LIVONIA, Mich. - - Madonna University Athletics Director Bryan Rizzo announced Monday (June 15) that former Madonna All-American Jen Barker has been named the Crusaders new head women's soccer coach.
Barker's appointment begins immediately as she replaces Paul Thomas who resigned in April.
"We could not be happier bringing one of our own back to guide the women's soccer team," commented Rizzo following the announcement. "Obviously Jen had a tremendous career as a player at Madonna. We are excited to see her help today's players enjoy the type of success her Madonna teams attained. I know she will be a tireless worker who will maintain the level of success we have been able to enjoy at Madonna. I could not be happier for her or us."
Barker had been serving as the head girl's soccer coach at nearby Livonia Franklin High School for the past nine seasons and has seen eight of her former pupils move on to the college ranks including current Crusaders, Jessica Austin - the 2008 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year - and Diana Brda, a 2008 All-WHAC selection.
During her playing days as a Crusader, Barker was a member of the inaugural women's soccer team at MU and helped lead her team to the 2000 NAIA Final Four, becoming the first MU team to ever advance to that stage of a national tournament. For her efforts, Barker was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the 2000 National Tournament and was later tabbed as an All-American first team selection. She was also twice named as an All-American Scholar Athlete for her efforts in the classroom. On Saturday (June 13), Barker was inducted into the Madonna University Athletic Hall of Fame.
"I'm very excited to be returning to Madonna," added Barker. "It's great to see how far the program has come since the inaugural team and to see how the team's goals are the same goals we had in the beginning. When I played here our goal was to get to the National tournament and that's still the goal for this team. After last year, I know this team is expecting more of themselves. They fell short in their goal of going to the National tournament and it is clear that they will work hard so this doesn't happen again. Knowing that, I expect that this team will use their previous success as a guide and a catalyst to drive them to go farther than last year."
The 2008 version of the Crusaders captured the WHAC regular season title and advance to the conference tournament finals. MU returns 19 letter winners from a club that went 15-4 overall and 12-0 in WHAC play.
