From F&M,
LANCASTER, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall Director of Athletics and Recreation Patricia S.W. Epps has announced the hiring of Mike Faith as the Franklin & Marshall women’s lacrosse head coach. Faith, who will officially assume his role on Aug. 1, will be the 12th coach in the program’s 36-year history.
“Coach Faith will be an inspirational leader on the field and in the lives of F&M’s student-athletes,” Epps said. “He has demonstrated the ability to build a successful and competitive athletic program with integrity and excellence, and I look forward to Coach Faith joining the other fine educators in this college community.”
A 2000 graduate of Salisbury University, Faith spent the previous eight seasons as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Elizabethtown College, where he built one of the most successful programs in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC). He also served as the director of intramural sports, overseeing all aspects of the intramural sport programs at the college.
“F&M has a remarkable tradition of success of our intercollegiate athletics programs, and the selection of Coach Mike Faith reflects our ongoing commitment to developing the talents, character and leadership qualities of all student-athletes,” said Dean of the College Kent Trachte, who oversees the Department of Athletics and Recreation.
Faith took over the Elizabethtown program just four years into its existence and wasted little time building it into a perennial conference contender. The Blue Jays competed in seven conference championship tournaments, including five trips to the finals and two MAC championships under Faith’s leadership. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2010 as Elizabethtown made its way through the conference schedule with an unblemished mark. Faith compiled a 97-48 mark at Elizabethtown, including a 65-14 record in conference play.
Under his guidance, 44 All-Conference selections were named, including four MAC Player of the Year honors and two Rookie of the Year awards. In addition, 20 All-Region selections and four IWCLA All-Americans were awarded during Faith’s tenure.
“This is a great opportunity to work at one of the finest educational institutions in the country,” Faith said of his decision to work at F&M. “I’m very excited about this new chapter in my coaching career, and I’m looking forward to leading one most successful women’s lacrosse programs in Division III.”
Franklin & Marshall will play its 37th season of lacrosse in 2013, having posted an all-time record of 404-163 with 13 appearances in the NCAA postseason, including two national championships.
Faith will bring to his coaching at F&M his own experience as an All-American lacrosse player. As a student-athlete, he was named a First Team All-American in 1998 and named to the First Team All-Capital Athletic Conference team in 1997 and 1998.
Prior to leading the coaching staff at Elizabethtown, Faith served as first assistant women’s lacrosse coach at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, a Division I program. While at UMBC, he helped lead the Golden Retrievers to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003. He spent a year as the offensive coordinator at the University of Richmond in 2001 and spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons as a volunteer assist at Salisbury.
Faith is a native of Perry Hall, Md., and graduated from Salisbury in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Fitness. He currently resides outside of Baltimore.
