Jen Werneke (formerly Smith) is in her third season as Columbia's assistant softball coach. A former teammate of head coach Kayla Noonan's at Hofstra, she came to Columbia after spending five years as an assistant at Fairfield University.
Werneke works primarily with pitchers and outfielders at Columbia. In 2007, she helped mentor an all-rookie pitching staff, comprised of four first-years who pitched every inning for Columbia during the 2007 season.
One of the mainstays in the rotation, current sophomore Aimee Kemp, set or tied Columbia season records in wins, innings pitched, games started and appearances. She tossed 24 complete games, earned two Ivy League weekly awards ? one for Pitcher of the Week and one for Rookie of the Week ? and was named a second team All-Ivy League honoree at the end of the season.
Under Werneke's guidance in 2006, Jackie Adelfio '06EN also set a number of career and season records at Columbia while fellow 2006 graduate Maiya Chard-Yaron '06CC threw the first complete-game no-hitter in the program's history.
At Fairfield, she worked primarily with the pitchers and outfielders, including three-time MAAC Pitcher of the Year Melissa Santos, who became only the 16th player in NCAA history to record more than 1,000 career strikeouts. The Stags captured three MAAC regular-season titles during Smith's tenure.
"I am thrilled to have Jen as a part of my staff," Noonan said. "She brings a tremendous amount of knowledge, skill, and passion for the game to our program."
In each of her four years at Hofstra, Werneke earned first team America East honors and was named to the Regional All-American first team. She also received the America East Pitcher of the Year award in 1997 and 1998, helping lead Hofstra to three consecutive America East championships from 1998 to 2000.
Werneke continued her playing career after college as a member of the Stratford Brakettes, the 2002 and 2003 Women's Major American Softball Association national champions. She also was a member of the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut, which won the National Professional Fastpitch championship in 2004.
Wernke graduated from Hofstra in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and earned her master's degree in school counseling from Fairfield in 2005. She and her husband, CJ, live on Manhattan's East side.
