Sue Stimmel, former head coach of Denison women's lacrosse and field hockey, is this year's recipient of the Varsity D Citation. Stimmel spent six years as the head coach of both programs at Denison and later went on to be the head women's lacrosse coach at Ohio State for 15 seasons.
As the women's lacrosse coach at Denison, Stimmel boasts an impressive .809 winning percentage over six seasons. Denison advanced to the NCAA Tournament five times and won five North Coast Athletic Conference Championships during her tenure in Granville. Overall, her teams went 76-18, and she was named the NCAC Coach of the Year three times in 1990, 1992 and 1993. She also was named the West Region Coach of the Year three times in 1991, 1992 and 1994.
In field hockey, Stimmel posted a record of 74-34-6 while leading the Big Red to four NCAA Tournament appearances and one NCAC championship.
After Denison, Stimmel became the first-ever women's lacrosse coach at Ohio State where she went on to post a record of 122-111 (.524) from 1996 through 2010. Her Buckeye squad reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2002 and returned in 2003 where they advanced to the national quarterfinals.
She has served on regional All-American committees, the NCAA Regional Advisory Board and the Tewaaraton Selection Committee that recognizes to the top collegiate women's lacrosse player annually. She was inducted into the Ohio Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011 for her participation on Temple's 1982 and 1984 national championship women's lacrosse teams.
Even after stepping away from collegiate coaching, Stimmel has remained active in the lacrosse coaching community. She has been the associate head coach at Upper Arlington High School in Columbus, Ohio, since 2012 and has helped build the Golden Bears into the preeminent prep team in the state. Stimmel helped guide Upper Arlington's five consecutive state championship teams from 2013 to 2018.
