=?ISO-8859-1?Q?in=201991,=20and=20runnerup=20finishes=20in=201992=20and?= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=201993.?= Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline WISCONSIN WOMEN*S ICE HOCKEY COACH RESIGNS FOR NATIONAL TEAM POST Madison, Wis. * Julie Sasner, the head women*s ice hockey coach at = Wisconsin the past two years, has resigned to become an assistant coach = with the U.S. Women's National Team Program according to UW Associate = Athletic Director Cheryl Marra. Marra added current assistant coach Trina = Bourget, 28, will serve as the interim head coach this season. Bourget = will receive a salary of $58,000 for the year. A national search for the = head coaching position will take place in March, 2001. Sasner, who began her duties on August 1, 1998, coached the UW = women*s team ice hockey to a 19-14-2 record and 15-8-1 mark, good for = third place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in its inaugural = year. The season was highlighted by a 4-4 tie at No. 10 Princeton and = Badger rankings in the American Hockey Magazine and the US College Hockey = Online Polls. Wisconsin was rated as high as ninth in the American Hockey = Magazine Poll and 10th in the USCHO Poll. The Badgers also finished their = season ninth in the USCHO Pairwise Rankings. The former head coach at Cornell University for five years, Sasner = has been active in both the playing and coaching ranks of USA Hockey. She = served as the head coach of the 1998 and 1999 Women*s 17 and 18 National = Camp at Lake Placid, NY, and coached the *red* team in the 1997 U.S. = Women*s National Festival at Lake Placid. She was also the head coach of = the U.S. Women*s Select Team that competed in the Three Nations Cup in = December of 1998, and helped coach the team at the 1999 International Ice = Hockey Federation Women*s Championship. She began her affiliation with USA = Hockey as the coach of the USA Hockey Junior National Developmental Camps = in 1995, served as an assistant coach for the 1995 U.S. National Junior = Team and the 1995 U.S. Women*s Select Team that competed in Finland. In = 1996, she earned her first U.S. head coaching position, leading the U.S. = Women*s National Team to a silver medal at the Pacific Women*s Hockey = Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a player she earned a = silver medal as a member of the first U.S. Women*s National Team that = competed at the 1990 World Championships. Marra, who recently took over supervision of the UW hockey = program, was sorry to see Sasner go, but indicated that a position with = the U.S. National Team was always in the mix. *Julie was an excellent = choice to build our women*s hockey program. When we hired her in 1998, it = was with the knowledge that she could eventually be asked to be part of = the national team. We recognized she was on that tract, but we wanted to = start with the best. She has solidified the program in such a short time, = and really put it on firm footing for the current staff to continue to add = to the strong tradition of Badger Hockey.* Sasner said, "It has been a very difficult decision to make but = this is a dream job for me. I have enjoyed building the program here at = Wisconsin, and feel we have set the foundation for future success. We have = an excellent staff and players in place now to continue the growth we had = in that first year. I will always follow the Badger program with interest = and pride.* Marra said Bourget will begin her head coaching duties Sept. 1. = She arrived in Madison last season after two years as head coach of the = Div. III Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Named Eastern Collegiate= Athletic Conference/Koho Coach of the Year, she led the Pioneers, to a = number eight national ranking and 15-4-3 record during the 1998-99 season, = good for second in the ECAC. Bourget was the 1998-99 American Women's = Hockey Coaches Association Runnerup Coach of the Year for both Division I = and III teams. A 1994 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Bourget = received a bachelor of science degree in family and consumer studies. The = Shrewsbury, Mass., native competed as a forward and defenseman for the = University of New Hampshire women's hockey team where she helped the = Wildcats to the ECAC Division I Championship in 1991, and runnerup = finishes in 1992 and 1993. -30- Paul Capobianco Assistant Women's SID University of Wisconsin P: 608-263-1983 F: 608-265-8051 [log in to unmask] www.wisc.edu/ath/