Ashley Bingaman Grant was named the 2009 UMAC Coach of the year today. Grant led the Jills to an overall record of 15-4-1. The 15 wins is the most in a season for Northland College Women's Soccer. Grant also led the Jills to an 11-3 record in the UMAC. The Jills finished the regular season in second place and beat Northwestern 2-1 in the semifinals before losing to St. Scholastica 1-0 in the UMAC Championship game. Grant had four players named to the all-conference 1st team and two players named honorable mention. It two seasons as the Jills Head Coach she has compiled an overall record of 24-12-3, and a UMAC record of 18-9-2.
Prior to taking over the program Grant was an assistant for both the Men’s and Women’s soccer teams at Northland, as well as the assistant coach for the Ashland High School Girls Soccer team.
Grant, a Petoskey, Michigan native, graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Secondary Education and Biology. An outstanding player for the LumberJills, she was a four year starter and three year captain. In addition, she was twice named All-UMAC as well as being named to the Academic All-Conference team. Besides coaching soccer Grant served as an Assistant Coach for the 2008-2009 UMAC Championship LumberJill basketball team.