CASSIDY HERMAN
Special to The Leader
The new head coach of Fredonia Blue Devil women’s lacrosse, Marykate Edmunds, is ready to start her season and has been since July of 2018.
Edmunds sees great things in Fredonia’s future. Not only is she excited to work with the women on the team but also continue her work with her colleagues in the athletic program.
“I decided to work at Fredonia because of the potential of the women’s lacrosse program and the recent growth within the athletic department,” Edmunds
said. “I knew I would be supported by the entire athletic department throughout my journey with the lacrosse team.”
Edmunds attended St. John Fisher College where she graduated from in May of 2014. At St. John Fisher College, she played women’s lacrosse and was in the starting lineup all four years.
There she collected Empire 8 all-conference selections three times and made the conference all-tournament team twice. The St. John Fisher Cardinals won three Empire 8 titles, one ECAC Upstate title and made three NCAA Division 3 appearances while she was a member of the team.
This position at Fredonia is Edmunds’ first head coaching job at the college level.
She worked as an assistant women’s lacrosse coach at St. John Fisher College in 2016. The Cardinals won Empire 8 titles and made NCAA appearances in 2017 and 2018.
The 2017 team was ranked seventh in the nation in defense while six players made all-conference. Seven Cardinals made the Empire 8 all-conference team in 2018.
Prior to that, she was the head coach of girls lacrosse at New Hartford High School in 2015 and was a volunteer assistant coach of women’s lacrosse at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, N.Y.
After one season at the high school position, she left to concentrate on her work at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. With Edmunds as an assistant coach, the Wildcats responded by winning their first Northeast Athletic Conference title in 2016, resulting in an NCAA appearance and setting a program record for wins in consecutive seasons.
Edmunds has certainly worked her way up to the head coaching position, but what really stood out to her was the atmosphere and potential at Fredonia.
“I’m most excited about the opportunity to be an influence for the student athletes that I’m involved with and striving to provide them with the athletic experience they came here for,” she said.
“I love the atmosphere at Fredonia. There is a very strong community-feel throughout the campus, and it’s evident that everyone that works at Fredonia wants it [to] be the best experience for our students.”
The upcoming spring season begins after weeks of practice in Ohio. From there Edmunds and the team will fly out to Florida.
“I think our first season together will promote growth and learning opportunities as well as developing a new Fredonia lacrosse culture,” she said.
Edmunds and the team are hopeful for the season.