Lisa Carey, the all-time winingest coach at Washburn, begins her ninth season in the Lady Blues’ dugout. She was named the program’s 13th coach Aug. 14, 2002 and has recorded a 237-191 (.563) mark during her Washburn tenure.
The former University of Oklahoma three-time All-American and National Champion has led the Lady Blues to two of the three NCAA Division II tournament appearances in school history making the trips in two of the last five seasons. In 2007, the Lady Blues finished the season 29-28 falling in the second round of NCAA postseason play.
During the 2006 season, Washburn was ranked as high as No. 23 in the NFCA National Coaches Poll and received the school’s second at-large bid to the NCAA National Tournament on the heels of a 36-21 record.
In 2005, the Lady Blues under Carey received their first national ranking in three seasons reaching as high as No. 23 in the NFCA Coaches Poll.
In eight seasons, she has coached 52 Lady Blues to all-MIAA honors, seven all-region team selections, the 2007 MIAA Freshman of the Year, the 2009 MIAA Most Valuable Player, 49 MIAA Academic Honor Roll award winners as well as an ESPN The Magazine Academic all-district selection.
In her first season as the Lady Blues’ head coach,?Carey posted a 34-14 record and a second place finish in the MIAA and a seventh place regional ranking.
Carey was the starting first baseman on Oklahoma’s 2000 National Championship and Big 12 Championship teams as a junior. That same season she was selected as the Big 12 Player of the Year and First team All-America honors after leading the Sooners in batting (.405), hits (90), home runs (20), RBI (77), total bases (173) and slugging percentage (.779) in 74 games.
As a senior, Carey was named All-American for the third time after leading the Sooners to the College World Series after batting .400, scoring 50 runs with 76 hits in 59 games.
While at Oklahoma, Carey was a member of three Big 12 Championship teams. She also made her mark in the classroom making the Big 12 all-academic team following her freshman, junior and senior seasons and a member of the Dean’s Honor Roll as a sophomore.
At Washburn Rural High School, she was a 1996 High School All-American as a junior while hitting .478 with 10 doubles, one triple, two home runs and 25 RBI. On the mound she was 48-3 with a 0.31 ERA and 130 strikeouts during her high school career. During her four-year run for the Junior Blues, she was 87-4 winning the state championship as a sophomore.
