Gina Lucido Hired As Spider Field Hockey Head Coach
12/20/2006 | Field Hockey
Dec. 20, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond Athletic Department announced Wednesday that Gina Lucido, former field hockey assistant coach at Indiana University, has been hired as the new head coach for Spider field hockey.
"I have always been a firm believer life comes back around to you," Lucido said. "The opening of this position was something never imagined, but always tucked away in my professional ambitions. Upon receiving the call from Richmond, I knew it was a God-led moment and the place my path was destined to follow."
Lucido, one of the first assistant coaches in Hoosier field hockey history, helped guide Indiana from a 1-16 mark in 2001 to a school-record finish of 17-5 in 2005 and a mark of 14-5 last season. The Hoosiers earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, and advanced to the Elite Eight after topping North Carolina, 3-2, in the first round.
"I am incredibly blessed to have the privilege of beginning my Division I head coaching career at such an esteemed university with an excellent athletic and academic tradition," Lucido added. "In meeting some of the team members, and looking over the success this core of young women has achieved, I am a firm believer the next level of national recognition is within sight."
During her time at Indiana, Lucido played a role in mentoring 65 Academic-All Big Ten selections, 53 NFHCA Academic Squad honorees, nine First Team All-Big Ten selections, three All-Americans, one Big Ten Player of the Year, one U.S. National Team member and one Honda Award semifinalist.
"We feel extremely blessed we were able to find an individual with such drive, dedication and integrity to be our next field hockey head coach," Assistant Director of Athletics/SWA, Laree Pearl Sugg said. "From the moment we met Coach Lucido, we just knew she was a great fit for our department and this talented, goal-oriented team."
A four-year letterwinner at Ball State in Muncie, Ind., Lucido led the Cardinals to unprecedented heights during her playing career, earning All-America honors in her senior season. During her time at Ball State, the Cardinals claimed the 1991, 1993 and 1994 MAC Championship, earning trips to the NCAA Tournament in both 1992 and 1994. Lucido was a member of the 1992 Ball State squad which ranked as high as No. 6 in the country, and also helped the Cardinals to an unprecedented streak of 10-straight shutouts in Mid-America Conference play during the 1993 season.
Lucido concluded her playing career as a Cardinal with a four-year mark of 61-19-2 (.756) overall, and a 30-3 (.909) regular-season record against MAC opponents. During her career, Lucido was a two-time Regional All-American, a three-time All-MAC honoree, a three-time All-MAC Academic award winner and garnered CFHCA Athletic/Academic All-American accolades in 1994.
While in Muncie, Ind., Lucido was named the first recipient of the Edith Patton Memorial Scholarship Award in 1994. The award honors the school's student-athlete who has excelled academically and athletically and embodied outstanding character, exemplary leadership and overall personal integrity.
Lucido began her coaching career at Bucknell where she spent three seasons as the Bison's assistant in both field hockey and lacrosse, while earning her Master of Science degree in Education. Her responsibilities under Bucknell field hockey head coach Heather Lewis included coordinating all spring season competitions as well as day-to-day coaching and recruiting tasks.
Following her stint in Lewisburg, Pa., Lucido served as assistant field hockey coach, assistant professor of physical education and lacrosse head coach at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. During her time with the Crusader field hockey program, she served as the primary recruiter, while coordinating the in-game defense as well as pre- and postseason team conditioning programs.
Lucido, an active coach in the Champion's Edge Elite Field Hockey Clinics, was inducted into the Ball State Hall of Athletics this past February along side three of her 1994 senior class teammates.