Francis Named Central Region Coach of the Year

Dec. 13, 2004

LAWRENCE, Kan. – University of Kansas women’s soccer coach Mark Francis was selected as the Central Region Coach of the Year on Monday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) after leading the Jayhawks to the most successful season in school history in 2004.

This season, Francis guided the Jayhawks to the program’s first Big 12 Championship after finishing with an 18-5-0 overall record and an 8-2 mark in Big 12 play. In addition to tying the 2003 team for the most wins in school history, the 2004 Jayhawks defeated their first top ten opponent when they downed No. 7 Clemson on Sept. 11. The Jayhawks also climbed into the top 10 in the national polls where they were ranked nine of 11 weeks this season.

Francis, who collected his 100th career coaching victory against Texas Tech on Oct. 1, improved his overall record to 108-71-7 (.599) in nine seasons and his mark at Kansas to 75-46-6 (.614) in six seasons.

In addition to being named the Central Region Coach of the Year, Francis joins the other five recipients of regional coach of the year honors on the ballot for national coach of the year. The other honorees are Randy Waldrum (Notre Dame), Julie Shackford (Princeton), Rudy Meredith (Yale), Robbie Church (Duke) and Dan Tobias (Arizona).

The NSCAA is scheduled to announce its Coach of the Year on Jan. 14.