Lehigh field hockey names Caitlin Dallmeyer as new head coach

The Lehigh field hockey team will have a new face on its sideline when it start its season in the fall of 2016. Caitlin Dallmeyer, who has spent her last five years at Dickinson College, will step in as the team’s new head coach after Stacey Eversley stepped down in January.

“I’m really excited for (Dallmeyer) to come to campus,” said Stacy Shiffert, the associate athletic director for business at Lehigh, as well as the person in charge of leading the coaching search. “What stood out about her was her head coaching experience at Dickinson and her ability to take over a team, make it her own and have success with her team on and off the field.”

Dallmeyer will look to help improve the team as it is coming off of a tough season in which it finished just 5-13. In fact, the Mountain Hawks have not exceeded five wins in a season since 2011.

However, it is a situation that Dallmeyer is familiar with, as she began as Dickinson’s coach when the Red Devils had a losing record. But she was able to right the ship and turn the program into one that has posted double digit wins in the past three seasons.

“(Dallmeyer) was able to take a program that was 3-12 and, over the course of four years, turn it into a championship contending team in the Centennial Conference,” Shiffert said. “She has a great personality, she’s highly committed to the sport of field hockey, and she’s ready to take on a Division I job.”

The search for a new head coach began nearly immediately after Eversley resigned. In a previous interview with The Brown and White, Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett said he hoped to have a new coach by the end of February and to have that coach on campus by the end of spring break. He added that he understood if the process took a little bit longer, but the hiring of Dallmeyer still falls within the same relative time frame that Sterrett suggested.