WPU Hands Reins to Rimes
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–William Penn Athletics Director Nik Rule is proud to announce the hiring of Bailey Rimes as Head Women’s Golf Coach.
Rimes graduated in May from WPU with a degree in Business Management. She began her Statesmen career as a player and soon transitioned into the role of student assistant coach for over three-and-a-half seasons. During that time, she was a major asset to three separate head coaches, assisting in all facets of the program, both at the varsity and junior varsity levels, including player development, scheduling, travel coordination, social media content, home tournament setup, and recruiting.
She concluded her William Penn undergraduate career as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator this past spring. At that time, her efforts were integral in the team winning the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships and placing 14th at the NAIA National Championships. During her career, she helped the Statesmen to four Heart titles and four nationals appearances.
Rimes also served as a student assistant to the athletic director for two school years. She headed the WPU Team Store in additional internal responsibilities.
While at WPU, Rimes earned numerous awards, including the 2019 Presidents Leadership Award as well as being on the Dean’s List twice and the President’s List once. She was President of the PennZone which led the student cheering section at home games.
“We are really excited to have Coach Rimes take the reins of our high-achieving women’s golf program,” Rule said. “Through the interview process, she continued to rise to the top of our candidate pool as she showcased her knowledge for the landscape of college golf, while clearly painting a picture of her vision for the future of the program. It is going to be important for the future success of our women’s golf team to have a leader who communicates at a high level, has self-awareness, and has an understanding of her own self-leadership. We have a high level of confidence that Coach Rimes possesses those important attributes that are vital for the success of this program and the development of our student-athletes.”
Rimes also has previous work experience for five summers at Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa as the Recreation & Kids Krew Supervisor.
“William Penn University is my home and I am beyond thankful to have the opportunity to lead such an amazing team,” Rimes said. “The foundation of a strong culture has been laid long before me, one that we will continue to develop and grow. One of our primary goals is to create the best overall student-athlete experience, helping them become successful in every facet of life and leaving them with memories they will cherish for a lifetime. Everyone says choose a profession you love and you will never work a day in your life. I have found that love and I am extremely excited for this opportunity and the future of this team.”
“Our hiring committee felt a great responsibility to get this right so we could bring about stability in our head coaching position,” Rule said. “Our student-athletes need a leader who can provide steadiness for several years into the future, while having a growth mindset that will keep this program on the cutting edge. We had a solid group of candidates that applied as we conducted a national search and it was unanimous that Coach Rimes is uniquely prepared to lead this program into its next generation. We could not be more excited to have her on our William Penn team.”
In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Rimes will also be employed at WPU as the Director of Activity Centers.
