Annie Hennigan, an assistant softball coach at Simmons College for the last three years, has been named the head softball coach at Simmons as announced by Simmons College Director of Athletics Ali Kantor.

"I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Annie Hennigan '05 as the next Head Softball Coach at Simmons College," said Kantor.  "Annie will no doubt apply herself with the same confidence, leadership, effectiveness, commitment and drive which I have seen her do as a two sport varsity athlete during her undergraduate competitive days on our campus as well as during these past three years as an administrator in the Department.  She has, in a short time, earned the respect of not only the Simmons Softball athletes but many of the other student-athletes on campus. Both as an athlete and more recently as an administrator, Annie has modeled the way of exemplary leadership. She will, most certainly, challenge our athletes to strive and to achieve, and she will inspire them to reach new heights."

Hennigan who has been an assistant coach for the last three years, helped the Sharks register a school record 35 victories in 2008, while gaining a berth to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament, in which they finished third.  The Sharks finished the regular season second in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) standings with a 22-7 mark, a school record for wins in conference play. 

"I'm honored and thrilled to be the next head softball coach at Simmons and lead a team that I once was a part of," said Hennigan. "I look forward to developing a strong, competitive team and bringing the program to the next level."

During Hennigan's three years as an assistant coach at Simmons, the Sharks have posted an overall record of 73-48, 47-25 record in league play.  Hennigan's player development efforts have led to four players receiving first-team All-GNAC accolades, seven GNAC second-team selections, four players garnering GNAC all-tournament team honors, one GNAC Rookie of the Year, one ECAC Division III New England Softball All-Star First Team selection, one ECAC Division III New England Rookie of the Year and three National Fast Pitch Coaches Association All-Region Team selections.     

Hennigan a standout two-sport athlete at Simmons College, was the 2004 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Softball Rookie of the Year, as well as a GNAC First Team and All-Tournament Team selection in 2005.  She received North Atlantic Conference (NAC) First Team honors in 2004 for field hockey and added NAC All-Academic Team accolades as a senior.

A native of Worcester, Mass., Hennigan graduated magna cum laude from Simmons in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She also holds the position of Assistant to the Directors for the athletic department in which she handles the department's internal operations.  In addition, Hennigan serves as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) coordinator.