Getting to 500 wins as a college coach is a testament to talent and tenacity, both of which are important in longevity. The talent involves not only the coach's skill but also that of his or her players, so of course recruiting is vital as well.
As difficult as compiling 500 career victories is, two area coaches reached that milestone this weekend: Emily Russell with Lee University softball and Conchie Shackelford with Sewanee women's tennis. Both have winning rates of better than 70 percent.
Russell is 501-202 in 13 seasons after the Lady Flames' league sweep of Shorter University on Saturday and 3-1 loss to the Lady Hawks on Sunday. They're 18-11 this year with only senior as they continue their transition to NCAA Division II and the tough Gulf South Conference.
Shackelford is 500-183 in her 29th season at Sewanee, following 7-2 and 6-3 road victories this weekend over two Division III ranked teams, No. 12 Case Western Reserve and No. 23 Mary Washington. Her Tigers are 10-3 in 2015 and ranked No. 14.
Shackelford's husband, John, is second to her as Sewanee's all-time winningest coach in any sport. He's 437-266 after the Tigers' 6-3 win Sunday at nationally ranked Washington & Lee.
Conchie Shackelford"I have to give a lot of credit to my husband," Conchie said Sunday. "He's an amazing recruiter and he's another coach for our program."
Her 2007 team finished No. 3 in the ITA national rankings and went 23-2, losing only to Nos. 1 and 2. Her teams have finished in the ITA rankings the last 27 years, and she's coached three national senior players of the year, three conference players of the year and 12 individuals who have been All-Americans a total of 36 times, including current players Bronte Goodhue from GPS and Lindsey Liles. Shackelford has been her league's coach of the year four times.
Her Tigers had top-15 rankings for 15 consecutive years starting in 1988.
This year's team could be one of the best, with losses only to Nos. 1, 7 and 11. That's even with three freshmen starting regularly in singles: Christina Merchant, Maggie Crumbliss from Baylor School and Clementina Davis.
"Coming off playing tough competition in California, the team played really well this weekend in the Blue-Grey (Invitational)," Shackelford said. "Maggie was amazing today, winning (6-)4 and (6-)1 at No. 4 and also winning 8-1 (with Annie Veron) at No. 3 doubles. For us to be up 2-1 after doubles was huge."
Liles and Goodhue won together at No. 1 doubles and separately at the top of the singles lineup, and Davis won at No. 5. Saturday, the same duos and individuals won in addition to Merchant, who prevailed 7-6(4), 5-7, 12-10.
Russell is a Chattanooga native who was the No. 1 pitcher for Grace Academy's high school varsity as an eighth-grader, and she went on to shine as a pitcher and hitter for Hiwassee College and Lee. She pitched 305 innings and struck out 194 batters for the Lady Flames in 2000.
She pitched professionally in Europe for two years and then returned to Lee to work on a master's degree and assist with the softball team. Two years later, by the age of 25, she was the Lady Flames' head coach. She has had six seasons of 40 or more wins and two with more than 50, including the 57-5 team that was ranked No. 2 in the NAIA in 2010.
"I never thought I was going to be a softball coach, but I am competitive and like to make sure I'm doing my best with whatever I'm doing," Russell said Sunday. "And with the job I have, I want to make sure my players learn not just softball skills but the lessons sports has to offer.
"Coach (Les) Compton at Grace was probably my biggest influence as a coach. I really respected him and always wanted to make him proud."
In Sunday's loss, NiaRaye Ceasar homered for Lee and Paige Rowland and Kameron Carter homered for Shorter (20-8, 10-7), which got five-hit pitching from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe alumna Maddie Bray.
Asked if collecting so many coaching victories for her alma mater made the achievement even more special, Russell said, "I do think it's neat. When I played at Lee we weren't the number-one team in our conference, but when we would go to other schools I would think our school was so much better and I wanted to make the (softball) program match what I thought our school was.
"As the school continued to grow and get even nicer, everything it does is a great product, so it's always a challenge to put out the same great product to match the school."
Last year's 25-24 record was her worst, but Russell deliberately avoided taking transfers who would be done by the time Lee could play for GSC and NCAA postseason titles next year, and she redshirted injured ace Jessa Watt, who now is medically ineligible.
"Last year was rough, but I wanted it to be a building process toward next year," Russell said. "I think we're better this year, but we're still young."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.