Lynchburg, Va. -- After 45 seasons, the University of Lynchburg field hockey team has a new head coach in Jenni Releford announced Friday.
Releford took over on January 1, 2024 at the helm of the Lynchburg field hockey team after Hall of Fame head coach Enza Steele brought the program to national prominence and 22 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships over 45 years. Releford originally joined Lynchburg under Steele as a graduate assistant coach in 2015. She was promoted to the associate head coach role in 2020.
"Coach Releford brings a wealth of experiences to her new role as our head field hockey coach," Director of Athletics Jon Waters said. "She has made an impact throughout her time in Lynchburg with helping student-athletes get the absolute best out of themselves in both the classroom and in their athletic endeavors. We look forward to supporting Jenni and her staff as they take the helm of this historic program."
During her time in the Hill City for the past nine years, the Hornets have won four ODAC championships, earned four berths into the NCAA tournament, and played in two national quarterfinals. The Hornets championed the ODAC in 2023 with a pair of All-American student-athletes in sophomore Marlou Wendriks and freshman Khanyisile Mzizi. Wendriks was named the conference's offensive player of the year while Mzizi was the rookie of the year in the league.
Altogether, Releford has helped coach 59 All-ODAC players and seven All-Americans.
In the spring of 2023, she helped coach and select for the USA NEXUS program. That summer, she served as the head coach for U19 and U21 teams and assisted a senior team. In the summer of 2022, Releford earned her USA Field Hockey Coaching Level 3 accreditation and coached at the Junior Field Hockey AAU Olympics at Wake Forest University.
"There's an awesome team at Lynchburg," Releford said in an interview on Lynchburg's YouTube channel. "With the alumni, the department, the girls and the team, there's field hockey all over the world, so I feel like you could go anywhere, but with this group of girls and the alumni and the department, it's just special."
Releford competed at Michigan State University for four seasons from 2011-14. She was tabbed as a Big Ten Player to watch as a senior. She started all games in her final three seasons, having played in all games as a freshman. As a junior, Releford was pivotal when the Spartans captured the Big Ten conference title and advanced to the NCAA tournament's Elite 8. Her junior campaign was her best statistically, with 21 assists and three goals, where she ranked second in the Big Ten in assists.
A native of Kinross, Scotland, Releford was a member of the U16 and U18 Scotland hockey squad for four years, playing against other home nations in international competition. She also trained with the U21 Scotland indoor team. She played for Grove Menzieshill hockey team in the European Club Hockey Indoor Championships in Ukraine in February 2010 and at the European Club Hockey Outdoor Championships in Ireland in April 2011. In February 2014, she played in the European Club Indoor Hockey Trophy in Vienna, Austria, coming in fourth with Dundee Wanderers. She was captain of her region, Midland, field hockey team at U16 & U18, both indoor and outdoor, as well as her school field hockey team for three years.
Releford coached field hockey summer camps at Michigan State, as well as three years with USA Futures-Great Lakes. In Kinross, she also coached middle school children for five years while in high school. As a leadup to the London Olympics, Releford was elected one of two Young Ambassador Representatives for Perth & Kinross to talk, encourage, demonstrate, and engage school children in leading an active and healthy lifestyle through participation in athletics and other activities.
She coached field hockey with Skoolsports in Pennsylvania during the summer of 2016 and also competed with Blue Ridge in the Virginia Commonwealth Games, taking the silver medal.
Releford graduated in the spring of 2015 from Michigan State with a degree in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in sociology. She completed her M.Ed. in educational leadership from Lynchburg in 2017.
Releford resides in Forest, Va. with her husband Michael, a Lynchburg men's soccer alumnus. Jenni and Michael have two children, Sadie and Arlo, and two dogs Luka and Tank.
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