LEWISTON, Maine -- Director of Athletics
Jason Fein announced the appointment on Monday of Elon University assistant coach
Renee Olsen as the head coach of women's lacrosse at Bates College.
"We're thrilled to welcome Renee as our new head coach of women's lacrosse at Bates," said Fein. "Renee brings a passion for educating and supporting students both on and off the field through their college experiences. She has seen success in her time at Elon, and brings with her a significant knowledge of the [New England Small College Athletic Conference] as both an assistant coach with Colby College and a championship student-athlete at Trinity College. I look forward to her guiding the Bobcats in the years ahead."
Olsen coached the defense under head coach Josh Hexter at Division I Elon for two seasons, helping the Phoenix to a 9-3 season in 2019 that concluded with a loss to fifth-ranked Towson in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game. The team went 3-2 in a shortened 2020 season. Under Olsen's leadership, Elon's defense ranked third in Division I in goals allowed per game.
"I am honored and thrilled to be named the head women's lacrosse coach at Bates College," said Olsen. "Becoming a NESCAC head coach in the beautiful state of Maine is a dream come true, and I am so excited to hit the ground running."
Olsen played for four years at Trinity College, helping the Bantams reach the NCAA tournament in all four seasons, including capturing the 2012 national championship. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity, and is currently pursuing a master's degree in sport leadership with Virginia Commonwealth University.
She began her coaching career at Colby, another NESCAC rival of Bates', immediately upon graduating from Trinity, and helped the Mules win a conference title in 2017. After working with Colby's offense in her first season (2016), she served as their defensive coach from 2017 through 2019. In her four years at Colby, Olsen coached three All-Americans, four All-NESCAC honorees and one NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Olsen succeeds Brett Allen, who resigned this year to pursue other professional interests, as the eighth head coach in program history. Allen led Bates to a 110-109 record over 15 seasons, including nine postseason appearances and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2016.
"I look forward to building upon the traditions and success that Brett Allen and his team created and to achieve new successes, and I am so excited to join the Bobcat family and the Lewiston-Auburn community" said Olsen. "My goal is to recruit and develop highly competitive student-athletes to strive for excellence not only on the field and in the classroom, but also in the community."
