WILKES-BARRE, PA (December 20, 2022) -- With the holiday season in full swing and the preparations 2023 ahead, it is with great pleasure and excitement that the King's College athletic department introduces its next head women's lacrosse coach. On Tuesday morning, Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Cheryl Ish announced that Katy Higinbothom will take over the King's women's lacrosse program heading into the 2023 season.

Higinbothom becomes just the seventh head coach in the Monarchs program history, and she is no stranger to the program as she is a 2019 graduate of both the women's lacrosse and field hockey programs. The Bel Air, Md. native appeared in 24 games with 17 starts in her two seasons in the red and gold, totaling 47 points on 30 goals and 17 assists, and she has recorded four different hat tricks in her career.

"I would like to thank Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Cheryl Ish for the trust and opportunity to become the next women's lacrosse coach," said Higinbothom. "It's truly something very special to me as King's has such a big place in my heart, so to come back and lead the program that I played for was a no-brainer."

Since graduating, Higinbothom has remained active in the collegiate athletics landscape as she served as a Graduate Assistant for Sports Information at Salisbury University where she served as the primary contact for several varsity teams, including women's lacrosse. Higinbothom then transitioned to fellow-Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) school Hood College where she held a role as the Assistant Sports Information Director under the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minorities and Women's Grant, while also covering eight of the Blazers' Division III varsity programs, including men's and women's lacrosse, and serving as the faculty advisor for the Hood's Morgan's Message Club.

Additionally, Higinbothom had the unique experience to cover women's lacrosse at some of the highest levels. This included serving as a statistician for the U.S. Lacrosse Women's Lacrosse World Cup pool play games, including the United States vs. England match up, as well as holding a role as a statistician and writer for the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Final Four Weekend in May 2022.

"I am thrilled and ready for this new adventure of college coaching," added Higinbothom. "Lacrosse has been in my life, one way or another, for as long as I can remember and even when I was younger I had always wanted to be a college coach. Being able to fulfill that dream at a place I love is not an opportunity that comes along often."

Outside of the sports information realm, Higinbothom spent the spring and summer of 2021 as a U.S. Lacrosse High School Official for girl's lacrosse where she was able to remain current with lacrosse rules and policies and stay connected in the lacrosse community.

"I'm thrilled to bring Katy back to King's College," stated Ish. "As a dual sport student-athlete Katy demonstrated her work ethic and love for King's College. I was excited to talk with her about taking on the role as our next head women's lacrosse coach. It didn't take long for us to realize that Katy is the perfect person to lead this program.  She is passionate about building the program to new heights while focusing on the student athlete experience. Our players who met with Katy, left the conversation excited for the season to begin in late January. Katy will bring a familiarity with King's but a fresh new outlook for the team."

Higinbothom will begin her duties in the New Year in preparation for the upcoming 2023 women's lacrosse season. With the official start of the season fast approaching, Higinbothom is excited to get on campus and begin working to prepare the Monarchs women's lacrosse team for their 2023 campaign in the MAC Freedom.