LEXY DETERMAN NAMED GRINNELL COLLEGE SOFTBALL COACH
GRINNELL, Iowa – Lexy Determan has enjoyed plenty of success in her career as a softball player and coach, and now she’s bringing her talents to Grinnell College.
Director of Athletics and Recreation Andy Hamilton ’85 today announced Determan as the Pioneers’ new head softball coach. Besides being the 16th head coach in program history, Determan will also serve as a faculty member.
She takes over a team with plenty of talent, as the Pioneers didn’t graduate a player from a squad that went 9-7 in an abbreviated 2021 season.
“We are very fortunate to attract Lexy to our position as a mid-year replacement, and in the end Grinnell is getting a strong coach who has proven herself at several places both as a player and coach,” said Hamilton. “Further, her teaching background completely fits our department curriculum and academic program. Most of all, I am excited for our players to be getting an experienced coach who is enthusiastic for the opportunity to connect with them and help in their development.”
Determan has been head coach at Waldorf University, an NAIA school in Forest City, Iowa, since the fall of 2015 where she helped rebuild the program. Determan won 70 games in her time there and last season the Warriors advanced to the semifinals of the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Tournament. Additionally, Determan served as a professor of Sports Psychology and Concepts of Wellness at Waldorf.
Prior to her stint at Waldorf, Determan was head coach at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill., winning 28 games over two years. In 2015, she was named St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Coach of the Year while leading the Highlanders to their first conference tourney appearance in 16 years.
Determan served as an assistant coach at Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant from 2011 to 2013. Working with the team’s pitchers, including a first-team All-American who recorded a 1.04 ERA, Determan helped the Tigers to a fourth-place finish at the United States College Athletic Association (USCAA) National Tournament in 2013.
She also has coaching experience at two Iowa high schools, Danville and Okoboji, and helped the latter to a state tournament berth in 2009.
“I am so excited for this opportunity to become part of the Grinnell College community,” said Determan. “My personal experiences as a student-athlete at an NCAA D-III school have really shaped me and I look forward to helping facilitate that growth with the student-athletes at Grinnell. The Grinnell College focus on the whole student-athlete experience was very evident in my interview process. I am really looking forward to contributing to that experience in the classroom and on the field.”
Determan, an all-state pitcher in high school, continued her collegiate career at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. In 2008, she was named Great Plans Athletic Conference (GPAC) Pitcher of the Year while setting a school single-season strikeout record and compiling a 21-11 record and 1.98 ERA.
After Northwestern’s coach left, Determan transferred to Wartburg College and earned All-Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) honors while going 19-2 with a 1.02 ERA and also boasting a .315 batting average.
Determan saved her best for last, pitching two years at Luther College where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2011. She guided the Norse to Iowa Conference Tournament and Great Lakes Regional Tournament titles in 2010 and 2011. The team took fifth at the 2010 NCAA Division III National Tournament and seventh the next year.
As a senior, Determan earned second-team All-America honors and established Luther records for wins and strikeouts in a season. She was 25-4 that year with a 1.15 ERA, 230 strikeouts and a .187 opponent batting average.
In March 2015, Determan earned a master’s degree in sport psychology from Capella University. She and her husband, Jens, have a daughter, Kora.
