JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida Director of Athletics Dr. Richard Gropper has announced the hiring of Marcie Hickey to take over the position of head softball coach.

Hickey is the fifth head coach in the 17-year history of the program and takes over for Sonya Wilmoth, who retired from collegiate coaching at the end of the 2008 season. Hickey has been the head coach at the University of Vermont the past two seasons, leading the Catamounts to a record number of victories in America East Conference play in 2008 as well as non-conference wins against Big East foes Providence and Villanova.

“I would like to thank both Dr. Gropper and Senior Associate Director of Athletics Kathy Klein for giving me the opportunity to lead the softball program at the University of North Florida,” Hickey said. “I am very excited to be involved with such a respected university and a competitive athletic department. The winning tradition the softball program has built over the years is one that I look forward to being a part of.”

Hickey will take over a squad that finished 39-24 last season and has had only one losing season in its history. UNF finished sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference last year and would have been eligible for the Atlantic Sun postseason tournament if it were not going through the NCAA reclassification process.

"I'm excited about the addition of Marcie Hickey as our new head softball coach," Gropper said. "She brings excellent credentials both as a player and coach. I believe that she'll be a great fit for the growing UNF Softball program."

In her two years at Vermont, Hickey compiled a 26-56 record at the helm of the Catamount program, leading the team to a 12-30 overall record in America East Conference play.

“I am very grateful to Vermont Director of Athletics Bob Corran and Senior Associate Athletic Director Jeff Schulman at the University of Vermont for their support and guidance over the past two years,” she said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a Catamount and being a part of a university with such dedication to athletics.”

Hickey had the Catamounts on an upward swing before accepting the open position at UNF. She is no stranger to turning programs around, as she showed during her five-year stint (2002-2006) as head coach at Coppin State. In just two years at the Maryland school, Hickey became the program’s all-time wins leader. In 2002, she became the first Coppin State head coach to earn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year laurels after leading her squad to an 11-9 record in league play and a third place finish in the conference’s northern division.

She went on to lead Coppin State to a school-record 12 conference wins in 2003 and a second-place finish in the northern division, the highest in school history. A year later, the Eagles duplicated that 12-win mark in league play and also set a new standard for wins in a season with 18. Hickey left Coppin with the four highest single-season win totals in school history and is still the only Coppin coach to post double-digit wins in the conference.

Before taking over the head job at Coppin State, Hickey served as an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island for two years, helping lead the Rams to an appearance in the 2001 Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game.

A native of Washingtonville, Pa., Hickey played collegiate softball for Division II power Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania. While at Bloomsburg, she earned All-American honors in 1997 and was a four-time all-conference selection as an infielder. Hickey played three infield positions while at Bloomsburg – shortstop, third base and first base – and is still ranked fifth on the school’s all-time home runs list with 26 in her career. She is also 10^th on the all-time Bloomsburg hits list while ranking fourth in both doubles and runs.