Fueled by focus and determination, combined with an even-keeled, winning attitude, Columbia University lacrosse head coach Kerri Whitaker begins her eighth season at the helm of a program striving to reach the top of the Ivy League.
The Columbia lacrosse team has seen much success during Whitaker's tenure. Her players have earned All-Ivy League recognition 26 times over seven seasons and have been named Regional All-Americans a total of nine times.
Whitaker has guided the Lions to a 44-13 mark in non-conference play over the last seven seasons and led the 2006 squad to the first .500 season in program history at 8-8. In 2009, the Lions started out a perfect 5-0 for the first time ever en route to setting a program record for wins in a season at 9-7.
Whitaker was named the Lions' head coach in September 2002 following one year as the program's assistant coach. She became just the second head coach since the inception of the Lion varsity lacrosse program in 1997.
Her leadership has brought her team from the startup stages to one that can respectably square off with any team in the nation. Under her tutelage, nearly every mark in the Columbia record books has been broken. Over the last four years, her players have repeatedly set new program bests for goals, assists, and points for single-season and career. Whitaker has coached all nine of the program's players who have reached 100 career points or more.
Under Whitaker's guidance, Carrie Anderer '06CC became the Lions' first-ever first team All-Ivy League selection in 2005, while Kate Lombard '07CC became the program's first four-time All-Ivy League honoree. Just last season, Holly Glynn '09CC, who holds nearly every offensive record for the program, became the first Lion to garner first team All-Region recognition.
Whitaker served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Developmental Team for four years. She has also been a clinician at the U.S. Lacrosse National Coaches Convention and serves as the chair of the academic awards committee for the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association.
A 1996 graduate of Brown with a degree in English, Whitaker was a first-team All-Ivy League selection in both lacrosse and field hockey for the Bears. She earned first team All-America honors in lacrosse in 1996 and went on to compete for the U.S. National Elite Team for four years. Prior to Columbia, Whitaker was an assistant coach at Syracuse for five years where she helped develop a new program from its inaugural season into a nationally-ranked and prominent NCAA tournament team.
Whitaker is a native of Ridley Township, Pa. and resides in Manhattan.
