifinal showing in the MIAA tournament. A 26-year coaching veteran, Yegge was at the helm of Kirkwood Community College for 11 seasons (2008-18), leading the Eagles to 537 victories, eight ICCAC league championships and six appearances in the NJCAA DII National Championship. He also skippered Cedar Rapids High School (2013-17) and North Iowa Area Community College (1999-02), while also serving as DePaul’s associate head coach (2020-22), Indiana State’s hitting coach (2003-07) and NIACC’s assistant coach (1997-98). Yegge has previously served on the Board as the NJCAA representative.

Courtney Deifel (Head Coach, University of Arkansas) – Vice President Awards

In seven seasons as Arkansas’ head coach, Deifel has orchestrated the Razorbacks’ return to postseason play and guided the program to two SEC regular season championships, one SEC Tournament crown and five NCAA Tournament appearances, which includes five consecutive berths from 2017-22. Deifel led the program to its first NCAA Tournament Super Regional appearances in 2018, 2021 and 2022. Nine of the program’s 10 NFCA All-America awards and 78 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete accolades have been accumulated under Deifel since 2016. Sitting at 238 career wins at Arkansas, Deifel is seven victories away from becoming the program’s winningest head coach.

New Divisional Representatives

Leslie Huntington (Head Coach, UW-Eau Claire) – NCAA DIII Representative
Huntington was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 2021 and enters her 22^nd season as the Bluegolds’ head coach. The program’s all-time winningest coach, sje earned her 500^th career victory in 2021 and currently owns 548 career victories. The four-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year (WIAC) guided Eau Claire to a 2022 WIAC Tournament title and a berth into NCAA Regionals. She has mentored nine NFCA All-Americans, 44 NFCA All-Region selections, 51 All-WIAC first teamers and nine CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees and one CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Pat Reardon (Head Coach, Central Methodist) – NAIA Representative
Entering his 31^st season at the helm of Central Methodist, Reardon is just eight wins shy of 900 for his career. An eight-time Heart of America Athletic Conference Softball Coach of the Year honoree, Reardon has guided Central Methodist to 40-plus wins in four of the last six seasons and is the winningest coach in conference history. Reardon enters this season as the eighth-winningest active coach in the NAIA and has steered CMU to six regular-season and four conference tournament titles over the last 10 seasons.

Lana Ross (Head Coach, Kansas City Kansas CC) – NJCAA Representative
Ross is set to begin her fifth season as KCKCC’s head coach. In 2022, she guided the Blue Devils to a District B championship and a seventh-place showing at the NJCAA DII National Championship. She reached 100 KCKCC victories and 700 for her career during the first round of the KJCCC District playoffs. Ross, who is currently serving as the NJCAA Coaches Association President for softball, also was the head coach at Fort Scott Community College and Iowa Western Community College.

Gabrielle Brixey (Head Coach, West Hills College Coalinga) – Cal JC Representative
Brixey returns to her alma mater as the new West Hills College head coach for the 2023 season. She spent the previous five seasons at the helm of Taft College where 13 student-athletes earned All-Central Valley Conference honors. Recently inducted into West Hills’ Hall of Fame (2021), Brixey began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the Falcons.

Kristi Williams (Head Coach, Blue Springs HS) – High School Representative
Williams has been at the helm of the Blue Springs South softball program since the fall season of 2012. She guided the Jags to back-to-back Class 4 state championships (2018 & 2019) and seven overall state final fours (all since 2016). Additionally, Blue Springs South has captured seven district titles, posted two state runner-up and two third place finishes. Active in the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association, Williams serves as the Class 5 Vice President, overseeing membership, awards, and procedures.

Outgoing board members, Boo De Oliveira (Purdue / VP Playing Rules), Renae Hartl (Luther / NCAA DIII Representative), Kat Ihlenburg (Georgia Gwinnett / NAIA Representative), Darin Monroe (Rock Valley / NJCAA Representative), Yasmin Mossadeghi (Cal JC) and Karen Weekly (Past President / Tennessee) will be recognized for their service during the Awards Brunch at the NFCA Convention in San Antonio.

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NFCA Board of Directors (Effective Jan. 1, 2023)

Bold denotes new members

Executive Board

President – Larissa Anderson, University of Missouri
Past President – Kate Drohan, Northwestern University
Vice President, Awards – Courtney Deifel, University of Arkansas
Vice President, Membership – Now-Allah James, New York University
Vice President, Education – Craig Snider, Texas Tech University
Vice President, Playing Rules – Joe Yegge, Missouri Western University
Vice President, Publications – Shonda Stanton, University of Indiana

Group Representatives

Division I – Natalie Poole, University of Southern Mississippi
Division II – Les Stuedeman, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Division III – Leslie Huntington, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
NAIA – Pat Reardon, Central Methodist University
NJCAA – Lana Ross, Kansas City Kansas Community College
Cal JC – Gabrielle Brixey, West Hills College Coalinga
NWAC – Jessica Buel, Clackamas Community College
High School – Kristi Williams – Blue Springs South High School
Travel Ball – Frank Ehrenfeld, Pennsbury
Assistant Coach – Lindsay Leftwich, Louisiana State University
Assistant Coach – Stephanie Bagwell, Francis Marion University
Emeriti – Karen Linder, Kent State University (ret.)

New Committee Members (Effective Jan. 1, 2023)

NCAA Division I All-American – Kristen Butler, Rutgers University (Great Lakes Region), Kenny Gajewski, Oklahoma State University (Midwest Region), Danielle Henderson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Northeast Region), Samantha Ricketts, Mississippi State University (South Region)
NCAA Division II All-American – Marissa Leslie, Shepherd University (Atlantic Region), Dana Callihan (Grand Valley State University), Sheryl Gilmore, Western Washington University (West Region)
NCAA Division III All-American – Melanie Rushing, LaGrange College (Region VI)
NAIA All-American – Erin Bly, Briar Cliff University (Region III)
NJCAA DII All-American – East Region (TBA), Matt Egger, North Iowa Area CC (Midwest), Jody Long, Northeast Mississippi College (South)
High School Steering Committee – Dionne Muse, Lone Peak HS (Utah) (Region III)
Awards Committee – Edith Gallagher, Mansfield University (NCAA DII), Renae Hartl, Luther College (NCAA DIII), Todd Buckingham, Webber International University (NAIA), Kevin Bednoski, VA Glory (Travel Ball), Aaron Clopton, University of Kansas (Assistant Coach), Brian Kadel, Miami East High School (Ohio), Jen Boyden, Polar Crush (N.H.) (Travel Ball)
Events Committee – Michael Garoutte (Utah Tech University), Emlyn Knerem (Ashland University), John Oothoudt (Bethany Lutheran College)
Mentoring Committee – Chelsea Farmer (University of Tennessee at Martin), Stacey Vallee (Francis Marion University), Pam Fink (Northwest University), Kenneth Larson (The Kings Academy [Calif.])
Playing Rules Committee – Eric Oakley, Kent State University (NCAA DI), Terry Burdette, Hood College (NCAA DIII), Umpire (TBA)
Publications Committee – Parker Stevens (University of North Carolina, Wilmington), Kent Chambers (Emeriti)
Ethics Committee – Kristen Butler (Rutgers University), Jennifer Herzig (James Madison University), Willis Griffiths (Massachusetts Maritime Academy), Stephanie Bagwell (Francis Marion University), Kimo Rodrigues (American High School [Calif.])
Hall of Fame Committee – Jenny Rohn, Western Michigan University (NCAA DI), Diane Miller, University of Nebraska (NCAA DI Assistant), Mary Jo Truesdale, Sheldon High School (High School), Kevin Bednoski, VA Glory (Travel Ball)