Justin Zook has announced his resignation as the head coach at St. Catherine University after seven seasons, leading the school to name two interim co-head coaches for the upcoming season.
Zook resigned to pursue other opportunities outside of coaching, ending a successful run with the Wildcats that included winning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Coach of the Year honors four times and having won three consecutive MIAC women’s conference titles over the last three seasons.
Six days after his resignation, Dan Eckberg and Nicole Hempler, both assistants last season, were named interim co-head coaches.
St. Catherine University, often referred to as “St. Kate’s,” competes in Division III of the NCAA and is one of the largest private women-only schools in the nation.
“The last several days have been filled with mixed emotions as after seven years at St. Kate’s I have decided to take a step away from the pool deck for the time being,” Zook said.
“Altogether, I have dedicated the last 30 years of my life to the sport of swimming as both an athlete and coach. Reflecting on my time at St. Kate’s has brought back plenty of memories filled with laughter, smiles, and tears. I know the timing is never going to be perfect for decisions like this to occur, but I am beyond confident the current group of student-athletes will continue to strive towards excellence together under new leadership.”
Eckberg has been at St. Kate’s for the past three seasons, while Hempler has worked in the school’s athletic department for 23 years and serves as an assistant athletic director in addition to her coaching responsibilities.
Hempler served as the swim & dive team’s head coach until 2011, stepping down to take on more responsibility within the athletic department while continuing to serve as an associate coach.
“I am excited for the opportunity to return to a larger role within the program and continue building the success the program has seen in recent years,” said Hempler. “But I am mostly looking forward to working with our amazing student-athletes along with coach Eckberg and coach van Ooosterom.”
Prior to his arrival at St. Kate’s, Eckberg was the head coach for the College of Saint Benedict Bennies for six seasons from 2013 to 2020.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to assist in the leadership of the Wildcat program. I look forward to continuing this journey with Coach Hempler and Coach van Oosterom and can’t wait to get the season started.”
In addition to winning three consecutive MIAC titles, St. Kate women also placed 16th at the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships.
Justin did an incredible job in his 7 years at St. Kate’s! He raised that program to unprecedented levels in his time there, and no other program of similar stature saw the same success during that period of time. Congrats and best of luck to Justin on his next endeavor, and good luck to the new interim coaches.
Off to look for a white castle?
whats that ?
It’s a chain of fast food restaurants and also their eponymously-named slider