ALLENTOWN, Pa.---The Cedar Crest College athletic department is pleased to announce the hiring of Katie Lynch as the Head Softball Coach and Athletic Operations Coordinator.

"I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the program here at Cedar Crest," commented Lynch. "The potential of this softball program is very exciting. We have a young team with enormous amounts of potential and I look forward to guiding our student athletes in pursuing the highest standards of excellence."

Lynch joins the staff after two years with Division I Iona College where she served as an assistant coach developing players in all facets. She prepared scouting material and travel arrangements as well as putting together camps. Prior to Iona she served as the volunteer assistant at her alma mater Division II Kutztown University where her main responsibilities was working with the team's catchers and hitters. Lynch conducted bullpen sessions to work with pitchers and specifically catchers to prepare them for competition, and designated pitch calling and compiling charts for competition.

Lynch recently served as the U-10 and U-12 head coach at the Spooky Nook Softball Academy, where she worked on developing player fundamentals and dealt with team scheduling and rosters.  Lynch also served as an instructor at the Kutztown University Softball Exposure Clinic, Loing Island Thunder Training, Showball Softball, Next Level Coaches Clinic, Lampeter-Strasburg High School Summer Camp, Lampeter-Strasburg School District Summer Academy and New York Softball Academy.

As a player at Kutztown, Lynch helped her team to the Division II National Championship game in 2013, garnering back-to-back NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships in 2012 and 2013, and earning a PSAC championship in 2013. Lynch was a three-time All-PSAC East Team selection and was the PSAC East Freshman of the Year in 2010. Academically, Lynch was a four-year member of the Dean's List at Kutztown and earned All-American Scholar Athlete and PSAC Scholar Athlete recognition as a senior in the spring of 2013. She was also an active member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.