Tim Florence enters his seventh season as head coach of the Wheeling Jesuit women’s lacrosse program. Since the program’s inception, the Cardinals have progressed as a team and look to continue their improvement this upcoming season.
This past season, the Cardinals finished 10-7 overall and 5-0 in the Mountain East Conference, winning both the conference tournament and conference championship. Florence was awarded MEC Coach of the Year for the second time, and several players earned conference accolades as well. Elizabeth Hales was the Offensive Player of the Year for the MEC Conference. Kori Hickman, Mary Burns, Lyndsay Carpenter, and Holly Deckert were on the All-MEC First Team while Taylor Quigg was named to the All-MEC Second Team. Markie Wright, Brianna Wahle, and Maire Austin received All-MEC Honorable Mentions, while Sarah Artzer and Hayley Holmquist earned spots on the MEC All-Freshman Team.
In the 2016 season, Florence was voted Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year. The Cardinals had their best season record yet, going 12-6 overall and 6-0 in the conference. The Cards fell in the conference tournament, but remained conference champions with their perfect regular season conference record. Once again, several key players were honored with conference accolades throughout the season. Elizabeth Hales and Holly Deckert were named MEC Offensive and Defensive Players of the year, respectively.
In 2015, the Cardinals (6-8) played in the inaugural season of the Mountain East Conference and finished second with a 4-1 conference regular season. in the MEC. At attack, Jessie Tufnell earned MEC Offensive Player of the Year and All-MEC First Team. Holly Deckert received All-MEC First Team honors on defense, while Elizabeth Hales earned All-MEC Second Team recognition in the attack ranks. Goalie Maire Austin completed the conference honorees as an All-MEC Honorable Mention player.
In 2014, while competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, WJU finished the season with its best season in the four-year program history of 9-8, the program's first-winning season and the most wins in one season. Elizabeth Hales was named All-GLIAC First Team attack for her 46 goal and 42 assist season. Danielle Kirby had a solid all-around year at both ends of the field and was voted All-GLIAC First Team defense. Jessie Tufnell and Sara Fitzsimon both were recognized on the All-GLIAC Second Team.
The Cardinals increased its win total to five wins in their second season. The squad battled to win three conference games and landed a berth in the GLIAC tournament where they fell to Tiffin in the quarterfinals. Annie Campbell earned All-GLIAC First Team defense in only her second year playing the sport as she anchored the defense predominantly playing the backer role in the WJU zone defense. Jessie Tufnell received All-GLIAC Second Team attack as the other honoree.
In 2012, Wheeling Jesuit notched its first program win against Hollins while on Spring Break. Later in the season, the team defeated Urbana, 10-9, for its other victory in which all thirteen players contributed to the win.
The 2017-18 season will be Florence’s 25th year of coaching. He also has held several positions with private schools including assistant head of school, director of admissions, middle school dean, and registrar.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Florence played lacrosse at Upper Arlington High School. He earned a bachelor of science in physical education from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in Business Administration at Wheeling Jesuit University.
