Julie Lenhart began coaching at Cortland in 1995 and in 21 years has a record of 701-268-2 (.723) for the highest win total in Red Dragon softball history. Her overall record stands at 821-345-2 in 26 campaigns. In 2015, Lenhart became just the eighth coach in Division III history to reach 800 wins (three of the eight hit the mark in 2015).
Â
Lenhart's Cortland teams have qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs 14 times, most recently in 2015 as well as seven straight years from 2007-13 and three consecutive years from both 1997Â-99 and 2003-05. Her squads have made seven World Series appearances, with a national runner-up showing in 2013, a fourth-place finish in 2011, fifth-place finishes in 2003 and 2008, and seventh-place finishes in 1998, 2004 and 2009.
Â
Lenhart was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame in December 2014.
Â
Lenhart and her staff have been named the NFCA Northeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year seven times (1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013), and Lenhart was also named the East Region Coach of the Year in 1997. In addition, Lenhart has been chosen as State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Coach of the Year five times (1997, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015), and she was the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year twice (1990, 1992) during her five-year tenure at Wisconsin-Platteville.
Â
Cortland teams under Lenhart have won SUNYAC postseason titles nine times (1998, 2003, 2005, 2007-08, 2010-11, 2013, 2015), and she has led Cortland to the SUNYAC tournament championship round every year since 1998.
Â
Lenhart's teams have won at least 27 games every year since 1997, including four straight years from 2009-12 with 40 or more wins, 39 victories in 2008 and 38 wins in 2007. Since 2000, Cortland is a combined 266-38-2 (.873) in SUNYAC regular-season games, including unbeaten seasons in 2007 (20-0), 2010 (18-0) and 2011 (17-0-1), and one-loss seasons in 2009 (19-1) and 2012 (17-1).
A native of McComb, Ohio, Lenhart is a 1980 graduate of Ohio Northern University. A Dean’s List student, she lettered in basketball, softball and volleyball. She is a member of the ONU Athletic Hall of Fame. She also has taught and coached at the North Central Schools in Pioneer, Ohio, and at Shawnee High School in Lima, Ohio.
Â
