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April 22, 2003 |
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MONTCLAIR STATE'S KUBICKA CAPTURES 400TH CAREER SOFTBALL COACHING VICTORY |
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Montclair State softball coach Anita Kubicka picked up her 400th career coaching victory on April 21 and improved her overall record to 400-157-1 as the Red Hawks swept NJAC rival William Paterson 1-0 and 6-2. Currently in her 13th season at the helm of the Red Hawk program, Kubicka has accumulated more softball wins than any other coach in Montclair State history. In 13 seasons, she has led the Red Hawks to two NCAA regional championships, two NCAA Division III World Series appearances, one NJAC conference championship and most recently, three consecutive ECAC Division III South titles. Under her guidance, Montclair has posted four straight springs with at least 30 overall victories. Kubicka’s road to success in Upper Montclair began with a sub-.500 inaugural season back in 1991. Over the next two years, MSU went 58-28 including a trip to the NCAA World Series in 1992. Her 1992 Red Hawk squad lost its first game of the regional tournament, but went on to win its next four including three in one day to win the NCAA Regionals and a trip to the College World Series in Pella, Iowa. Using its late season momentum, Montclair finished third in the National Championship tournament. After getting a taste of NCAA Regional play, MSU averaged 33 wins over the next three season. In 1997, Kubicka led MSU to a 29-8 regular season record that paved the way to an NJAC Championship, an NCAA regional championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III Softball World Series Tournament in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Red Hawks advanced all the way to the national championship game before falling to Simpson College, leaving MSU with a school-record 38-11 final mark (.792). Kubicka, a 1984 graduate of Trenton State, is well acquainted with winning traditions. During her career, she played on the Lions’ 1983 National Championship squad, the first for the school after having finished runner-up in both its 1982 and 1984 World Series campaigns. Following her graduation from Trenton State, the first team All-American earned her Master’s in Science in Sports Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, while serving as an assistant softball coach. During those three years, UMass earned two Atlantic 10 Championships and in 1986 garnered a bid to the NCAA Tournament. |