Dana Jenkins Position: Head Coach Experience: 6th Season Alma Mater: Furman (1996)

Dana Jenkins enters her sixth season as head coach of the Furman University softball program in 2009. Over the past five seasons, the former Paladin shortstop has put her stamp on the program as her teams have reached the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament twice, claimed a SoCon Tournament title and earned Furman's first NCAA Tournament bid.

In just her fourth year at the helm of the Furman softball program in 2007, Jenkins directed her squad to the Southern Conference Tournament championship and the first NCAA postseason appearance in school history.

Appearing in their second straight SoCon Final, Jenkins' Paladins downed Georgia Southern 3-2 with a dramatic two-out double in the bottom of the ninth to claim the school's first SoCon crown since 1995 and a berth in the NCAA's Knoxville Regional.

Last season, Jenkins guided a youthful Paladin squad that had just one senior on the roster to 21 wins despite having to play a large portion of the season with an undersized roster due to injuries. Under Jenkins guidance, first baseman Brythe Blankenship earned All-SoCon honors and pitcher Lana Mackey shattered Furman's single season strikeout record fanning 245 batters.

It took Jenkins just two years to begin the turnaround of a struggling Furman softball program, leading the Paladins back into contention for the Southern Conference Championship. Through her first two seasons at the helm of the softball program, Jenkins' teams had won a combined 30 games, though the 2005 team showed signs of promise at the end of the season, making a run through the consolation bracket to reach the final day of the SoCon Tournament.

The 2006 Paladins made significant strides, nearly doubling their win total from the previous year. In fact, with 29 wins during the 2006 season, Furman nearly equalled the win total from the two prior seasons combined. The Paladins again reached the final day of the conference tournament, proving that the previous season's accomplishment was no fluke.

In addition, the 2006 squad set Furman single-season records in several offensive categories including runs scored (276), hits (489), RBI (243), and home runs (27).

Jenkins, a Sugar Hill, Ga., native, became the seventh head coach in the 25-year history of Paladin softball and the first alumnus to return as head coach of the program when she began her duties on August 1, 2003.

A four-year starter at shortstop and two-year team captain, Jenkins still holds the Paladin record for career assists with 440, and was a member of Furman's 1994 and 1995 Southern Conference Championship teams.

After graduating Furman in 1996 with a health and exercise science degree, Jenkins accepted an assistant coaching position at Campbell University, where in two years she served as assistant coach, professor, interim head coach, co-head junior varsity coach, and assistant camp director. In July of 1998 Jenkins left Campbell to become the assistant coach under Aimee DeVos at UNC Charlotte, and in 2000 accepted her first head coaching position, with the NCAA Division II Anderson Lady Trojans.

"I am so excited about returning to Furman," said Jenkins at the time of her hiring. "I am thrilled to return to a team I know and have been a part of, and I look forward to jumping right in. I don't think I have come down off cloud nine yet."

In three years at Anderson, Jenkins led a team that had won just 24 games the previous three years to 76 victories. In 2003, the Anderson softball team enjoyed its most successful season ever, setting a new school record for victories with a 32-22 record, and advancing to the finals of the Carolinas-Virginia Conference tournament.