Maryland softball hired Lauren Karn to be its new head coach Thursday, ending a month-long coaching search, per a release. Karn, formerly the coach at Oakland University, won the Horizon League Coach of the Year award the past two seasons.
Under Karn, the Golden Grizzlies won consecutive conference regular season titles. Last season, Oakland went 21-21 with a 14-7 league record. In 2022, Karn led the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015.
Karn is the winningest softball coach in the school’s history.
“Lauren had all of the attributes we were seeking: someone who has built a winning program; someone who cares deeply about her student-athletes and the program’s culture; someone who has outstanding recruiting connections and contacts,” Maryland athletic director Damon Evans said in the release. “I was thoroughly impressed by her during the hiring process and she has everything we were looking for in a head coach.”
[Maryland softball coach Mark Montgomery announces resignation]
Maryland’s new coach has 12 years of collegiate coaching experience alongside an accomplished playing career at St. Joseph’s University.
Karn replaces Mark Montgomery, who resigned in July in order to “have more time to focus on what’s most important to [him].”
Last year, the Terps finished with a 38-19 record, the program’s best since 2011. The 2024 roster will return some of that squad’s talent, as stars Courtney Wyche, Jaeda McFarland and Sammi Woods return to College Park for the upcoming season.
“Maryland is a program on the rise in the Big Ten and on the national scene,” Karn said in the release. “I can’t wait to get going with building relationships with the current members of the program, recruits and department staff.”
