One month after winning the national title, Rutgers-Camden head softball coach Carl Taylor and assistant coaches Celeste Chinappi, Megan Johnston and Brian Wolverton have been named as the Speedline/NFCA Division III National Coaching Staff of the Year, and will be honored at the 2006 NFCA National Convention in Tucson, AZ, in December.

In addition to winning the national honor, the Rutgers-Camden staff also was honored as the East Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Rutgers-Camden won its first national title by sweeping through the Division III World Series in Raleigh, NC, May 19-22. The Raptors posted a perfect 4-0 mark, including back-to-back wins over two-time defending national champion and top-ranked St. Thomas (MN) to capture the title. Rutgers-Camden won the title game, 3-2, over the Tommies on May 22, capping a 47-5 season.

Taylor and his staff led Rutgers-Camden to a perfect 18-0 record in the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season, and the Lady Raptors went 4-1 in the NJAC playoffs to capture their second conference title in three years. That one loss was the only defeat the Raptors suffered in their final 38 games. That string included a school-record 29-game winning streak (March 25-May 6) which started, ironically, after a one-run loss to St. Thomas out in California.

The Raptors won their final eight games of the season, including a perfect 7-0 record in the NCAA tournament. They were 3-0 to win the East Regional before sweeping the Division III National Championship Series, 4-0.

In his 11th season at Rutgers-Camden, Taylor won his 200th game on March 25 during an 11-0 win against New Jersey City University. Senior All-American Michelle Schlichtig hurled a perfect game in that contest. The Raptors’ school-record 47-5 campaign raised Taylor’s career record to 218-115-2 at Rutgers-Camden, including a mark of 118-24-1 over the last three seasons.

Johnston, who completed her second season as a Rutgers-Camden assistant coach, is a former standout pitcher at Bishop Eustace Prep and Cabrini College.

Chinappi and Wolverton joined the Rutgers-Camden staff this season. Chinappi, who played her scholastic softball at Gloucester Catholic, completed her four-year Rutgers-Camden career in 2005. The team’s starting shortstop all four years, she set numerous program records, including career marks for games played (170), hits (166), assists (243, which was broken this season by Schlichtig) and double plays (12).

Wolverton, a part-time assistant, also serves as the head softball coach at Northern Burlington High School.