MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College confirmed on Wednesday that former Panther All-American and Middlebury Union High School three-sport standout Kate Perine Livesay will become the school’s next women’s lacrosse head coach.
Longtime current head coach Missy Foote announced this winter that she would leave her post after this season, and Livesay resigned as Trinity College women’s lacrosse head coach to assist Foote this spring.
As had been expected, Livesay will take over the Middlebury program when Foote steps down this summer, according to a Middlebury College press release.
Livesay left behind a strong record at Trinity, where she served as the women’s head coach for eight seasons, amassing a career record of 127-26 and winning an NCAA Division III championship.
Middlebury College Director of Athletics Erin Quinn said Livesay was a clear choice to follow Foote.  
“Kate is an outstanding teacher, leader and mentor who will continue to impact our students’ lives on and off the field in the tradition that Missy has built so well,” Quinn said.
Livesay said she is excited for the opportunity.
“Missy has worked tirelessly to build this program into one of the most successful and well-respected programs in the nation,” she said. “It will be my privilege to work to maintain that same standard of excellence on a daily basis.”
Foote said she was “thrilled” that her former four-year starter would take over the program.
“She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, a commitment to the development of the student-athlete, and a passion for the college, the game of lacrosse, and the culture of the team,” Foote said. “Kate has that rare ability to teach Xs and Os, while also inspiring and empowering her players to play to their full potential.”
Before taking over as head lacrosse coach at Trinity in 2006, Livesay was a graduate assistant coach there for the Bantam lacrosse and field hockey teams in 2004 and 2005. In her first season as a head coach, Trinity’s lacrosse team won 12 games and returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998 after a 5-9 mark the previous spring.
From 2010 to 2014, Livesay’s Trinity teams compiled an 84-10 record, including back-to-back 21-1 records in 2012 and 2013. The 2012 squad won the school’s first NCAA title, while the 2013 team advanced to the title game. The Bantams won NESCAC crowns from 2011 to 2014 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals twice with three trips to the NCAA title game.
Livesay was named NESCAC Coach of the Year four times, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Regional Coach of the Year five times, and the IWLCA National Coach of the Year in 2012.
Livesay earned a bachelor’s degree in American Civilization at Middlebury, where she was a four-year starter in field hockey and lacrosse. She was captain of both teams during her senior year, and was a member of the Panther basketball team during her first two seasons. She earned her master’s degree in history from Trinity in 2007.
As a defender on the Middlebury lacrosse team, Livesay helped her team go 64-3 over her four seasons. The Panthers won NCAA championships with undefeated seasons in 2001 and 2002. The team won all three NESCAC Championships contested in her time and advanced to the final four in 2000 and to the NCAA title game in 2003.
Before she decided to attend Middlebury College, Livesay’s MUHS girls’ lacrosse teams went undefeated and won the 1998 and 1999 Division I Vermont titles. She also played on the 1998 co-champion D-I Tiger field hockey team and was a three-year varsity girls’ basketball letter-winner.
Livesay recalled her Middlebury roots when commenting on her new post.
“It is especially meaningful for me to take over a program that I watched growing up, one that I played for, and one that I have coached against,” said Livesay. “Middlebury teams have always displayed a great passion for the game, an unmatched work ethic and tremendous teamwork. I know these same qualities, that have been central to the success of the program for decades, will be celebrated and ever present in the years moving forward.”