For Immediate Release – Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Lake Land College hires new softball coach
Lake Land College announced the hiring of Kristi Paulson as the new Laker softball head coach during the Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, June 10. Her husband, Dan Paulson, is expected to join the staff as the co-head coach following the next board meeting in July.
A Mattoon native, Kristi Paulson played softball for two years at Lake Land College. She helped the Laker softball team win its first NJCAA Division I National Tournament during the 2005-2006 season. After transferring to Eastern Illinois University, she served as a volunteer assistant softball coach at Lake Land.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m excited to be back coaching in my hometown,” Paulson said. “I’m looking forward to creating a positive environment that allows our players to grow as both athletes and people and challenges them to be greater than they ever thought they could be.”
Paulson brings an extensive history of coaching experience to the Lake Land College position. She previously served as the softball coach at Casey-Westfield Junior High School and the assistant softball coach at Tuscola High School. She has also coached competitive summer and travel softball teams, mentoring high school-aged players with aspirations of playing in college. In 2011, she and her husband created Premier Fastpitch, an elite travel softball program for youth and high school athletes. Under the Paulsons’ leadership, Premier Fastpitch has competed on both state and national levels with a 0.738 winning percentage.
In 2018, Kristi Paulson joined the Parkland College softball coaching staff, and she and her husband were named the team’s co-head coaches in 2019. During their five seasons as co-head coaches, the Paulsons led the Cobras to a 0.785 winning percentage (205-56). They also won three Central District Championships and four consecutive Mid-West Athletic Conference titles during that span and secured two top-eight finishes in the NJCAA DII National Championship. The 2023-2024 Cobras softball team was named the top-ranked Division II team in the country and secured the number one seed in the NJCAA DII Softball World Series tournament.
The Paulsons received the Mid-West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Award four consecutive years from 2021 to 2024 and are three-time recipients of the Region 24 Coach of the Year Award. In 2024, they were named coaches of the year for the Midwest Region and at the national level by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
“We’re excited to welcome Kristi back to Lake Land College,” said Bill Jackson, Director of Athletics. “She and Dan built an unbelievable winning culture at Parkland College, and we are excited for them to bring that culture to Lake Land College softball.”
