University of North Carolina Athletics
Two Former Players Land Coaching Gigs
July 17, 2009 | Softball
July 17, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Two former volunteer softball coaches, Jeanine Gunther and Whitney Gelin, will begin new coaching careers this month. Jeanine Gunther, a 1997 graduate of North Carolina, was hired by NC State softball as an assistant coach earlier this month. Whitney Gelin, a 2007 graduate of North Carolina, was hired as the head softball coach at Greensboro College today.
NC State softball head coach Lisa Navas announced the addition of Jeanine Gunther as an assistant coach July 1, 2009. A former volunteer assistant on the Tar Heel staff in 1998, Gunther holds 11 years of collegiate coaching experience, including seven seasons as a head coach. She joins the Wolfpack after spending the previous four years as head coach at Lafayette College.
"I am so excited to be back in the ACC," said Gunther. "I am really happy about the opportunity to work with Coach Navas and Coach Ellis, and I look forward to helping with the continued success of the Wolfpack program."
Gunther, a native of Virginia Beach, Va., played softball at North Carolina from 1994-97, serving as a team captain during her final two seasons. Earning All-ACC honors as a junior, she graduated from UNC with a degree in English in 1997 and began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant on the Tar Heel staff during the 1998 season. She played professionally with the Georgia Pride of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League the following summer.
The 2006 Patriot League Coach of the Year, Gunther guided the Leopards to their second consecutive conference championship series appearance this past season. She left the school as the only coach in program history to guide Lafayette to a title game appearance. Her 2008 squad set a school record for wins in a single season with 28, and 15 players earned All-Patriot League accolades during her tenure.
Prior to her time at Lafayette, Gunther led Rochester to a 27-18 season as head coach in 2005, setting a program record for wins in a single season and steering the Yellowjackets to their first winning season in program history.
Gunther continued her education from 2002-04 at Penn State, working towards a master's degree in higher education with a concentration in college student personnel. She stood in as a volunteer assistant coach at Bloomsburg during 2004 after cutting her teeth as a head coach for two seasons at East Stroudsburg from 2001-02, following two years as an assistant on the same staff.
Whitney Gelin, a 2007 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was named the head softball coach of Greensboro College Friday July 17, 2009 announced Pride athletics director Kim Strable. Gelin worked as an assistant softball coach and assistant strength and conditioning coach for Pride athletics for two seasons.
"Coach Gelin is an incredible person and personality and I have every confidence she will become a great coach, mentor and leader at GC," Strable said. "She has earned the respect and admiration of many inside and outside the athletic department for her work with strength and conditioning as well as her involvement with our softball program."
The former Carolina player succeeds Kama Tucker, who joined James Madison as a pitching coach, after leading the Pride to a to a 144-92-4 record in six seasons as head coach.
"I am honored to accept the head softball position at Greensboro College," Gelin said. "We have a very hard working, talented group of girls on the roster for the upcoming season, and have high expectations for the future of the program. Kama Tucker had an integral role in the success and development of the program as well as my development as a coach. It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to continue to build a program with such a sound foundation and to represent a classy athletic department like Greensboro College."
Gelin, a native of Inverness, Fla., played softball for the Tar Heels from 2004-2007. She was a two-year academic team captain and four-year letter-winner. Gelin was awarded the Papa Coach's Award in her senior season and the Carroll Hustle Award in 2005.
Gelin graduated with a double major in exercise and sport science and psychology. She has extensive strength training and physiology knowledge. A three-time winner of UNC's Iron Ram award presented to the top five Carolina female athletes, Gelin also works as an assistant manager at the College's Royce Reynolds Family Student Life Center.
