MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College women’s lacrosse coach Missy Foote has been named the IWLCA (Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association) regional coach of the year.
Foote, representing the Pilgrim region, led her team back to the NCAA Division III final four for the first time since 2007. Middlebury finished the season with a 15-5 record and won the NCAA Regional at Gettysburg before advancing to the final four. The team also advanced to the NESCAC title game, falling to eventual national champion Trinity. Foote was recently named to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, finishing up her 32nd season with a career mark of 376-101-1.
Foote is now in her 36th year on the Middlebury athletic staff and her 32nd year as head coach of women’s lacrosse. Her squads have won five NCAA championships since 1997, including four perfect seasons (1999, 2001, 2002, 2004). The Panthers also made 14 straight trips to the final four from 1994-2007 and have appeared in eight NCAA title games. The Panthers have also hosted eight of 11 NESCAC tournaments, winning the title seven times.
Foote was the 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Division III New England and National Women’s Lacrosse Coach of the Year. She earned NESCAC Coach of the Year honors from 2001 to 2005.
2001 marked Foote’s 21st and final year as head coach of the field hockey program at Middlebury. She ended her career with a record of 180-95-12. Her 180 wins are more than any other coach in the 33-year history of the program at Middlebury. In 1998 she led the team to a 17-1 record and its first NCAA championship. She was named the Division III Regional and National Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1998.
A 1974 Springfield College graduate, Foote coached field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester before joining the Middlebury staff in 1977. She is currently the director of physical education at Middlebury.
Foote also serves as the senior woman administrator and associate athletic director at Middlebury.