Julie Myers: DirectorFormer Head Coach at the University of Virginia, Julie Myers, now serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the One Love Foundation. Julie assumed the role as CEO the fall of 2023.
The 2023 season marked the 29th season that Julie Myers has served as the head coach of the Virginia women's lacrosse team. In each of her 22 seasons at the helm of the Cavaliers, Myers has guided her team to the NCAA Tournament --a feat matched by no other Division I coach in the same period. The numbers are staggering. Myers holds a 29-21 record in the NCAA tournament, which ranks third all-time in tournament victories and games coached. She is fourth in semifinal appearances and eighth in win percentage. With Virginia's national championship victory in 2004, Myers became the first person in women's lacrosse history at the NCAA Division I level to win a title as a player and a head coach. Her trip to the title game in 2005 was her third consecutive trip, an achievement reached by only five other coaches in NCAA women's lacrosse history. In addition, the Cavaliers have reached the finals of the NCAA championships eight times and have played in the title game of the ACC Tournament in nine of the 19 years it has been contested. It is a remarkable consistency matched by no other Division I coach in the country. The Cavaliers have also been ranked in the IWLCA Coaches' Poll all but four weeks during Myers' tenure. Myers' win over Virginia Tech on April 15, 2005, was her 146th career win, giving her more wins than any other women's lacrosse coach at the University of Virginia. In 2008, Myers brought her career wins total to 200, making her the fourth active coach and sixth coach all-time to reach that milestone. Myers eclipsed another milestone by becoming just the fourth coach in women's lacrosse history to reach 300 career wins in 2017. A proven winner, Myers enters her 23rd year at Virginia with three NCAA titles; one as a player (1991), one as an assistant coach (1993) and one as a head coach (2004). In 1996, she became the first rookie coach to take her squad to the title game and also became the first person to compete for the championship both as a player and as a head coach. |
Colleen Shearer: Assistant CoachColleen Shearer was announced as a James Madison lacrosse assistant coach on August 17, 2022. She serves as the program's offensive coordinator and the draw controls coach while also assisting with logistic operations and travel.
In Shearer's first season as a JMU assistant, she guided the offense to a 13.36 scoring average, scoring at least 15 goals nine times. Isabella Peterson broke program records with 91 goals and 114 points while Tai Jankowski set a career season with 53 goals. All four starting attackers - Peterson (23), Jankowski (23), Maddie Epke (28) and Katelyn Morgan (35) each recorded at least 20 assists, with all setting career highs. In the draw circle, Rachel Matey (91), Peterson (90) and Epke (72) each finished top 10 in JMU single season history in draw controls and the Dukes recorded a draw control percentage of .559, 22nd in Division I. Shearer is in her second stint on the JMU staff, having previously served as a volunteer assistant for the 2018 national championship team. She brings a bevy of coaching experience to the Dukes, most notably serving 19 seasons as an associate head coach with Virginia from 1997-2016, before a 20th season with the Cavaliers in 2021-22. At U.Va., Shearer won the national championship in 2004 and reached the championship game six times between 1998-2007. She was named the 2010 IWLCA Assistant Coach of the Year. Elsewhere, she was the head coach at Wagner prior to her first stint at Virginia, and at Bridgewater College during the 2017 season. She also served two season as a volunteer assistant coach at Richmond across 2019 and 2020. In international competition, Shearer served as the Assistant General Manager for the U.S. Women's National Team from 2017-2022, helping build the U.S. roster that won the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's Championship. Shearer was a three-time All-American with Division III Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J. She led the nation in assists in 1994 and 1995 while leading the Profs to its first NCAA championship appearance in 1995. |